Carson Merry Baillie on stage in “The Waverly Gallery”

August 12, 2016
2 mins read

Carson Merry Baillie isn’t taking retirement sitting down. The 89-year-old founder of the Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre is returning to the theatre she created with tonight’s opening of The Waverly Gallery. Directed by Jack Barnard, the reading will be staged Aug 12-14.

 “Celia wanted to do something to celebrate our 25th anniversary and she thought it woud be fun to drag me out of retirement,” says Merry Baillie. “I was ready to go, honey. I miss it like crazy. You can never to be sure somebody my age can still do it so we had to make sure I was still able to do it. The mind is still there. It’s the body that’s getting in the way.”

 For an accomplished actor and director, the stage will always be home to Merry Baillie. Sure, she’s had to make some monir concessions, like finding a role that would allow her to remain seated on stage. “I’m 89. You’ve got to be cognicant of the fact that the body is going to slow down a little bit,” she says. “But it’s a lovely play. I’m having such fun.”

 The Waverly Gallery is a “memory play” by Kenneth Lonergan. First produced Off-Broadway in 2000, the production follows a grandson watching his grandmother slowly die from Alzheimer’s disease. Gladys, the elderly matriarch of the Green family, has run an art gallery in a small Greenwich Village hotel for many years. The management wants to replace her less than thriving gallery with a coffee shop. Always irascible but now increasingly erratic, Gladys is a cause of concern to her daughter, her son-in-law and her grandson, from whose point of view this poignant memory play is told.

 Like her character Gladys, Merry Baillie is also hard of hearing. She finally shelled out a small fortune to get fitted for hearing aids and “like old Gladys, half the time I feel like they’re not working. It’s really tough to be hard of hearing and it’s annoying to other people. In the play, she’s a big pain to everybody so I kind of feel for her,” she says. “I just love the part. It’s funy but it’s sad at the same time. You get some laughs but it’s also very sad. It’s a lovely play.”

 When Baillie turned the reigns over to current managing artistic director Celia Frank, she knew her dream was in capable hands. She has enjoyed watching the charming little not for profit theatre forge onward and continue expanding its roster which has staged an impressive 135 productions. “It’s wonderful. It absolutely warms my heart,” she says. “It couldn’t have been anyone but Celia. It takes the righ personality and the intelligence to do it and she’s just doing a great job.”

 Merry Baillie is delighted to share the stage with many members of the early ABET casts. Karen Garrett, Leonard Alterman and Barnard all performed in Merry Baillie’s beloved “Russians” by playwright Anton Chekhov. Also returning is Brandon Frank, who portrayed Merry Baillie’s great nephew in “Approaching Zanzibar” at 12. Frank is a now a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at Fordham University in New York who urged his mother to return to theatre and help him fulfill his dream “to be in a play.”

 “They are all people that I directed years ago. Karen playing my daughter and Leonard as my son-in-law. And of course, having Brandon back is just terrific. Here he is playing my grandson. He came all the way from Boston to do this show.”

 As the calendar flips ahead into the 25th year, Merry Baillie acknowledges that “The Waverly Gallery” could be her “swan song.” But as the little theatre that could celebrates a quarter century of community theatre, it shows that the heart of ABET is still beating as strong as ever. “If Celia can find another play for me to do sitting down,” she says. “I’ll act until I’m 100.”

Current Issue

SUBMIT EVENTS

Submit Events

Advertisements

Welcome to Rockville 2025
SingOutLoadFestival_TheAmp_2025
omaha-steaks-banners

Date

Title

Current Month

Follow FOLIO!

Previous Story

“Sausage Party” The DO NOT BRING YOUR KIDS animated film

Amplified Vol. 2, The Elbow, EU Jacksonville, Downtown Jacksonville, Local Musicians, TOMBOi, Dovetonsil, Grandpa’s Cough Medicine, Katie Grace Helow, Mere Woodard, Blaza Duval, JacksonVegas, The Little Books, Wunderlogik, Tambor, Insel, Canary in the Coalmine, Palm Trees and Power Lines, Inspection 12, Lady Daisy, Strangerwolf, Tom Bennett Band, Carl Swaygan, The Hereafter, Monarch Mtn, Whethermen, Billy & Bella, Brady Clampitt, Split Tone, ND 20/20, Mason, Land of la Bora, Rachel Warfield, Kudos the Kid, Crashmir, Le Orchid, Trap J ‘The 108 Great’, Some Dude, DrazaH Backwards, Lowrcase g, In Whispers, JAHMEN, GFM, Royal Francis, Grammar Tree, Grant Nielsen, #eujaxmusic, #eujax, 1904 Music Hall
Next Story

The Elbow and EU Jacksonville present Amplified – Volume #2

Latest from Atlantic Beach

Rally 904: How Dean Grant Serves up Community in Atlantic Beach

Words and photos by Travis Zittrauer While the last few months have brought families together around the dinner table, Dean Grant has been working hard to bring the Jacksonville community around a different kind of table: a table that is 9 feet long and 5 feet wide. Rally 904, which
A1A Ocean Islands Trail, Florida Scenic Highway, Amelia Island Plantation, Photo courtesy of Amelia Island Conventions and Visitors Bureau

Jax Beach to Fernandina: The A1A Ocean Islands Trail

Along the A1A Ocean Islands Trail Jacksonville’s Beaches | Mayport | Broward House | Kingsley Plantation | Big Talbot | Downtown Fernandina Marlin & Barrel Distillery in Fernandina | The Pétanque Courts of Fernandina | American Beach: Under the Blue Bottle Tree with Marsha Dean Phelts | Amelia Island Culinary Academy | Amelia Island Downtown Tasting Tour | The First
Fishing the First Coast: Jacksonville and Northeast Florida are a Fisherman’s Paradise, Photos by James Brown

Fishing in Northeast Florida: Jacksonville is a Fisherman’s Paradise

Numerous fish species, unbeatable weather, and a healthy fishing infrastructure make the First Coast a fisherman’s paradise. Our state offers 2,276 miles of tidal shoreline, 10,550 miles of rivers, 7,700 lakes, and countless ponds. The First Coast offers a multitude of options. From offshore saltwater fishing, surf fishing, bridge fishing,
Ida Claire open at the St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville, Florida, Blueberry Waffle, #EATUPJAX: November Restaurant Openings, Closings, and New Locations in the Local Jacksonville Food Scene

#EATUPJAX: November Restaurant Openings, Closings, and New Locations

#EATUPJAX is a monthly column featuring restaurant openings, closings, new locations and other food news in the local Jacksonville food scene brought to you by   on the is now closed. If you still have gift cards or turkey orders, they will be honored at ’s restaurant, Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen.  Craving
July 5th Cleanup
GoUp

Don't Miss

ABET, Wait Until Dark

REVIEW: Wait Until Dark at All Beaches Experimental Theatre

ABET, All Beaches Experimental Theatre, opened its second production of
A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW: "Cabaret" at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW: “Cabaret” at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine

St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre opened a revival of “Cabaret” (September