Downtime for seasonal work doesn’t slow Mike LaBiche down. He uses it to volunteer for the Iberia Performing Arts League to build sets and when cast, perform in the spring musical. Nothing out of the ordinary for 2017 — except the construction. Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” is a misnomer for what was required for the dancers aboard the S.S. American. If you haven’t seen it yet, the last chance is today at 3 p.m.

The set includes two rollout interior cruise ship cabins — they only have about an inch on either side of the offstage passageway to move. One takes a minimum of two people to pull into position marked by tape on the stage floor. Then in seconds, the bottom half of the bed it supports flips down, coverings straightened, before the curtain opens for the scene to begin.

Precision is the best word to describe the action. Later in the show, another platform, or two, had to come from its hidden caverns beneath a stage that was constructed for both capacity of the cast as well as safety. The undertaking was not a simple one for the man that normally works alone in the process of construction. This year LaBiche needed help.

“Rolling rooms,” said LaBiche. “We’re in tight quarters, within inches. The actors are all dedicated to move things on stage during the productions. We actually had to have a rehearsal for moving the rooms. There’s no one who knows more about what needs to be done than the two men standing before you.”

LaBiche was referring to his friend, fellow actor and co-construction assistant Mike Parich.

“Mike is more about the sets, mobiles and all that stuff,” said Parich. “I’m by nature into electronics, the electrical guy and musician. I do all the tech, most of the lighting.”

And, he’s in the show. Parich is an electrical contractor by trade but he owns the company, which allows him flexibility with his work. LaBiche has a lawn and landscape business. Because of the seasonal reduction of work in the winter, he has time to volunteer. Otherwise, the production team for IPAL depends heavily on retirees as their main volunteer base. Anyone with skill or time is always welcome to the team.

“I give them everything I’ve got for 70 to 80 days, and then I’m done,” said LaBiche. “I’m busy with work the rest of the year.”

A Tapestry of Coincidence

As a side note, in addition to the construction and performing responsibilities for “Anything Goes,” both Mikes were part of Saturday’s Reader’s Theater during Dave Robicheaux’s Hometown Literary Festival. LaBiche was the voice of Dave Robicheaux, an ironic role he also performed on the Essanee stage at last year’s event.

Ten years ago LaBiche met James Lee Burke after Gus at Iberia Gardens referred him to the homeowner on Loreauville Road wanting to put in cypress trees along the banks of the Bayou Teche.

“The man called and said, ‘This is James, can you come meet me at my house?’ ” said LaBiche. “I didn’t have a clue. I don’t read books. I’m in the reader’s theater but I don’t read books. I’ve got to be hands on.”

Community theater is full of ironic stories and interesting experiences.

“I didn’t even know who (Burke) was. I get to his house and we walk to the bayou. He had his cowboy boots and cowboy hat on,” said LaBiche. “He’s got this shine on his face, I kid you not. He’s a happy person, laid back, real simple.”

Beginning to End

The director of “Anything Goes,” Vincent Barras, told LaBiche he wanted an eight-foot high platform for the set. LaBiche did the rest from design to fitting it on the stage.

“When you have a small theater like this, you have to design your own sets,” LaBiche said.

The first challenge was leveling the stage to build the second story upon. The supports were the first thing put into place. Four guys built and raised a four-foot by eight-foot, two-by-six-foot framed three-quarter-inch plywood foundation. The result was an upper ship deck, a total eight-foot deep, 32-foot back walk and 24-foot platform at the railing.

“We had a two-story set,” LaBiche said. “Walter Voorhies helped me big time with these (stair) handrails. They’re actually made for boats,” said LaBiche. “The (deck) railing was actually a cattle panel I found at T&S Feed Store, Steve Gautreaux’s place.”

Ten-foot by six six-foot panels were cut at Voorhies’ machine shop and receivers were made to be able to attach the handrails to the upper deck 24-foot platform. Actually if you look at the book, it looks just like the picture in the Broadway stage production souvenir program, LaBiche said.

Wendy Parich chimed in on the backstage tour to remark how conservative the IPAL prop and set team can be. The plans are already in the works how to convert the solid construction into “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” set for the summer musical.

“We recycle everything as much as we can,” said Mike Parich.

“We don’t nail anything because we reuse it,” LaBiche said. “Screws take a lot longer but you can take it apart after.”

But how would the cast access the stage?

“We had these old wooden latters but that wouldn’t do,” LaBiche said. “We had this old staircase from ‘Chicago’ but it wouldn’t fit (backstage). So we looked at it and measured and said with a landing pad (and another shorter staircase) it would fit perfect.”

Wendy Parich helped by suggesting where to place it so the performers wouldn’t hit their heads on the air-conditioning vents. The handrails were a miss-matched, this-and-that collection of scrap wood that was available. IPAL doesn’t waste anything, she said.

A community theater that has its own home has the benefit of compiling its set pieces, props and costumes so after every show, the surplus of available items needed for future shows continues to grow.

“Every year it gets a little bit better,” said Wendy Parich. “All the money goes back into the theater and it gets a little bit better.”

“This place could have been easily torn down,” LaBiche said. “From Freddie DeCourt to Mac Sterns, IPAL finding this place and making the decision to buy it. People need to know where it began.”

During construction, LaBiche found a newspaper article written about Sterns and the founding of the IPAL home at the Essanee Theater. He prominently placed it so everyone who participates in shows has the opportunity to know and understand the beginning of something that has entertained Teche Area residents for many years — and will for many more thanks to the collective effort of performers and crew.

“Oliver” was the first show at the Essanee. Mike Parich played Bill Sikes. “Fiddler on the Roof” also had rolling rooms, Parich said. Mike LaBiche helped with that show as well, and it was the first show “Doc” Voorhies was in. The rest is history.