LBC CenterStage The Garage Theatre Company A Conversation with Eric Hamme, Jamie Sweet, and David Ledger by Tom Walker Photos by Tom Walker I talked to Jamie, Eric and David at their place. I have known these guys for some time, and have really enjoyed their work. It is difficult for me to conceive of the amount of time and energy it takes to accomplish what these guys have been able to do, in such a short time, and with as little resources as they have. They first explained that they were not alone in their pursuit, that they are part of a larger group that they REALLY wanted to acknowledge, so here goes: The Garage Theatre Group was founded by: Nick Armstrong, Jeff Kriese, Alex LaVerde, Eric Hamme, David Ledger and Jamie Sweet. They fight the uphill battle of producing theater in Long Beach… (and you thought it was difficult to hear live music in Long Beach?) LBC: Why don't you tell me a little about the project? What is it you guys do? ERIC HAMME: We change lives (laughs) JAMIE SWEET: Well we work in the day and we try to put together theater with little or no money. DAVID LEDGER: It started off as a whole bunch of people we all went to school together, (CSULB) we all knew each other as friends, and all are pretty talented at what we do. A lot of talented actors, It's an acting school it's not a directing school, a lot wanted to direct. Two girls we know branched out and did their own thing, great theater, "LouderMouth Theater Group". So a lot of us talked about getting a theater group started, but it's an enormous project, and I don't think at that time everyone was really ready to get into it. ERIC HAMME: We were all still in school and really busy. DAVID LEDGER: We all live together, and we were all ready at the same time, so it just kind of happened. We do allot for everybody and everybody certainly does a lot for us, It's a great community. LBC: Is living together a help or a hindrance? JAMIE SWEET: I think it is an awesome experiment. ERIC HAMME: It helps and it is a hindrance; It helps because when we need to discuss something we are all here to discuss it, we don't have to set up an appointment, arrange meetings, we are all accessible to each other. On the other hand, tensions do rise, it can be stressful at times because we do see so much of each other. LBC: ok. So the real question is: Why do you guys do this? JAMIE SWEET: cause I got no place else to go (laughs) ERIC HAMME: honestly, it's all I know, It's what I love to do, It's all I know How to do and I think I do it pretty well; obviously there is tons more to learn and lots of room for growth. For me I need that to be there in My life, I need the creativity to be there in my life; To produce something, to make something, to give something to the community, and to be a part of the community in that sense. I've tried the nine to five thing and I go nuts, I can't do it, but that's me. I love theater, I love film, and if I don't do it, I'm miserable. When A show ends, I'm relieved but, a month later, I'm miserable. I have to do it, it is not a choice for me. I have to do it. DAVID LEDGER: When I moved here I moved from New Haven Connecticut, There was a lot going on there. Five colleges right there, a huge youth community and then there is also this 'punk community' that was really diverse... kids in college and kids that ran away from home, and they were all kind of drawn together to form this great community that made things happen, there was a lot of music and a lot of people recording, and there was this whole group of folks that just made things happen, they just helped everyone out that wanted to do something. Lots of community outreach... they all cooked breakfast for the homeless on Sundays, a huge art scene that kind of took over the green in the summer and created these huge statues.. like twenty feet tall. I worked for this set designer, and he would get me to build these sculptures for the green and we would paint them. There there was a great deal of local businesses that ended up investing in it and really kind of buying into it to make this great summer festival thing. It was exciting to see this great thing happen in New Haven, that was so out of the ordinary, so different from what the normally saw everyday. The sense that I get from the people that have lived here (Long Beach) for five or ten years, is there seems to be this great creative community building and growing [and] for me to be apart of a birth of something cool like what I saw in New Haven is really exciting. The artists of this town can really do a lot of GREAT things. Having theater here is kind of specific, in the fact we like the kind of theater we do, it's affordable, hopefully, people will appreciate it enough to make the effort to see it. The group is fun and the show is fun, it's all about the bigger thing. ERIC HAMME: Yah we definitely, achieved a level of success. I mean, the money is one thing; but I think we definitely had a great show. For only being a presence in the community for such a short time, six or eight months, I think we are really doing something right , we have gotten a lot of attention from a lot of people and we have certainly made our presence known... we've gotten great press. LBC: what do you see for the future? ERIC HAMME: Well like I say, it's been six months so far, we've done pretty well if we stick with it, do what we've done and keep at it and improve ourselves, five years from now who knows where we'll be. JAMIE SWEET: I just love the process… the practice… It is such a people oriented process. I love to engage people in that way, telling a story, for me is the best. It would be such a cool thing to offer this for free, like the Shakespearean festival in New York… it's funded and people go to see it for free. ERIC HAMME: I find the whole process absolutely fascinating… Think of it; somewhere, someone has written these words in a book, and you take that book and you give those words to people, and you put it on a stage and you throw some lights, build an environment around it and then you invite people to come and look at it… and then if it has the power to actually reach out and stir up emotion in people, whatever the emotion may be, and make them think , and the great possibility of changing their lives… and that's the ultimate. View The Garage Theatre Company's LBC page and events Learn more about Tom Walker Do you know an artist that we should feature in LBC CenterStage? We'd like to hear from you. Send us your LBC CenterStage suggestion View Previous CenterStage Features