Ramsdell Theater- the Other View

 
In all the plays I've shared photos of, I can't believe I haven't given you at least a mini-tour of the Ramsdell Theater in Manistee. It's is a gorgeous Victorian era theater, and it's still in the process of being restored, but it's really nice. Some time, I'll have to hunt up other pictures of the building itself, and not just of a play.

Today, I got to see it from the other view- the view from on stage. Even if I don't get to be in a play, I gave my program about the North Country Trail there this morning.



In other news: I ended up with a bad headache in the afternoon, but felt better later on. Made yet another store run. I've about had it with those. Then I started really putting stuff in the trailer, and doing some of the little odds and ends that will make it nicer than last year.

Not sure if I will leave here Thursday or Friday. Marie is in a time crunch of her own, so we are not looking to rush things.

See A Tuneful Christmas Carol

A Tuneful Christmas Carol

 
Tonight I went to a production called "A Tuneful Christmas Carol." It was an adaptation of the classic Dickens tale by a local man of many talents.

This was opening night, so if you are in the area, you have three more chances to see it. Do. It's a little pricey (I think they must have rented the costumes and probably had to rent the Ramsdell Theater since it wasn't produced by the Manistee Civic Players), but it's short (about an hour) and the kids won't get bored. There are lots of kids in the play. Part of the proceeds each night are being donated to local charities.

Anyway, let's talk first about the set. I REALLY liked the set. It took advantage of the fact that you can do multiple levels quite easily there. In this long shot, you can see that Scrooge's office is set down in what would be the orchestra pit. That part of the set just stayed put, no one had to move anything. If the action was in the office your eye was drawn there, if not, you could just ignore it.



Look at the picture above again. See the wall with a door on the right side of the stage? That is where Scrooge lives. The knocker that came to life as Jacob Marley's face is visible on it. Now see what that unit can do.

By just pivoting it around, you can now see into Scrooge's bedroom. He would climb stairs on the back side to enter. Switching from the street view to the interior view took only a few seconds. Very slick.



The only other interior that needed to be clearly defined was the Crachit household. This was accomplished by bringing in the floor of their main room complete with chairs, table, etc, on a scenery wagon. Again... about 2 seconds, different set. Not a great picture, but I wanted to show this piece of scenery.



Charles Dickens appeared as the narrator (a little humor there). You can see him wearing a long brown coat in the first picture. The production was "tuneful" because there were carolers in the streets, giving Scrooge something to complain about regularly.

Scrooge is visited first by Marley's Ghost.



The Spirit of Christmas Past shows Scrooge himself as a boy.



There was a well-done and fairly complex dance scene in this segment as part of the celebration featuring young Scrooge and his fiance. I know this production was rehearsed in just a few weeks. That cast must have worked their tails off to get the dances right.



Of course, the Spirit of Christmas Present takes him to visit the Crachit house and to see Tiny Tim. That scene is above where I talked about the set.



Finally, the Spirit of Christmas Future comes and shows Scrooge that no one will mourn for him.



We all know the ending... Scrooge is a reformed man.



This production is a classic retelling of the story with the addition of music which made it a lot of fun. I know several of the actors, the set designer, and the adapter/director.

Bedtime- have to be at work at 8 am.

	See Deathtrap
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Deathtrap (Again)

 
It's not too often that I get to see a play more than once, produced by different groups. However, the fall play at the Ramsdell Theater in Manistee was Deathtrap. I saw this just two years ago at the Howmet in Whitehall, so I knew what to expect.

First of all, I really loved the set. It's very open and constantly reminds you that you are watching a play. That's totally in keeping with the play itself, which is a wonderful poke in the ribs to the theater and the life of a playwright.



Three of the five cast members were experienced actors, and they, of course, set the tone for the quality. The other two rose to their level, and therefore the acting was excellent.

