Friday night, Merely Players will open the beloved American musical “Guys and Dolls.” It runs at Merely Underground for three weekends through May 11. The pinstriped, wide-lapelled suits of New York City’s gambling underworld and the trim, tight uniforms of Salvation Army revivalists will mingle on stage as if in Times Square. Dancing and singing in the colorful attire of 1940s urban America, the players will stylishly strut through the dream of longtime company member and costume designer JoAnn Nevils. But she won’t be there opening night as she was for 30 years.
A month ago, March 24, Nevils, 78, died after a short illness. As the highly creative costumer for Merely Players, she already had the look of the musical in hand, but caps, belts and shoes still had to be assembled. In that short month, the Players, under the leadership of its co-founders Mona Wood-Patterson and Charles Ford, plus Nevils’ team have rallied.
If you go
WHAT: “Guys and Dolls,” a musical based on Damon Runyan characters, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Merely Players, directed by Mona Wood-Patterson.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday, May 1-3, 8-10; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 4 and 11.
WHERE: Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Drive.
ADMISSION: $35-$38. Sold out. Waitlist for available seats.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit merelyplayers.org or call 749-8585.
“JoAnn’s legacy is vast,” Wood-Patterson said. “She has left us with hundreds of costumes and many lessons, along with an example of a generous and kind spirit.”
Wood-Patterson and Nevils have been colleagues since 1992. They began working together creatively in the heady days of Troupe 1096 at Durango High School. The story has an almost mythical beginning.
In the early 1990s, Nevils’ son, Buckey (Vincent), an aspiring teenage actor at DHS, volunteered his mother to work on costumes.
“I raised my hand,” he said at the recent celebration of life held for his mother April 6 at Merely Underground.
For her entire life, Buckey said, his mother loved to sew. In 1992, Nevils had her own business, Colorado Comfort, for which she constructed clothing and plush toys from vintage materials.
“So, I volunteered her,” he said. “It was a perfect fit.”
Then 45 with two children in high school, Nevils started making costumes for shows. In the late 1990s, when Wood-Patterson and Ford launched Merely Players as an independent company, Nevils seamlessly continued as the costume mistress. Thirty-some years later, she continued to be a mainstay of the company.
In Merely Underground, the company’s permanent residence in the Tech Center, two costume rooms overflow with dresses, suits, capes, hats, shoes and a splendid array of military uniforms. Both rooms bear her name: “JoAnn’s Room,” and “JoAnn’s Other Room.”
Over the years, Nevils built the collection and amassed a team to collect, conserve and create new costumes. Among the longest team-Nevils loyalists is Jennie Albert, now a licensed counselor and Merely volunteer. Albert graduated from DHS in 1994 and was part of the Troupe 1096 then working with Wood-Patterson and Nevils.
“Jennie has been JoAnn’s right-hand woman for years,” Wood-Patterson said. “And despite her grief, she’s taking over the costume work for ‘Guys and Dolls.’ There are no words to encapsulate how hard Jennie is working and how wonderful she is to take this on.”
Albert is heading up a new team to complete Nevils’ preliminary work for “Guys and Dolls.” Albert’s costume manager is Grace Dendy. Company manager Mary Lynn Clark is filling in as wardrobe foreman. And Fort Lewis College’s former costume director-designer, Jane Gould, is quietly listed as assistant costume designer in the program.
“The show is dedicated to JoAnn,” Wood Patterson said. “She brought joy to thousands of people in Durango through her stunning costume artistry for over three decades. We will always miss her and be grateful that she was in our lives.”
It takes a village.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
