Vaughan returns to Lyceum to play key role in season opener

Vaughan

Daryl Vaughan first came to Arrow Rock's Lyceum Theater when he was a junior high school student. From the old theater's balcony (now part of the lobby), he saw "Hay Fever" as part of a parks and recreation trip from Columbia.

Later, as a recent graduate of University of Missouri's theater department, Vaughan acted the part of Riff in "West Side Story" at the Lyceum.

And from June 3-13, he will appear onstage at the Lyceum yet again, this time as Edna Turnblad in the musical "Hairspray." It is his 50th production in more than 25 years of working with the theater.

"The Lyceum is sort of my home away from home," he said. When he is not living in the Lyceum actors' dorms, Vaughan resides in Kansas City and works at Crate and Barrel.

Vaughan has a good working relationship with Lyceum Artistic Director Quin Gresham -- they have worked together on plays like "Into the Woods" and "Little Women," for which Vaughan did choreography -- so much so that he didn't even audition for his current role.

"I was lucky enough not to have to," he said. He just phoned Gresham and expressed his interest.

Vaughan was eager to join the cast of "Hairspray," partly because it meant he'd be playing a woman.

"I just thought it would be a whole new experience," he said. "I've never done drag before."

Returning to the Lyceum this year was especially memorable for Vaughan.

"This was really weird, sort of nostalgic," he said. Now, he is playing an older character and working with young actors, some of whom are the same age as he was when he first came to the theater.

Remembering his early acting days in Arrow Rock, Vaughan said, "It's gotten a lot better... It used to be there were no days off."

He added that he doesn't regret any of the time he spent mending sets and picking weeds out of the brick sidewalks as a non-equity actor at the Lyceum.

"It's what they call paying the dues," he said.

As opening night approaches, Vaughan and the rest of the cast are putting the finishing touches on "Hairspray," which is the story of a young girl fighting for acceptance and equality in 1960s Baltimore.

"I'm still trying to figure out some of the nuances" of Edna, he said.

Vaughan said there is a whole different approach to playing Edna on stage rather than on film, just because of the nature of the two mediums. Some things that work on stage would be too much for the movies, which is why "the camp was kind of taken out" of John Travolta's film performance of Edna, he said.

Compared to the movie version of the musical, "There's some lower notes to Edna that you see in the show," both literally and figuratively, he said.

Vaughan hopes that audiences enjoy the production as a whole, but for more than just entertainment.

"It really does have a great message, even now," he said.

"Hairspray" opens at the Lyceum Theater in Arrow Rock on Wednesday, June 3, at 8 p.m.

Contact Sydney Stonner at marshallbusiness@socket.net