An insider offers a closer look at Greenville’s legendary downtown comedy theater
Sustaining any business for more than forty years is a huge deal. Sustaining a restaurant whose main dish is satirical comedy lampooning the very community it serves? Monumental. Yet that’s exactly what the Café and Then Some (CATS) has managed to do for forty-plus years, solidifying its position as one of Greenville’s most beloved theater venues.
I started doing shows at the iconic dinner/comedy theater back in 1995 after agreeing to fill in for another actor. I came, I saw, I stayed; three weeks turned into almost five years. I retired from being a regular “And Then Some Player” in my fifth month of pregnancy with my first child, returning occasionally over the years to fill in when they were desperate for a backup. Now I am back full-time and it’s truly like going home. The Café is my second family, complete with laughter, drama, and that weird uncle nobody talks about.
How did it all really begin? Many native Greenvillians recall the initial days of the acting company performing downtown at the Red Baron back in the early 1980s, but it really started at a little sandwich shop called Chandler’s (across the street from what is now Tsunami). In the late ’70s, owner Walt Chandler wanted to branch out into evening entertainment, calling the new venture Chandler’s At Night. Enter Susan Lay Smith, Bill Smith, Ted Bruce, and a band of burgeoning comedic troubadours.
The original group drew its inspiration from Dudley Moore’s British comedy troupe, Beyond the Fringe, even patterning (aka ‘stealing,’ per Susan Smith) material from the British ensemble to perform as their first act. The new group fittingly called themselves Beyond the Fringe and Then Some. For the second act, they scripted original material based on the happenings in and around Greenville. They then made the transition to the Red Baron, and finally, Bill and Susan Smith opened CATS in 1983. At the Café, the material followed the structure of the second act and remained true to parodying Greenville’s local politics, gossip, and city events.
One thing people always ask is if the actors on stage are equally funny in real life. I unequivocally can tell you that what you see is 100% what you get. I recently sat down to lunch with my friend of almost thirty years, Susan Smith. As with every encounter I have with anyone in my Café family, my face hurt from laughing when I left. It’s what keeps me coming back time and time again.
Q&A with Founding Member Susan Smith
Where do you get the material?
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness . . . not so much liberty, but life and pursuit of happiness for sure (laughs). I think what makes something material is that it’s filtered through the characters. That’s the difference between just ‘things that happen’ and the individual’s interpretation. That’s where the gifts of the people who perform are so critical. Because they bring their view, filter it, and spit it back out as funny stuff.
What do you think is the secret of the Café’s success?
I do truly, truly believe that the extraordinary talents of the people who have been involved over time is what has sustained our success. Now, we have had some duds. It’s not necessarily the acting chops that do it. It has to be a quicker person who’s willing to roll with it, and it needs to be somebody who shares the same sensibilities, both politically and culturally. Those are more important to us than the acting part. I mean, we’ve had trained actors who couldn’t do it. They just didn’t fit. It also takes nice people who are willing to share stage time and laughs, and laugh at themselves.
How do you think the Café compares to other theaters in town?
I don’t think you can, really. Because it’s not about the production so much as the content. We’re all about the irreverence.
The Café has never held back from satirizing anyone and everyone. How do you respond to critics who are offended by the material?
You have to defend what you do. I mean, the whole purpose of satire is to overblow a particular point of view for the purpose of pointing out a foible. It goes back in this country to Benjamin Franklin and political cartoons. It’s a way to make a point. If you’re a politician, you’re fair game. I did have a lady once who got angry and said, ‘I know who you’re doing,’ and I was like, ‘Ma’am, I’m sorry. It’s a compilation of people . . . a stereotype. If your life fits the bill of the stereotype, that’s not my problem.’
How much longer do you see the Café going in its current format?
[In her best old Southern lady voice:] Well, as long as my health holds out. I don’t know . . . a couple of years maybe. I know that the big question at this point is, ‘What happens next?’ The problem is that the Café is such a collaborative effort, no one person can do it. It might be possible to close for part of the year and just do special things every now and then. Over time, I would really prefer to have somebody in the building and not have to sell it because I love the building and I’d hate to see it torn down for a parking lot.
The biggest loss in my mind about shutting it down has to do with not giving a forum to a particular point of view that may not normally be portrayed or have a voice. One of the awesome things and one of the sad things about the longevity of the Café is all the people who have come and gone through the years. To be a part of someone’s story is so cool. I love to walk around the building now when nobody’s in it. I can see people who are no longer here, where they sat . . . it’s a good feeling, connecting with the past. A lot of good times happened in that building. Is that morbid? It’s a neat time because we can really look back with pride and fondness for things that have happened.
Cafe and Then Some, 101 College St, Greenville. A new show featuring Susan Smith, Ted Bruce, Maureen Abdalla, Jim Wilkins, and Candace Bolt will begin in October. Call (864) 232-2287 for reservations, cafeats.com.
Cast of Characters
Traysie Amick has been a CATS semi-regular cast member since 2004. In her daytime life, she is the principal teaching artist at the South Carolina Children’s Theatre.
Ted Bruce is a founding troupe member and CATS original, dating back to where it all began at Chandler’s restaurant. Everybody loves Ted!
Maureen Abdalla (aka Lead Scene Stealer) joined CATS back in the Red Baron days. If you’ve ever been to a show at CATS, you undoubtedly know Maureen.
Candace (Candi) Bolt is a child wrangler by day, performer by night. As a kindergarten teacher at Stone Academy downtown, it’s fair to say she performs all day as well, just for a slightly younger, more animated demographic.
Bill and Susan Smith (aka Greenville’s funniest power couple) have been running the show since the beginning. They are the honorary mom and pop to this sidesplitting band of misfits.
