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• Faces of the Tri-State: Beth McVey

HUNTINGTON -- She has seen a lot of cities. Her favorites include Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and St. Paul, Minn.

But none of them have what Huntington has: Her mother and father, Myra and Jim McVey, living in the same beautiful city in the same house on the hill where she grew up. Huntington also claims a unique chance to foster the arts through an organization dear to her, and her family's heart.

So after a 28-year Broadway career in New York City, Beth McVey came back to Huntington three years ago. Since then, she's been celebrating the performing arts through Arts Resources of the Tri-State (ARTS), giving voice, drama and speech lessons, putting on shows and even gaining some experience at desk work.

And all these things, she says, lend themselves to a role she's taken on that Tri-Staters have a chance to see this weekend. McVey plays Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!" which runs this weekend and next at the Renaissance Arts Center in the old Huntington High School.

Dolly is newly single, a meddler, who's independently making her own way, not without some crooks and bends, and McVey can see some parallels with her own life, she says.

This summer, McVey's lessons schedule slowed down, so she took on a new role: receptionist. She answered phones at Scott Orthopedic Center, and said the people were "so wonderful" but the hours and the whole sitting-at-a-desk-all-day thing took some getting used to.

"I'm so glad it was just a temporary job. I couldn't have carried on," she said. "I wouldn't be sitting here now. ... I thought, 'Oh my gosh, how do people do this?' My entire life, I have been on a night schedule. To get up and be functioning at 7:30 in the morning -- this is not in my set of skills."

McVey said she got a few interesting looks, as if to say, "Aren't you supposed to be on a stage somewhere?" And she received many graces, as well as a whole new respect for the daytime office worker, she said.

Now, she just has to find some more work that does line up with her expertise.

"The challenge is: How can I take what I do and the skills I've learned and turn it into a financially lucrative line of work (locally)," she said.

She certainly did it in New York, having performed in shows such as "Beauty and the Beast," "Annie," "Phantom of the Opera" and the original cast of "42nd Street," to name just a few.

When McVey decided to move back to Huntington, the words she used were, "I need to get a life," her mother said. "You have to realize that eight shows a week has been her life. The only day off she had was on Monday."

Myra and Jim McVey were thrilled to see their only daughter's shows in New York, but they knew that life there was hard, Myra said.

"It's a thrill to have her here to watch her work," she said.

Having her back in Huntington is indeed a rare gift, say those who work with her. Last year, she directed "Fiddler on the Roof." This year, she's starring in "Dolly," and when McVey hits the stage during rehearsals, it's exciting on a lot of levels, her cohorts said.

You never know what she's going to do next.

"She brings a whole new level of professionalism in her technique, artistry and the depth of character," said Bil Neal, whose playing opposite her as Horace Vandergelder in "Dolly."

The musical is about a widowed matchmaker who's pursuing a millionaire. She wants to marry him and spread his wealth around, as her late husband taught her.

"Every time she opens her mouth, she brings new color, dimension and texture to a character," Neal said. For those sharing the stage with her, "She gives you a whole other layer of things to play with," Neal said.

And as an actress, she's not only very believable but "she can sing a song," director Danny Ray said. "I think 'Dolly' is going to be the beginning of something wonderful."

It's been nice to be able to watch her process and how she gets ready for a show," said Ashleigh Bills, assistant director and stage manager for the show. "She struggles through it like everybody else."

But there is certain a level of genius there.

You can tell her something once, and she not only has it, but she runs with it, said Kerri Easter, choreographer for "Hello, Dolly!"

"You give her an idea, and she knows what to do," she said.

McVey legitimizes what Ray hopes to accomplish with community theater productions. The cast gets to work with a woman who has made a career out of something that some might consider a mere dream. And while a lot of lead actors like to work in private, at first, on staging a big solo, McVey did it in front of the cast so they could see her process, Ray said.

There may be preconceived notions about Broadway actresses being divas. "Not Beth," he said. "She's very giving. She's down-to-earth, friendly and cares about the community."

She's so personable, you forget that she worked on Broadway, Easter said.

"We get to see a glimpse of a Broadway star, but every day we see Beth McVey, the real-life person," Easter said. "Both are wonderful."

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Chris Harris/The Herald-Dispatch

Beth McVey who is starring in Hello Dolly held at the Renaissance Center Thursday. She's played Mrs. Pots on Broadway and stared in many, many Broadway productions and now she's back in town.

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