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It’s hard to believe we are about to start our 5th season of presenting theater at the Carriage House in Norwalk. We’ve had some great fun along the way, met some interesting new friends and even managed to create some great theater.
As always we thank all of you who have been a part of it, whether behind the scenes, on stage, or in the audience (which may be the most important part of all!).
This is our first official blog! Hopefully we will have time to update this more than periodically and even have guests write about their thoughts and experiences (beyond the ‘we had a great time’ variety).
Our number one goal is – and has always been – to have a good time. We are all here as volunteers because we love to do theater. Our first show of the new season speaks to that. When we thought of the most creative we have been, it has been in parodying the shows we love. All of our ‘kids’ shows have that element, as did Not Another High School Musical last year.
In discussing what we would do this season, Anthony came up with the idea of doing a TV show parody. We ended up with FOUR: Gilligan’s Island, The Golden Girls, The Facts of Life and, of course, The Brady Bunch and are calling it Boob Tube Bonanza.
For us, it is a chance to do what we do best: throw a dart at the board of pop culture, be outrageous, and hopefully on target. Who doesn’t remember the musical version of Hamlet or Marcia breaking her nose or having cheesecake with The Golden Girls?
For the actors, this will be our version of Saturday Night Live! It will be a chance to recreate some iconic characters, yet to lovingly make fun of them at the same time. It is a fine line and our toes have crossed that line more than once. There will be a lot of improvisation and even audience participation. Each night will be different. It is, after all, live theater.
One of my favorite “live theater” moments from last season happened during a performance of The Birdcage. In the scene, Larry Greeley as Deputy Charrier is supposed to pick up the ringing phone and go on with the scene. Larry accidentally knocked the handset off the receiver and onto the floor. For another actor it might have been an awkward moment. Larry grimaced to Andrea Garmun, who was onstage, playing his wife. Larry proceeded to reel the phone in, rather than bending down to pick it up. When it was finally in hand, he ad-libbed to the person on the phone, “I’m sorry. My wife dropped the phone.” That is live theater.
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