Actor returns to PowPAC with Burt Lancaster tribute

A year ago, as he prepared for a staged reading of a play he wrote about screen legend Burt Lancaster at PowPAC, Poway’s Community Theatre, local actor Steve Oliver was unsure if there was an audience for the work he had been developing for nearly a year.

Now, as he prepares to stage a full production of the show at the Poway theater, Oliver knows that audiences have been kind to his work, and that his play has the support of Susie Lancaster, the widow of the iconic actor.

Oliver, who lives in Escondido, was able to speak with the actor’s wife over the phone. They shared stories and talked about the scripts, with Lancaster suggesting a couple of minor suggestions for the script, which Oliver wrote based on biographies of the actor, who died in 1994 and whose acting career spanned five decades.

“When I got off the phone, I think I had tears in my eyes,” Oliver said. “I told her that I wanted her and Lancaster’s children to know that I was doing this.

“She said, ‘Steve, I loved it. I laughed out loud a couple of times because it sounded like Burt,’ and added that she had to put it down at times because it brought back many fond memories,” Oliver said.

Oliver noted that getting approval from Susie Lancaster made his work feel “more real.”

“Before I was writing I had a picture of Burt Lancaster from his work, but after talking to her, I think I’m onto something.”

Oliver premiered “Ridin’ Through That Rainbow: A Tribute to Burt Lancaster” in February in his parents’ hometown of San Jose.

He will present the show at PowPAC, 13250 Poway Road June 4-6 and 11-13 with shows at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. For tickets, which are $10, go to www.powpac.org or call 858-679-8085.

The one-man show presents Lancaster based on personal anecdotes and dialogue from some of his most recognizable roles, including Bill Starbuck in “The Rainmaker,” Sgt. Warden in “From Here to Eternity,” Elmer Gantry, and Robert Stroud in “Birdman from Alcatraz.”

“I really tried to make it a personal experience and I hope the audience walks away thinking, ‘Wow, we know it’s not really Burt Lancaster, but we feel we know more about the guy,’?” Oliver said. “Then maybe they go out and rent some of his movies.”

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Posted by unestidstwern on Jun 5 2010. Filed under Archive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry