Article on "The Call"

In March 2007, Alemaedae Theatre Productions put on its first play, a production of Phil Davis' original comedy "The Call" that sold out its two-show run in the Buffalo Museum of Science. Davis, who founded the company to help local actors get a toehold in the local theater scene and beyond, has spent the past five years building his fledgling company into a creative enterprise to be reckoned with.On Sunday, in a rare backward glance, Davis and his firmly established and growing company remount the show that started everything. A one-show production of "The Call," meant to celebrate the company's fifth anniversary, opens at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Mason O. Damon Auditorium in the Central Library, 1 Lafayette Square."These past five years, we've been able to do so many things," Davis said. "We've worked at Hilbert College, at Buff State, at [the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center]. We've done some Underground Railroad tours. So many different things have come from that one show."Local actors who got their start at Alemaedae, such as Barry Williams (the co-star of Road Less Traveled's wildly popular production of "Superior Donuts," among other shows), have gone on to wider recognition."When you can see that other folks are really passionate about something, it just feels good knowing we had that vehicle to help people get there," Davis said. For the next five years, he said, he hopes to take some shows on tour and build the reputation of Alemaedae beyond Western New York.