Local community theater actress still performing the arts at 80

Six days from now on Nov. 24, Ann Stewart turns the big 8-0.

Most people hitting the octogenarian mark have long been retired.

Stewart just finished mounting one of the biggest, most complicated shows of her long and distinguished suburban stage career: The Music On Stage production of “Jekyll and Hyde” at the Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center in Palatine.

“ ‘Jekyll and Hyde' was a very tough musical to do,” the 79-year-old Barrington resident admitted. “It was quite an undertaking. But it turned out to be a wonderful show.”

Stewart and Music on Stage first got together in 1980 for a production of “Once Upon a Mattress.” She secures high-quality musicians, directs the music, often finds the props and has served as the MOS treasurer for a long time.

“We've done lots of wonderful shows over the years,” Stewart said. “ ‘42nd Street' was a big extravaganza. ‘Ragtime' was another great show. Difficult, but very rewarding.

“ ‘Forever Plaid' was one of the most fun things. Getting four guys together and getting them to harmonize and blend. We were the first group to do it after the professional run. Oh, and ‘Miss Saigon.' We had a lot of difficult shows. We took challenges.”

Dan Kubera of Inverness worked with Stewart most recently on “Jekyll and Hyde.” He “died” on stage after being run through by Mr. Hyde's lethal walking stick.

“Ann's energy and passion are often beyond those of people more than half her age,” he said. “There must be something to music helping folks stay young.”

Stewart grew up in Connersville, Ind., and earned her music degree from Indiana University in 1952.

“The only thing I really cared about growing up was music,” she admitted. “When my mother wanted me to do something, she would threaten not to give me any more piano lessons.”

She met her husband, Thomas Stewart, at IU where he majored in business. They married, and after being in Arkansas a while, they moved to Arlington Heights, then Barrington, raising a daughter and two sons.

In 1973, tragedy happened.

Thomas Stewart was dumping files and trash into a ground-level waste container from his second-story office in Barrington.

The railing gave way and he fell. He died the next day in the hospital. He was 47.

“I was in Paris with my mother,” Ann Stewart remembered. “I had just lost my dad and had gone with her to get away for a while.”

She returned home to her children immediately. She took a teaching job in Wauconda. But funds were short and the music program was on the verge of collapse.

Enter the local Parents Booster Club.

“They got the funds and hired me and they saved the music program,” Stewart said. “It's still going strong and that makes me feel real good.”

Kubera said Stewart has already left a performing arts legacy in the Northwest suburbs.

“She is well-known in the community, the suburban performing community and by the thousands on the MOS mailing list,” Kubera said. “Many performers, such as Max Quinlan, who won a Jeff Award recently, have done shows with Ann.

“Stephanie Herman, recently chosen as one of Chicago's 10 rising theater stars, has done shows with Ann. Future music leaders, such as Tom Vendafreddo, hold her in high regard, as evidenced by an acknowledgment MOS recently had after a performance of ‘Jekyll and Hyde.' ”

Stewart's decades of uplifting stage experiences never prepared her for the current economic slump and the toll it has taken on the arts.

“It's really been tough financially,” she said. “One thing people are giving up is entertainment. Nobody is seeing shows. I'm hoping and praying that we can hold on until things get better.”

In the meantime, Stewart treasures her time providing music for MOS.

“I still like classical music and all that, but it's a lot more fun doing shows,” she said. “You're always meeting new people. There's always another show, and it's very different and very challenging and very fun.

“I can't think of another job I'd rather have.”