Here, the man in the middle is famous playwright Sidney Bluhm. He's had past success writing thrillers, but is currently in a slump. His study walls are decorated with the many (handy) weapons used in his previous plays.

He has invited a young admirer (on the right) to his home for the evening. The younger man has written what is destined to be a smash hit of a play. Sid has plans to do away with Clifford and steal the script. Sid's wife (left) is alternately horrified by the idea and intrigued that it could solve their money problems.



Of course, it's dangerous to plot evil at any time, but especially foolhardy when there is a psychic living next door. She feels "great pain" in the room!



Murder is done, and Act I ends. But what about Act II? I won't give it away, but the lawyer and the psychic seem to be celebrating. Don't count on believing what you see, however!



The set, the props, the costumes, and the acting were superb. It was the first time the director had taken on that role, and I think she did a great job. My only "complaint" is that the timing dragged just a bit. That could have just been true of this one performance. I think the audience would have laughed more if it had been a little snappier.

This is a play that is both a dark thriller and hilarious. The plot is filled with murder, but you are continually reminded that it's only a story, which lightens the tone.

The Manistee Civic Players have done themselves proud once again. Every so often there is a production that is more typical of small town theater, but for the most part you can count on better than average experiences.

Accountability Report:
Have about 90% decided to go for a release date for Dead Mule Swamp Druggist around Christmas. I've got three good Beta readers lined up. I did a little editing and wrote about a hundred words. This is not enough. I have about one more day to make up my mind to push for this, because I have to really buckle down to make it happen. Stay tuned.

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Pippin

 
Yes, it's been a while since I went to a play. I didn't even get a season ticket to the Ramsdell last year because I didn't care for several of the shows. This year, I have one again, although I did miss the spring production.

The summer musical is Pippin, an interesting theatric, that breaks a lot of "rules." It's sort of a musical, coming of age farce. It won a Tony award in 2013 for best revival of a musical (with a new ending that was used tonight). But I wasn't familiar with it. Wikipedia says there's a lot of debate as to what the play means. I can understand that.

It's sort of a play about a play about life. There's a theatrical company with a Leading Player as narrator. The main character is Pippin, eldest son of Charlemagne. Other than the names and their relationship, there isn't really any historical credibility intended.

Pippin has been educated and he is seeking a deeper meaning in life. He is drawn to the "magic" of the theatrical troupe who run (almost) all of the show.



We meet Charlemagne, Pippin's stepmother and half brother, Lewis. There is the usual intrigue of royal families where the stepmother and brother conspire to kill the king and then Pippin, so Lewis can be king.



But the primary plot is Pippin's search for meaning. He tries war, girls, activism and politics, and faith.



I'm going to skip a whole lot of the middle here because there's a lot of detail. Pippin tries them all, ends up as king and doesn't like it. He asks the Leading Player for a do-over, and is granted his wish, whereupon he runs away and becomes depressed.

Catherine, a wealthy widow with a young son and an estate, finds Pippin and falls in love with him.



She convinces him to stay with them, and he briefly finds a spark with Catherine, but he gets bored with the ordinary life of planting and parenting and all that.

He goes back to the theatrical troupe, still looking for the magic, and they try to talk him into "going out in a blaze of glory."



When Pippin doesn't want to do that, they get angry. Catherine sings a song about how she cares for Pippin that the Leading Player declares was not in the script. The Leading Player takes away the lights, the set, the music, and Pippin's, Catherine's and Theo's (the son) costumes. The troupe symbolically take off their gloves and throw them down. The "family" is left in their underwear on a bare stage.



Catherine and Pippin realize that maybe ordinary living is the deeper meaning they've been seeking and exit together (here's where the new ending comes in). Theo goes and picks up one of the gloves and suddenly the troup is back enticing him with their magic.



Maybe it was because I was tired, but I haven't decided if this play works for me or not. For one thing, I am finding anti-Christian jokes less and less funny, and there are quite a few of them. As with any musical, if you don't know the words to the songs, it's really hard to understand them the first time through.

