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Show TTT (M r1 h1 n "i f1 The time is right for Miss Margarida By Nancy Funk Tribune Staff Writer It was 30 degrees below zero that day in 1972, and Nancy Borgenlcht was sitting in her Wyoming home, taking care of two young sons. She and her pediatrician husband had moved there via previous homes in New York, Cleveland and San Francisco, to enable him to work on the Windrlver Indian Reservation. She was 30 years old and thought it was time to decide what she was going to do with her life. A history graduate from the University of California at Berkeley, with a masters degree in English, she had taught school for a time in a ghetto in Cleveland, but said she was terrible at it I was a nice friend to the students, but I didnt teach them anything. I was too young. Her interests had always been in k theater and she admits to being since the age of six. Growing up in a Salt Lake City home that encouraged participation in the arts, she spent hours listening to musical scores and whenever possible, went to New York. . stood at the back of the theater and saw Funny Girl 10 times. It was on that cold day in Wyoming, said Ms. Borgenicht, that I promised myself I would become involved in theater as soon as we left. The promise was realized when the family of four moved to Salt star-struc- .I Lake City and Ms. Borgenicht auditioned for a role at Theatre 138 in Authur Millers The Crucible," directed by John Vreeke. She was chosen for the part of the old nurse, a portrayal that was and which led to her active involvement in Utah theater. cause the momentum builds and 1 would not be able to get to some of those intense points if we rehearsed only part of it at a time. The entire play occurs in a schoolroom. with Miss Margarida standing in front of a "green board," talking to her class (the audience.) She is many things including a woman who is extremely lonely. She Is obsessed with being in control and the sad part about that, according to Zogg, is that she is not in control of anything but doesn't realize it. "She's someone that the audience will love and pity and hate and be repulsed by, said Ms. Borgenicht. "and maybe even be missed by when she leaves. She is an authority figure, one of those people that we've all had in our lives and cant forget. You see her in a lot of people your boss, a parent, the president of a country, a football coach. She is deand crastructive and zy, but I like her. 1 have to like her. Im playing her." The abundance of four-lettwords that flow freely from Miss Margarida's mouth are of no major concern to the director. I don't find words embarrassing," said Zogg. "Words are words. They are funny at times and also evoke tragic, angry moments in this play. When creating a character like Miss Margarida. that sort of language has to be there. She is a terribly embittered woir oi. "I suppose there are ways to get around it by softening the impact when she speaks and yet, I think its important to leave it. How many teachers have we all known whose only pleasure in life was derived from the power they had over their pupils? Miss Margarida is a very sad woman who cant face her loneliness, continued Zogg, "and yet the play contains a great deal of humor. It is filled with non sequiturs and absurd situations and totally crazy. I knew when I read it, I would enjoy directing it. I also knew it would take an experienced actress and Nancy is perfect for the part. I dont find any great message to the play. It is a little window on the life of Miss Margarida, and because we are all a bit like her, it's always great to be able to laugh at yourself. had seen Estelle Parsons do the play in New York in 1977," said Ms. Borgenicht, "and thought it was amazing, but didn't feel at the time that I was ready to try it myself. I'm a fatalist and believe that when the time is right to do things, you will. Thats why Im doing Miss Margarthe time seemed right, ida now She took a few acting classes from and so did the space and the direcAriel Ballif, "a wonderful teacher, I felt ready to deal tor. and performed in other plays at 138 with Mentally this whole new process of getas well as with the Salt Lake Acting ting to know a character that just Company. It was that company happens to be the only (speaking) which eventually received her enercharacter in the piece. e gy and creativeness on a Lines had to be learned by rote basis and for the past several years off other actors. she has been with SLAC, both as an rather than playing when youre working on a Usually actress and in various administrapart you try very hard to build a life tive capacities. on stage and off that is in keeping Currently she is in rehearsal for a with the role, said Ms. Borgenicht. play she describes as the most deYou do a whole lot of internal manding of her theatrical career. It is a show, not the nice, work before you go into rehearsal gentle variety that is to be found in and try not to set up any patterns the lines are blank until they The Belle of Amherst or An Evestart coming out of something. Weli. ning With Edna St. Vincent Millay, but instead a funny, crude, often that didnt work this time. So for a shocking work about a troubled month I memorized two or three schoolteacher. pages a day, then met with Scott in different places and repeated lines. "Miss Margarida's Way, written I would say the lines Sometimes by South American playwright Roin somebody's living berto Athayde, will open Thursday over coffee were times w hen w e there and room at the Salt Lake Acting Company's in the theater office. new home in the Marmalade Hill ended up "Scott was forced to listen to me Center, 168 W. 500 North. Scott Zogg, who performed in last seasons proand respond with his face or body duction of Hedda Gabler, is the language he never spoke. It was director. amazing. Hes amazing. He so trusted me. He let me do it my way and never opened his mouth until I was on my feet, on stage, moving around and feeling comfortable. I would just go to rehearsal every night and try different things and he would say Thats good. It was wonderful havThen Thursdays through Saturdays. ing that trust, having a director who 8 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m. through Feb. did not treat me like a robot. 1 d full-tim- one-wom- ... Theater ealendar The Little Lillian Heilman's Foxes," Pioneer Memorial Theatre, University of Utah, nightly, except Sundays, through Jan. 29, 8 p.m. Matinee, Jan. 29, 2 p.m. Gilbert and Sullivans The Pirates of Penzance, Promised Valley Playhouse, 132 S. State, Tuesdays through Saturdays through Jan. 29, 8 p.m. Roberto Athaydes Miss Margar-ida- s Way, Salt Lake Acting Company, Marmalade Hill Center, 168 W. 5th North, preview performance Thursday, 8 p.m. (33.50); opening Friday, 8 p.m. $15 (includes dinner-danc- e after performance); Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday (Jan. 23) 2 p.m. 5. Peter Barnes The Ruling Class, Babcock Theatre, downstairs, Pioneer Memorial Theatre, Thursday 8 p.m. followed by Interact Discussion with director, designers and cast. Show continues through Saturday and Wednesdays through Saturdays through Feb. 5, 8 p.m. Matinee Feb. 5, 2 p.m. Alberto Casellas Death Takes a Holiday, Pardoe Theatre, Brigham Young University, Provo, Thursday through Saturday then Tuesdays through Saturdays through Feb. 5, 8 p.m. Matinee Jan. 31, 4:30 p.m., Feb. As rehearsals continued, actress and director began moving toward a finished product with Zogg offering suggestions and guidance. He has given me so many ideas to work with and insisted every time that I go through the entire play from beginning to end. It has been fun, but terribly exhausting. Every night I go to rehearsals and say Do I have to this whole thing again, and he always says yes. He has been extremely smart in doing it that way be t rrirvr",-'vyr- , yrt " The Salt Lake Tribune W K7 MM 1 " - f' r 'J wf & F ' ftM--. .v. ifi A tf i. s r .... fe?4 w"- - v , V' ,5 V - , wt O' -- . VV . '.A - " V: Salt Lake Acting Companys Nancy Borgenicht opens comedy. 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