The Lake George Mirror (Lake George, New York)
July 27, 2007

Lake George Theater Lab Here to Stay, Its Founders Say
Season to be Extended, Permanent Home Sought
Christmas Show to be Staged in December 2008

By Anthony F. Hall

Lindsey Gates wanted it all: a family, a career, and summers in Bolton Landing, where her father grew up and where the family has a camp. With the founding of the Lake George Theater Lab three years ago, that appeared to be possible.

Her husband and partner in the fledging enterprise, Jesse McKinley, was not unwilling to make compromises to ensure the success of the lab. He even asked to be transferred from the theater beat at the New York Times to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

But when he was asked to become the chief of the Times' San Francisco bureau, "we thought that would be it for the Lake George Theater," says Lindsey.

It had begun, after all, around a farmhouse table in their New York apartment; where they assembled actors, directors, and writers, drawn from their circle of friends to read plays, sketch productions and rehearse roles. It was hard to imagine replicating that process without their friends, on the other side of the country, or abandoning it altogether.

Jesse could not turn down the Times' offer without putting his career into a stall, and Lindsey never even considered a bi-coastal marriage. The couple resigned themselves to reality: most lives are made of choices and compromises.

"Then I thought, ‘no there's no reason to stop,'" said Jesse. "The vast majority of pre-production work is done over the telephone and the internet."

Recruiting Michael Barakiva to be the resident director to provide continuity and stability was crucial, adds Lindsey.

Nevertheless, if the Lake George Theater Lab was to have a third season, Lindsey would still have come to New York and sleep on friends' couches, "barging up and down subway steps with a two-year-old, a suitcase and an armful of props" as she puts it.

But that's what she did, and the results of this season have vindicated their decision to press forward. The presented three performances of a new comedy by Heather Whaley, "Gin/Jazz/Love/Drama" in Bolton Central School auditorium and three free performances of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" in Rogers Park.

To close the season, the Theater Lab collaborated with the Sembrich Museum to present the American premiere of Brian Friel's "Performances" as part of the museum's week long Janacek Festival.

"So much of theater work is banging your head against a wall," said Lindsey. "Here, the wall walks toward you. Our first season was like throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. I think 90 percent of it stuck."

The response, in other words, has been positive.

"A theater company wouldn't have worked if there had been no interest," says Jesse. "Audiences, town officials, local businesses have all supported us."

And, is appropriate with a theater company that is a laboratory for developing new work, the community has contributed advice and suggestions.

"We want people to have an opinion and they do," said Gates. "People leave comments on our answering machine."

So, while the couple has succeeded in bringing live theater back to Bolotn Landing, they've also succeeded in creating a vehicle that allows them to continue to act.

"I've been acting since I was eight years old," said Lindsey. "I can't imagine life without auditions and rehearsal rooms."

Lindsey had moved to New York to study at Circle in the Square; after a detour to Los Angeles, where she was cast in series like "LA Firefighters," a show which her husband calls "a cross between ‘Bay Watch' and ‘Backdraft,'" and "Vamps" (a show about cute vampires which, with equal succinctness, McKinley describes as "four hot girls walking around in a fog"), she returned to New York to study classic theater at New York University and met Jesse.

Only the dead (and only a few of them) have been in Bolton longer that Lindsey Gates's family (for details, ask her Uncle Bill; nevertheless, like Jesse, she grew up in the Midwest.

"We had a similar drive, a drive to succeed that seems to be common among Midwesterner who come to New York to be artists," said Jesse.

That in itself created a bond, stronger, surely, than even the Midwestern taste for friend foods and ranch dressing.

With a successful third season behind them, Gates and McKinley are ready to think about the future of the Lake George Theater Lab.

"We've been reluctant to grow to quickly," says Jesse. "Bolton Landing has so much potential. It's a great town but it lacks is a theater. Bolton Central School has worked well, but we'd like a permanent home. We'd like to find a barn or a garage that could be converted for that use, with fixed seating and air conditioning."

The Conservation Club building is one possibility, and McKinley and Gates are open to other possibilities. In the meantime, they'll continue planning future seasons; next year's schedule may include two weekends of performances of a new play and staged readings or one-person shows.

In December of 2008, Gates and McKinley will return to Bolton Landing to stage a Christmas show. To come to Bolton Landing in December, if that doesn't demonstrate commitment to the town, what could?