Fiddler on the Roof

We went to to Barbara B. Mann theatre tonight to see Topol in his farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof. He first appeared as Tevye in 1967 in London. Then he played Tevye in the movie in 1971. The program says that he has performed this role over 2500 times! He must be able to say the lines and sing the songs in his sleep. Ok, so he's a little older now. My daughter joked that maybe he should be the grandfather rather than the father. And I have to admit that I had trouble understanding some of his lines and he was a bit of a ham but he is still great in the role. And of course, he got applause when he made his first entrance and a standing ovation for his curtain call.

The rest of the cast was excellent too. Everyone in the cast were Equity actors. The choreography was the original choreography by Jerome Robbins. The To Life number in the bar, the Dream scene with Fruma Sarah and the dance numbers in the wedding scene were amazing. They had a special floor with grooves in it and many of the set pieces moved on and off on their own--or so it seemed.

I had hoped to take more pictures. There was no announcement before hand and nothing in the program but after I took the picture above one of the ushers tapped me on the shoulder and told me, "No pictures!" So, at least I got this one. I did get a picture of the curtain before the show started. It is a bit fuzzy but I'm posting it anyway because I thought it was so neat.


Anyway, we had a great time. We are so lucky to have this theatre here in Ft. Myers. They get lots of big productions there. In the past we have seen Les Miz and Lion King as well as other shows. Wicked was there this year but we missed it. Hopefully we can take in a couple more shows next season.

Play On!

As I've mentioned before on here, I spent 30 years in Community Theatre--the Fort Findlay Playhouse, to be exact. That was after 3 years of a drama minor in at Eastern Michigan University. One show I always wanted to do--as in direct, act, work backstage, whatever--was the show Play On! by Rick Abbot. If you have EVER been in theatre, be it community, professional, church, school, college whatever, you can't help but love this play. We went to see the show last night at the local Schoolhouse Theatre.

Synopsis: The local community theater is in its last week of rehearsal for their upcoming production of "Murder Most Foul," (the title of which was an Agatha Christie novel) written by a local playwright. The theatre has gone with the local playwright because they are broke and won't have to pay royalties if they use this playwright. The first act takes place 4 days before opening. The set isn't quite finished, the props haven't all yet been obtained, the actors still don't know their lines, the author is still rewriting the script--well you get the drift. I could relate to this on so many levels having worked practically every area of theatre there is.

The second act takes place during dress rehearsal. They still haven't done a straight run through of the play, costumes don't fit, the playwright still wants to change lines and when she can't she decides to help backstage accidentally erasing all of the sound cues. This is all after she has discovered that Agatha Christie already used the title, Murder Most Foul. During dress rehearsal, the cast cracks up and can't stop laughing. (This happened to me soooo many times--both as an actor and a director). The only thing to do is let them laugh it out.

The third act takes place opening night. EVERYTHING that can go wrong--does. Lines are forgotten or flubbed. Props aren't where they are supposed to be or don't work. Stage fright takes over. Costumes get caught on things. Flies are left open. Sound cues don't work. An actor gets drunk. You name it!

Honestly, I don't remember when I laughed this hard at a play. There were people around me who didn't laugh at all and even looked at me like I was crazy. I guess they had never worked on a play before.

It brought back so many memories. Such as:
1. My best friend in college falling asleep on stage during the Crucible. Hey, she was on her honeymoon!
2. The line in Somethings Afoot was I would much rather--and it came out I would ratch muther. We later named one of our gerbils the Ratchmuther.
3. A sword falling off the wall as someone slammed the door at the end of a scene. The poor prop person was trying to find it in the dark. A disembodied voice from the audience said, "It's behind the shield."
4. The line "I took a tramp through the elements" came out "I took a tramp through the elephants."
5. In college, it took two people to set lights--one on top of the ladder positioning the lights and one at the foot of the ladder moving it so that the person didn't have to keep going up and down. One time the person on the bottom moved the ladder before the person on top was ready and he was left hanging from the light bar. Luckily, the ladder got moved back so he didn't fall.
6. When I directed my first play in community theatre, the actors skipped from the first act to the 3rd act. I was out in front and couldn't do a thing about it. It took a bit of doing but they finally got back on track.
7. During one play I was in, the lead was a real jerk and even though we had a prompter, wouldn't trust the prompter. So, if he forgot a line, he would walk off stage to look at his script leaving whoever was sharing the stage with him to fend for themselves.
8. When I was doing costumes in college, one of the actors came in drunk as a skunk one night and the director told me to hide his costume so he couldn't go on. That took some doing, believe me.
9. When I was directing Lion in Winter, I had cast a father and son as Henry II and King Phillip of France. One night during rehearsal, they got the giggles during their scene and couldn't stop. It really was kind of neat watching a father and son having fun like this.
10. A really neat memory--not a funny one, but my favorite--was when I directed 1776 and my son played the Courier who sings Mama Look Sharp. This is a really moving and poignant song. I would sit up in the balcony and when Dave got to a certain point in the song, he would turn and look at me. It never failed to bring me to tears.

OK, I guess that's enough reminiscing but last night's performance brought back so many wonderful memories of the fun times, the good times, the bad times etc. I had in theatre.

The Best Man

Fort Findlay Playhouse

OK, I know this sounds like something about a wedding but it is actually about a play I attended tonight. The Best Man is a play by Gore Vidal. It was also a movie which starred Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson.

As some of you know, I was a member of the Fort Findlay Playhouse for more years than I care to count. Ok, for about 30 years. I was pregnant with my son when I worked on my first show there. Over those years I acted, directed, produced, stage managed and worked every backstage crew known to man. I quit due to job responsibilities and burn out. But, I do miss it. And I miss all the friends I had at FFP. And so, when we are in town and there is a Playhouse production on, we try to go.

And tonight was closing night for The Best Man. The cast consisted of 3 women and 9 men. There was a day when the FFP were lucky to get 4 men to audition. Now I don't know how many auditioned for this show but the 9 Patrick Davis, the director, cast were 9 extremely strong actors as were the 3 women. My daughter will recognize a few names here. Steve Froelich was William Russell. I've seen Steve in other shows but he was amazing in this show as was Jim Toth who played the ex-president. I think this was the best I have ever seen Jim and he has been doing shows there since 1963. Also in the cast was Bill Rayle who lives with us. He, too, was very strong in his role. Steve's wife, Bonnie, played his wife in the play. I've known Bonnie for many many years and her acting never fails to amaze me. She is so versatile.

Oh, and Karen, we sat next to Vicki and Phil McClurkin during the show and caught up with them. Gee, it's fun to see old friends again!

This morning, we also went to Max and Erma's for breakfast. It was a fundraiser for the Playhouse. FFP members served as waiters and waitresses. Many of the cast members from tonight were there bright and early this morning. The Playhouse lost a lot during the horrible flood we had in Findlay last August. Everything in the basement was lost as there was water up to the ceiling. And many of the props, flats etc which were stored down the street were also lost. And no flood insurance since they were told they weren't in a flood zone. Guess again!! Anyway, Max and Erma's helped raise a little bit of money to help out this morning. It was much appreciated.

In case you are interested in reading a few items about FFP and the flood go here, here, and here.

Anyway, I just wanted to give the Playhouse, the cast, and crew a standing ovation (which they got by the way) for a job well done.

A Blast From the Past

Last night we used a gift certificate that our daughter and son in law gave us for Christmas. We went to the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre here in Fort Myers to see Guys and Dolls. I had called yesterday afternoon and they had just had a cancellation for 6 people at table C2. We could have the two seats closest to the railing which was fine by me. The theatre had a proscenium stage (you know—the kind that has a curtain that goes up and down?) and then about 7 levels, each about a foot higher than the last, for tables. Some tables are for two, some for 4, and some for 6 or 8. Ours was a table for 8. There were already two people there at the opposite end of the table when we got there. As we were eating our salad, 4 more showed up and crammed themselves into the remaining four spots. They had been seated near the back but wanted to move closer. After sitting there for about 3 minutes, they decided it was too crowded (at least that was the reason they gave. Hmmmm) and moved back to their original table. So we had a table for 8 for the 4 of us. Lots of room to stretch out. A big buffet was set up with lots of salads, pork loin, beef, salmon, pasta, veggies, and tons of desserts. Adult beverages were extra but of course we had to have a couple. The food was good and the service was great.

Now on to the play. I LOVE Guys and Dolls. Many moons ago when I was totally involved in the Fort Findlay Playhouse Community Theatre, I worked on this show. For the life of me, I can’t remember in what capacity but I think it was probably lights. That meant I got to sit in the light booth every night and sing along (quietly) to every song. And what great songs they were. Guys and Dolls, Fugue for Tinhorns, A Bushel and a Peck, If I Were a Bell, I’ve Never Been in Love Before, Take Back Your Mink, Luck Be a Lady, and my all time favorite, Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat. The last one is what is commonly referred to as the 10:00 Waker Upper. (It seems that every musical has a big rock ‘em sock ‘em number around 10:00 which is usually the showstopper number of the show.) Anyway, this is the number in Guys and Dolls and the number last night was fantastic. The couple that played the leads, Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown, were great. Good voices and good acting. The other lead couple was half and half. The guy that played Nathan Detroit was ok. Good voice but a bit over the top acting wise. The gal that played Adelaide was WAY over the top. She way over acted and even though she wore a mic, it was like she felt she needed to shout. Adelaide is such a fun part and I didn’t enjoy this Adelaide at all. The Guys were great. Good voices, good dancers etc. The guy that played Big Julie was super. He was about 6’6 and built like a football player but boy could he act, dance, and sing. When we did the show in Findlay, we didn’t have a big guy try out for the part so we cast the shortest guy we could find and went against type. It was pretty funny actually. (Hey, Karen, do you remember any of the rest of the cast?? Or were you too young to remember? Hint—it was Bill’s first play at FFP and he, Terry, and Dan were all in the show.)

Anyway, this was our first trip to Broadway Palm. We have been to the Barbara B. Mann Theatre to see road shows of Evita, Man of La Mancha (which incidentally I directed at FFP) and Lion King and we are regulars at the Schoolhouse Theatre on the island (which by the way we attended this week also) but we’ve never been to the Broadway Palm. Last night’s trip won’t be our last. I love musicals and this is about all they do. They also have a second stage where they perform smaller shows. Right now they are doing Monkey Business which is described as Nunsense but with monks. They had the cast give our audience one brief song last night before our show started. I would love to see that show too. Shows coming up on the main stage are Caberet and 42^nd Street. I guess we’ll just have to go and see some more theatre!

Anyway, thank you Karen and Michael for the gift certificate. It was a wonderful Christmas gift. One we sure didn’t expect and one we enjoyed immensely.