Helen Gregory tickles the ivories as she examines performers during dress rehearsal at Fort Lewis College Monday night./Photo by Todd Newcomer

By Jules Masterjohn

As a young girl, Helen Gregory had no clue that her adult life would revolve around music and theater. She expected, as did her parents, that she would grow up to become a doctor. Should they have known that her early aptitude on the piano would forever commit her to a life in the theater? For Gregory, performing is in her bones. Prior to her relocation to Durango, Gregory lived in Hoboken, N.J., a place where she fully explored her talents as a director, actor, musician, conductor, composer and teacher. Since her move here four years ago, she has produced and performed in five theater productions and is the accompanist for the Miller Middle School Choir. Gregory just can't stay away from the infectious energy that she finds present in the performing arts. Hearing her speak about her love of performance, I believe her when she says, "I can't imagine not being involved in it in some way."

JM: Helen, how did this immersion in the performing arts begin?

HG: I started out playing the piano at 5-years-old and was always picking out tunes, usually from TV shows. That brought me a little notoriety from my classmates, as I would take requests. I still play a mean "Addams Family" and "Pink Panther." Somehow my love of piano got me involved in other activities playing for my school choir beginning in the fifth grade and accompanying dance classes. Eventually that moved into theatre, and I started performing in plays during fifth grade, with the musical "Mary Poppins." Theater and music carried me through elementary, junior and high school and was just something I did. It always felt a part of who I was and still am today.

JM: Did your theatrical and musical experiences as a young person influence your motivations to become one of the founders of "Early Stages Productions," a Durango theater dedicated to family entertainment?

HG: My goal with this theatre is to provide an outlet for kids and adults who don't have something creative like this in their lives. Sports works for some, but not all. I've seen kids who struggle with school, with their classes and their classmates, become different people onstage. I've seen and felt their excitement about being a part of something beyond what they thought they could do. I guess that my high is witnessing the transformation and joy these performers feel and knowing that I am a part of it. They are addicting drugs - joy and success - and I guess that I am a junkie to this thrill.

JM: Coming from the New York City area, how have you found Durango's arts scene?

HG: I feel that Durango's cultural scene is pretty good with the exception of not having a theatre company that is based and supported by Durango. We have a few community groups, some children's performance organizations, but with the exception of the Diamond Circle Melodrama, which only runs during the summer months, no professional theatre. My dream is to establish and maintain a year round professional theatre company in Durango. "Early Stages Productions" is the first step toward making that dream a reality.

JM: You were a co-director of "The Vagina Monologues" for three years and are currently working on a musical revue, "Life, Love and Laughter," an evening of performance by local ladies. Is there an importance, for you, of presenting theater that brings women's experiences to an audience?

Helen Gregory's hands glide over the piano keys./Photo by Todd Newcomer

JM: You were a co-director of "The Vagina Monologues" for three years and are currently working on a musical revue, "Life, Love and Laughter," an evening of performance by local ladies. Is there an importance, for you, of presenting theater that brings women's experiences to an audience?

HG: I'm going to be brutally honest here about "The Vagina Monologues." I pursued this project, in part, because I really wanted to see the word "vagina" printed on a poster hanging in some downtown shop window. It was about shaking it up a little in town. I had no idea that this project was going to be met with such an enormous audience response and participation. It was truly an awe-inspiring moment to be sitting onstage seeing the Smiley Theatre packed with people who wanted to hear and witness what this play was about.

The upcoming revue, "Life, Love and Laughter," is an evening's entertainment that happens to be music about women and our lives and, surprisingly, all of it was written by men. In the performance we go through youth, love, marriage and friendship. The music is based in the Broadway repertoire with a few pop tunes included. It is an evening about being entertained and discovering what a huge range of talent is present in Durango's community.

JM: With these various roles or aspects to your creative life, do you consider yourself an artist or is there a different definition by which you identify your creative self?

HG: Artist always sounds so above and on a higher plane than what I feel I do. I make music. I create and organize sound, in tones, words, gestures. Sometimes, by accident, I feel like I've hit on something really good and almost perfect. What I try to do is bring it down to earth and make it a part of now and fun most importantly, fun!

JM: What do you look for in a production that will inspire you to devote yourself to it?

HG: If the play is incomprehensible, the politics too glaring and heavy handed, the music not well suited or does nothing for my soul, I don't want to bother wasting my time on it. As far as I am concerned, when I go to the theatre the bottom line is: I want to be entertained. You can challenge me intellectually, stimulate me visually, make me feel a whole range of emotions, but I want to be transported into another place and time. I want to escape, for whatever reasons, and find myself in another world. I think that's what theatre, good theatre, can offer.

Helen Gregory can be heard accompanying the performance of "Life, Love and Laughter," on Fri., Jan. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Diamond Circle Theater.