One line really grabbed me. "I want my life to be more than long." And yet, the play seems to end up saying that the only real meaning is not in any of the "big" issues.

I usually like plays that cut through traditional production styles. This one, at least this time, not so much.

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The Cemetery Club

 
I went to another play tonight. I had not previously heard of this one. It's called The Cemetery Club, by Ivan Menchell. It was adapted to the screen in 1993, but I didn't see the movie either. Not particularly my kind of show... all about relationships and feelings with no real action or strong story line. That said, it was good for that sort of thing.

The idea is that there are three Jewish New York widows who have been longtime friends. More than half the play takes place in Ida's apartment. Ida (left) is the most recently widowed, and is also the most average of the women. Lucille (middle) is flamboyant, and now that she doesn't have to put up with her philandering husband any more she's going to live it up. Doris (right) is just the opposite. Her husband has been gone for four years, but she can't let go.



The rest of the play is in the cemetery. Once a month they all go to the cemetery to visit their dead husbands' graves. They each talk to their spouses, and also to each other. Personally, I wished they would have brought a curtain down between the apartment set and the gravestones for the cemetery scenes, just because the set was distracting. But that wasn't a major problem.



Sam the butcher (who also lost his wife) and Ida tentatively begin a relationship, but Lucille and Doris tell Sam to back off. Although their reasons are different, neither one wants their "cemetery club" to be broken up. Meanwhile, the friends have been invited to be bridesmaids at the umpteenth wedding of their friend Selma. Ida doesn't understand why Sam has stopped calling her and is unhappy when Sam arrives to give them a ride with the very forward Mildred hanging on his arm.

They arrive back at the apartment after Selma's wedding, drunk. Of course, Ida then learns that her friends are the reason Sam hasn't been coming around.



I'll stop my narrative here, because it's almost to the crisis point of the play, and I don't want to give it away. But things end at the cemetery, with Ida and Sam moving on with their lives.



There is a lot of "Jewish mother" type humor throughout the play which keeps it from becoming maudlin. However, the timing of this production was slow. Just because the underlying material is serious doesn't mean it has to drag. It made it look as if the actors forgot their lines (unless, of course, they did forget their lines... haha).

Then again, you could say I'm never satisfied since the current audio book I'm listening to in the car is being read at a fast pace by a woman with a squeaky voice that makes me feel like I'm listening to Alvin the Chipmunk.

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Agatha Christie Made Me Do It

 
I'm a day behind because I didn't get a post done last night after I got home from a play and before I went to work.

I went to see the spoof "Agatha Christie Made Me Do It." This is the exact opposite of "Buried Child." It's just a light, fun play that pokes fun at all the formulaic mysteries of all time. It was really cute. We weren't supposed to take pictures (usually, they just say no flash), but I snuck one for you.



The young man on the left wakes up on a Tuesday morning to learn by various means that he's married two women and wrecked a night club on Monday. He can't remember Monday at all. At the end of Act I, his business consultant is murdered. But by whom, and why?

The play was written in 1975 by Eddie Cope. It hasn't won any awards, but sometimes you just want a simple laugh.

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Footloose

 
I was a slug all day after I finally got up. Saturdays after Friday nights are hard. But I have this season ticket to the Ramsdell, and I had the seat reserved for tonight to see Footloose. So I dragged myself out the door. Glad I did. It was fun.

As is sometimes the case for big musicals here, the cast was heavy with local high-school students. This sometimes translates as inexperienced, and closer to what you might expect from local theater, amateur. Not so much with this production. Generally, it was really well done.

It was co-directed by a young man, Connar Klock, who's been in many local plays and is barely out of high school, himself. He's been accepted (in a competitive audition) into the Theatre Performance Class at Western Michigan this fall. Watch for him to go places. He introduced the play.



