TRR photo by Krista Gromalski The Milford Theatre, at the corner of 4th and East Catherine Streets, is home to Sunflower Hill Productions. The theatre was opened by Thomas Pitney as a silent movie house in the teens or early 20’s. In 1941, when the New York World’s Fair was breaking down and selling off equipment, the Milford Theatre is reputed to have acquired curtain, rigging and doors from that fair. (Click for larger image)

How do you grow a ‘Sunflower?’

From the roots up

By KRISTA GROMALSKI

MILFORD — “Every time I think Sunflower is as big as it can get, something happens,” said Neva Rae Powers, Founding Executive Director of Sunflower Hill Productions (SHP).

Since its inception in 1993, the non-profit performing arts organization has been a life lesson for her. “It’s patience, and really trust, that what you want to do is right and good,” Powers said.

That lesson has not been easy. There have been times along the way “when I want to pack it in,” she said. “And then, it takes its next step on its own.”

SHP was the longtime dream of Powers and her husband Frank Kubik. The couple met in Austria where Kubik was a professor of voice at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. Powers was living in New York and performing on Broadway. “I didn’t know him at all, but I auditioned [for a show] in Vienna. I went over there and we started up a relationship right away and got married fairly soon thereafter.” That’s when Powers moved to Vienna.

The couple, both with accomplished careers in theatre, lived in Europe for some time before returning to New York. “We were looking for a situation where we could do what we do, but in a town that was more rooted in our background,” said Powers. “We both grew up in small towns.”

Friends introduced the pair to Milford. “We liked it a lot. The area was booming, and it was a good time to start off an art organization,” she said. “Our hope was that the timing for the boom, the people coming in and our own growth—which we wanted to do from a grassroots point of view—would happen at the same time.”

That was seven years ago. “We had no idea how far we’d go… We moved in on West Catherine Street, after all, to get the theatre on East Catherine Street,” she joked. “Here we are seven years later and that actually happened.” In June of 2000, the Milford Theatre became home to SHP.

Along the road to this goal, however, Powers lost her partner. Kubik died in June of 1996. Powers describes SHP’s development since then as organic. “Now that it’s been five years, it takes on a different direction,” she said. “Doing a not-for-profit is a living thing. It has to be fed and sometimes nursed, to get it on its feet.”

Through it all, SHP has maintained its commitment to bringing art to people who, because they may not be educated about it or exposed to it regularly, feel inhibited about going to the theater. “I feel very strongly about that,” Powers said.

	TRR photo by Krista Gromalski Neva Rae Powers founded Sunflower Hill Productions along with her late husband, Frank Kubik, in 1993. (Click for larger image)

The company’s permanent home may help with this mission. “Because it’s the Milford Theatre, because it’s a place they’re familiar with… it’ll make them walk in the door and buy the tickets that maybe they would not have bought at another time,” said Powers, who described the work involved in repairing the theatre for performances as “nothing but a small miracle.”

Through the efforts of “an army of volunteers,” the old stage was ripped out and replaced and new doors were installed on the auditorium. The theatre also received new electrical wiring and components and a new lighting system, and the loading dock was rebuilt.

“We’ve got another round of things to happen before the end of July,” Powers said. “And then our last round of renovations will be in September and October, because we’re having our grand opening in November.”

The event will be a production of “Music Man,” featuring members of the local community. “This is the first time we’ve done a community theatre event,” said Powers. SHP usually casts professional actors in its productions.

In addition to the theatre, SHP has grown into its own offices at the Callahan House, thought to be the oldest standing residential structure in Pike County. “We lease it from the National Park Service and we formed a partnership with the Pike County Chamber of Commerce… where we disperse [tourist] information from there.”

Reflecting on the organization’s progress, Powers ventured a guess at Kubik’s opinion of how far it’s come. “He would probably think that we are absolutely crazy for doing this,” she said. “I think he would be amused that this was possible… that we have persevered.

“And I think he would also be saying, ‘Well, I told you so.’”

As for Powers, the lesson continues. “When you really stick at it and try to stay the course, and try, in spite of all your human frailties, to keep your motives for doing it right and pure, the people come,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t come in until the last minute, when you just think you’re not going to make it, but somebody always comes. And that’s been the lesson.”

SHP can be reached at 570/296-2033 or online at www.milfordtheatre.com.