Hernando: Nary a wasted gesture

Nary a wasted gesture

The old-time play Cheaper by the Dozen is the story of an engineer with 12 children who uses his notions of efficiency to prepare them for adulthood.

By JOY DAVIS-PLATT

BROOKSVILLE -- Efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth Sr. thinks his home should run as efficiently as a factory. The philosophy leads to unusual and comic situations in the nostalgic play Cheaper by the Dozen.

This weekend, the Hernando County Fine Arts Council will present the story of an engineer who applies his efficiency studies -- which save time by eliminating wasted motions -- to a household with 12 children.

At the play's opening, Gilbreth brings home a pair of Victrolas for the upstairs bathrooms. The scheme is for the children to save time bathing by getting in and out of the tub in the time it takes a language lesson record to play.

The father then proceeds to teach the children how to take a bath with no wasted motions so as to be "out of the tub before you can say bon jour."

"It's not so much that he is really strange," said Jason Thompson, 16, who plays Gilbreth's oldest son, Frank. "He just wants his children to fulfill his legacy."

These exercises in ergonomics, Thompson said, save time for the things that are really important.

"The idea is that by saving time on chores, there is more time for beauty," he said. "The beauty of art. The beauty of theater. People that you love."

In addition to holding rigid efficiency ideals, Gilbreth resists popular culture, railing against his daughters' desires for bobbed hair and cosmetics. Trouble begins when his oldest daughter, Anne, decides to trade in her black cotton stockings for silk ones, making her announcement at a meeting of the Gilbreth Family Council.

"She is very stubborn and doesn't want to listen to her father," said Danielle Alagna, 14, who plays Anne, a girl who is at a time in her life when boys have become more important than family math projects. "But by the end of the play, Anne comes to see why her father is so rigid. She starts to understand that he only wants (them) to get ahead in life."

The book Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, was adapted for the 1950 movie starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy and also for the stage.

Early in the play, Frank Gilbreth is found to have a serious heart condition and begins preparing to leave his family to attend the World Management Conference in London.

Ken Murrin, who plays Gilbreth, said the efficiency expert is simply trying to prepare his family for life in a changing world.

"He's preparing them for life in general," said Murrin. "He doesn't want to leave (his wife) with a dozen kids who aren't grown up yet."

Shortly after rehearsals for Cheaper began, Murrin was hospitalized twice for a minor stroke and complications from medication. The experience, he said, has made the show much more poignant for him.

"Experiences like that make you realize how fragile life is," Murrin said of the Saturday morning several months ago when he woke with blurred vision, numb fingertips and slurred speech. "Frank Gilbreth's motivations became so clear for me."

Though Murrin's symptoms did not last, doctors said his condition was serious. The actor now makes sure to get plenty of rest before rehearsals and performances. Working with the young cast, he said, helps keep his spirits high.

"Those kids have so much energy," Murrin said. "I can hardly help being upbeat when I'm around them." The Hernando County Fine Arts Council's presentation of Cheaper by the Dozen is today through Sunday at the Hernando High School Performing Arts Center, 700 Bell Ave., Brooksville. Performances today and Saturday are at 8 p.m.; the Sunday matinee is at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children 12 and younger. Group rates are available. Proceeds benefit the fund for the Nimmagadda Cultural Center. For information and reservations, call 799-1767.