The play begins as Ren McCormack and his mother move from Chicago to the small town of Bomont. Ren's father has deserted them, and they are trying to fit into a new lifestyle.



The local minister is very conservative, and also quite a political force in the town. His daughter, Ariel, rebels by dating one of the local bad boys.



Ren gets in trouble almost immediately, because he likes to dance. There is a local ordinance prohibiting dancing anywhere within the village limits. This was instituted by the strict pastor, who is also chair of the town council. Small towns don't like outsiders, and Ren's troubles escalate. No matter what he does he's labeled a troublemaker.



He wants to let off steam by dancing, and takes some of the kids who are his friends to a nearby town where they learn how to dance.



Ren has learned that the reason the ordinance was put in place is because four teens were killed in an accident while driving home from a dance. Ariel explains that one of them was her brother, and that's why her father is so uptight. Of course, Ren and Ariel fall in love.



Ren decides to challenge the village council about the ordinance, and does so in a respectful way, but is voted down. He goes to have a talk with the minister later that day, and they discover they have things in common. He lost a son; Ren lost a father.



I probably don't need to tell you the ending, right?... it's a musical.



And now, ladies and gentlemen, I am headed for bed again.

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Shrek- the Musical

 
The quality of theatre in our small town region continues to amaze me. Tonight I went to Shrek the Musical at the Ramsdell Theater in Manistee. The only fault I really have to find with it was that the volume was so loud I had trouble understanding the words a lot of the time. But I tend to have trouble with that at a lot of places. Here are a few scenes.

If you've never seen the movie or the play, I highly recommend it. The story is like a fractured fairy tale, but it's not just (or even truly) for kids. It's a story of how real life isn't a fairy tale, but it can turn out with a happy ending for everyone, even an ogre, if we practice love and acceptance. And, it's hilarious as a spoof.

Here, the fairy tale characters find themselves in Shrek's swamp after being evicted from the woods owned by Lord Farquad.



Lord Farquad is a foppish, bossy little dude. His mother was a princess and his father was a miner (Grumpy the Dwarf). He can become King if he marries a princess. And he knows where to find one. The Princess Fiona has been imprisoned in a tower by a dragon. He just has to find someone who can successfully conquer the dragon and bring Fiona to him. Shrek agrees to do this in exchange for the actual deed to his swamp so he can get rid of all those crazy people. Of course, he's stuck with his sidekick, Donkey, who never shuts up.



The dragon is fierce, but Donkey out-talks her (yes it's a girl dragon) while Shrek climbs the tower and rescues Fiona.



On the way back to Farquad's castle, Shrek and Fiona discover they have feelings for each other, but there are problems. Shrek is well, an ogre, and has no clue how to express his feelings. The Three Blind Mice encourage him to "Make a Move."



Fiona knows that the fairy tale is supposed to turn out with her marrying the Prince. But she confides in Donkey that she has a really serious issue. A curse was once placed on her and every night at sundown she becomes a horrible ugly person, and the curse can only be broken by a kiss of true love. Then she will remain in her true form for the rest of her life. Shrek overhears part of this but mistakenly thinks she has called him horrible and ugly. Hurt and angry, he delivers her to Farquad, and collects the deed to his swamp. The wedding is hastily planned because Fiona knows she has to make it legal before sundown!

But, Shrek shows up and kisses Fiona. Much to her surprise and his delight, it turns out that Fiona's true form is green and chubby with little ears, just like Shrek! However, Lord Farquad is not so happy.



Shrek and Fiona find true love and learn that "beautiful ain't always pretty."



And Donkey will always be there to help. And to keep on talking.



The finale- Shrek, Donkey and Fiona- with Peter Pan, the Shoemaker's Elf, Fairy Godmother, the Ugly Duckling, the Mad Hatter, the Three Little Pigs, the Three Bears, the castle Guards, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Gingerbread Man (Gingy), the White Rabbit, Humpty Dumpty, Pinocchio, and Grumpy the Dwarf.

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