'Menagerie' role a dream for one Green Bay actor Terry Minor By Brenda Erickson News-Chronicle Terry Minor is taking a trip back in time to play the role of Amanda in the Green Bay Community Theater production of "The Glass Menagerie." And for her, the journey is well worth it. "It's always a lot of fun stepping back in time," said Minor. Too, playing Amanda is one of Minor's dream roles, and the period piece allows her to flex her acting muscles and take audiences along for the ride. "Amanda is pretty much a faded Southern belle, trying to relive her past and make some kind of future for her children," said Minor. "This is a dream role for me. Amanda has so much range and such emotion. It's a lot to work with." With "the wonderful words" of playwright Tennessee Williams as a guide, Minor has been having a ball developing her character, and learning to understand Amanda from Williams' point of view. The classic American drama, which premiered in Chicago in 1944, is the story of a family living in a St. Louis tenement in the early 1930s as members come to grips with the limitations of their lives. Tom Wingfield (played by Bennett Reinhard of Abrams) is a would-be poet who works in a shoe warehouse but longs to travel the world. His handicapped sister Laura (Allie Klinker of Appleton) is afraid to venture out of their cramped apartment, while their mother, Amanda, dreams about her gentile past on a Southern plantation and laments the lack of options facing her family. When Tom invites his old high school friend Jim (Adam Wills of Green Bay) to dinner, the event leads to a disastrous family split. It is one of Williams' most enduring plays, and one of several of the playwright's works that will be presented locally. In February, Evergreen Productions is doing "27 Wagons Full of Cotton" and "Suddenly Last Summer," and "A Streetcar Named Desire" will play on the Meyer Theatre stage in April. Minor, who also mentions the "Streetcar" character Blanche DuBois as a dream role, has performed with local theater groups for years, joining community organizations after leaving behind the stage she grew to love during her school years. "I've been doing amateur theater most of my adult life," said Minor. "I've always loved theater. "I think it's mostly because I love to create the other characters, making them parts of myself and parts that are not myself," she added. "It's like how a sculptor or painter creates. There's such a feeling of accomplishment. "It's a wonderful creative expression," she added. Preparation is the key to playing a role well, the actor said. "Study, study, study the lines," she said with a laugh. Also, with a period piece like "The Glass Menagerie," it hasn't hurt to research some of the show's more dated references, making the long-ago era more familiar. Too, director Susan Currie sat down with her actors and asked them questions about their characters in order to bring them better to life. "I really like directors that do that," said Minor. "And other actors can give you insight into your character. It needs to be real to us in order to make it real to the audience." Minor says she's at her best playing character roles, such as the "intense" role of Dr. Livingston she landed in a recent production of "Agnes of God." "You may have a smaller part, but you really get to work with your character," she said. "I really like diversity." And sometimes, playing a role becomes so second nature to Minor that she has a hard time leaving it behind after the curtain closes. "I find myself answering people in a Southern accent," she said with a laugh. "It creeps into your daily life." "The Glass Menagerie" runs Nov. 5-15 at the Robert Brault Playhouse, 122 N. Chestnut Ave., Green Bay. Tickets are $14 and are available by calling the GBCT box office at 920-435-6300.