Monday, July 13, 2009

Entertainment: Hale Centre Theater
"Hello Dolly"

After the marginally directed and acted play "Treasure Island," the Hale Center Theater has done a lot to redeem itself in the production of Hello Dolly - a true "classic" based upon Thorton Wilder's book "the Matchmaker."

The T/Th/S cast was superb, to a tee. I heard "Barbara Streisand" a couple of times when Dolly Levi went on in her rapid fire way; but, not when she sang her numbers - I didn't want to, Jennifer Hohl was doing just fine, thank you very much.

Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.”
Samuel Clemmens, "Mark Twain"

Barnabe and Cornelius were the bumbling fools (like they were written) - and quite believable; Irene and Minnie Fay were poised and wonderfully costumed; Horace was the pompous, flustered, weak soul that he should have been, and must be forgiven when the script required that unbelievable "U-turn" so fast you loose your false teeth; but, the director and Ermengarde chose an unusual interpretation of the character too infantile (and a bit annoying) for my tastes.

None-the-less every single character sang with voices that should, but for chance alone, be singing on Broadway. And you know the musical score (you've been humming them for years) - not a "clinker" among the lot.

The staging and choreography were excellent (even though they didn't use all the fancy hydraulics) and done with innovation, while still keeping to the dignity of a classic.

And one of the best things about the performance was that the "punk rocker" audio-person must be on summer holiday, our ears didn't bleed from the decibels like they have on past occasions - and there was no screaming! The actors managed to get their point across without it!

All in all - this kind of experience is why we keep buying season tickets!

Learn A Little More

For those of you have watched my screencasts and were wondering, here is a screencast made by my mentor. He taught me all he knows about screencasting and the explanation of difficult topics: The Turbo Encabulator

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