Nearly 30 years after they first met, actress Terri Klausner and Toby Orenstein, director-founder of Toby’s Dinner Theatre, are finally working together again.
Klausner was in her junior year at Catholic University in 1976, when she met Orenstein, a visiting professor. Orenstein was blown away by Klausner’s talent, and when the actress announced she was leaving college to pursue musical theater, Orenstein didn’t stop her. “None of us tried to hold her back. She was so talented, you just saw stardom written all over her,” Orenstein said. “She left, and darn it if she didn’t get one show after another.”
» Where: Toby’s Dinner Theatre, O’Donnell Street, Baltimore
» When: 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday; 10:30 a.m. Thursday (through March 15)
» Tickets: $32.50 to $54 (Ask for the “Super Bowl Special” for a discount
» Info: www.tobysdinnertheatre.com
During her time in New York City, Klausner starred as Eva Peron in the 1979 Broadway production of “Evita” (she was one of six actresses who shared the part) and was a member of the 1981 Broadway production of “Sophisticated Ladies” with the late Gregory Hines. She did some off-Broadway work until 1986, when she started a family. Orenstein made contact with Klausner in 2006, when the director was producing “Evita” at her summer professional camp. Klausner ended up teaching an all-day seminar at the camp, and from there, Orenstein asked her to direct Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s upcoming performance of “Sophisticated Ladies,” which runs through March 15 at the Baltimore location.
“[The show] is just phenomenally close to my heart, it’s a musical that I just adore. And it’s been an absolute joy and delight to revisit it with a whole different group of people,” Klausner said. “This cast is a first-class group of performers.”
Orenstein said it’s been exciting to work with Klausner again. “Her enthusiasm, her knowledge and her gift of imparting knowledge is so invaluable,” she said. “Everyone [in the cast] just adores her, she’s so down-to-earth and so much fun.”
Daniel L. McDonald, a performer and sometimes director at Toby’s, had his own encounter with Klausner in 1995, when he was performing in a national tour of “Clue The Musical.” The actress playing Mrs. Peacock fell ill, and Klausner stepped in. When it was time for McDonald and his roommate to drive back to Baltimore, they realized they had blown all their money. Somehow, Klausner found out and discreetly gave McDonald $100 so they could make it back home.
“I still don’t know how she found out, but this is the type of woman she is,” McDonald said. “She didn’t have to do anything, but she did, and she did it with a warm smile and a warm heart.”
