Gilroy High School’s recent production of the beloved musical “Annie” deserves accolades. Director Ethan Stocks created a tight, fresh production enhanced with choreography by Hilary Little, an outstanding orchestra prepared by Greg Grant, and a cast of talented actors.
With the help of local artist, Deborah Schwarz, Stocks delivered a beautifully executed set. Most notable was the three dimensional cityscape designed by Schwarz. Working weekends and evenings during the week, she spent about 50 hours on the creation. Theater sets require hours of labor and are torn apart when the production closes. It is not often that a piece lives on. However, Kevin Heath of Limelight Actors Theater saw the cityscape and immediately secured it for a future production.
Schwarz was born in Hawaii in the same hospital as President Barack Obama. Her grandfather worked at Pearl Harbor. Moving to the U.S. when she was 5, her family settled in an unincorporated area of Menlo Park. As long as she can remember she loved art and studied art in high school. She began college as an art major, attending UC Davis, but changed her major to geography.
“It was the ’60s,” she said. “The flower power generation. Art was too avant garde and surrealistic to hold my interest.”
She transferred to San Jose State University after three years, where she met her future husband, David, and earned a master’s degree in geography. After graduation she worked for the U.S. Geological Survey at Moffett Field. When children came along, she stayed at home diving back into art with her son and daughter.
Her daughter Sarah’s interest in theater led to Schwarz’s involvement in set painting and ultimately in set design. Among her original set designs are “Into The Woods” and “Seussical” for Odyssey Theater Company and the 2012 Gilroy High School Production of “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.” Schwarz also designed costumes for “The Music Man.”
Schwarz is especially drawn to portraits, paintings and sculptures of human figures. She would like to be a portrait artist and proved her ability with an original portrait of Elwood P. Dowd for the Gilroy High School production of “Harvey.”
I asked why she gives her time so freely.
“The joy of creating,” she said. “I enjoy helping the theater program, which meant so much to my daughter, Sarah, and I enjoy the nice relationship with Ethan Stocks, whom I have known since he was a young boy. I do art because I have to. If I was a caveman, my artistic outlet would probably be rearranging rocks.”
Schwarz feels that art in the schools is indispensable and important for the soul.
“We need a way for children to express themselves. I support more opportunities for artistic expression for all students regardless of their artistic abilities.” She feels that, “Music and theater opportunities are good in Gilroy schools but they could do better with visual arts.”
After “Annie” closed, Schwarz – who was once a city planner for San Benito County and more recently for the City of Gilroy – took off for two and a half weeks in Sweden to visit her daughter. Sarah, who has made her home in Sweden, just finished her master’s degree and is entering the PhD program at Uppsala University. No doubt Schwarz was planning some creative time with her grandsons, ages 4 and 9, who she describes as young artists. Schwarz’s son, Noah, also works in an art-related field as a senior buyer for a modern furniture design company.
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Our community lost a generous, indefatigable supporter with the passing of Loritta Bonfante-Johnson. Loritta, who taught special education and kindergarten in Morgan Hill for 49 years before retiring, was known and recognized for organizing charitable events. She worked tirelessly to support the Morgan Hill Teacher’s Aid Coalition and Historical Society, South Valley Civic Theater, Limelight Actors Theater and was on the board of directors of the Gilroy Arts Alliance. Her unique sense of fashion and color was welcomed in designing costumes and decorating lobbies, and her energy and commitment were an inspiration to everyone who knew her. To make a charitable contribution in her name, visit caringbridge.org.
Carol Harris represents the City of Gilroy Arts and Culture Commission.
