Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Sunday, December 16th, 2001 – Article Mention
New works don’t have to be serious to be good
“On the Aisle”
Alice T. Carter
Theater Critic Pittsburgh Tribune
When the warmly nostalgic “Mondo Mangia” began performances at City Theatre, nobody complained that it was a lightweight offering unlikely to stand the test of time.
Audiences happily filled the theater to capacity, eager to enjoy a frothy, nostalgic evening of pure entertainment.
Few would have expected last summer’s Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera production of the 1950s musical “Bells Are Ringing” to offer dramatic messages filled with meaning and lasting portent. It was just plain fun.
Why do we, as audiences, expect so much more of new works?
“Paper Doll,” which debuted in November, exceeded its sales goals. From the laughter in the theater, it was clear that audiences were having a good time.
But we hear mutterings from some members of the theatergoing public at large that this was a theatrical trifle, not worthy of a serious theater company. There were similar grumblings about the delightfully silly “By Jeeves,” which played at the Public in February on its way to Broadway.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not leaping to defend “Paper Doll” or “By Jeeves” as two of theater’s great, definitive, enduring works. They are unlikely to earn a place in the pantheon of such modern classics as “Waiting for Godot” or “Oklahoma!” No one expects that, 50 years from now, either of these new works will turn up at Canada’s Stratford Festival or on one of the stages of London’s National Theatre as a great modern classic.
But each provided a satisfying evening of entertainment.
Not all plays come bearing the mantle and stature of August Wilsons’s work, nor should they. I’m a big fan of Wilson’s deeply textured, complex and almost operatic dramas. Announce a new Tom Stoppard play, and you’ll find me near the front of the line to buy tickets.
But I’m not immune to the less demanding charms of a children’s musical like “Honk!” or the giddy tomfoolery of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged).”
Moreover, if theater is to have a future, it has to open its doors wide enough to let in playgoers with a variety of tastes. “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Miserables” and, yes, even the oft sneered-at “Cats” are accessible to many people in ways that “Copenhagen,” “The Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “Dance of Death” aren’t.
I’m willing to bet that most theater buffs didn’t start out attending something as challenging as Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author” or Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George” – shows that, like black olives or dry red wine, are an acquired taste. They more likely started with something along the lines of “Crazy for You” or “Barefoot in the Park.”
Nor does it mean that those who enjoy Stoppard’s “The Invention of Love” should limit themselves to dramas structured around complex ideas, emotions and language.
The world of live theater is big enough to embrace everything from “Oedipus” to “The Odd Couple” and “Hamlet” to “Hello, Dolly!”
A balanced theater diet should allow room for the silly and the inconsequential as well as the monumental and enduring. So when a theater company debuts a new serious play such as “King Hedley II” or offers something demanding – Helen Edmundson’s “The Clearing,” for example – go and enjoy yourself. You’ll probably find me sitting in an aisle seat.
Just don’t’ take your theatergoing so seriously that you can’t appreciate the wit, humor and occasional insights of “Paper Doll” or the giddy, goofy pleasures and musical cleverness of “By Jeeves.”
LET’S PUT ON A SHOW
It sounds like a plan hatched in an old movie starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. But it’s got more urgency and local importance.
The Strand Theater Initiative is putting together “The Big Show” to raise money to save Zelienople’s former movie theater on Main Street.
Closed since the early 1980s, the Strand once served as a social and informal community center for the Butler County borough. Soon after it was built in 1914, it began showing cutting-edge silent movies with live piano accompaniment.
Until its one-screen charms were overshadowed by the arrival of multiplex behemoths, the Strand continued unreeling screen dreams through the advent of innovations such as sound and color.
“The Big Show” is part of The Strand Theater Initiative’s larger effort to raise $2 million to purchase, renovate and operate the Main Street building as a performing arts center. The Strand Initiative’s board of directors envisions it as a cultural center for the performing arts in the north Pittsburgh region as well as a potential stop for small professional touring companies.
According to Initiative president Ron Carter (who, by the way, is not related to me), the theater has secured a $150,000 purchase agreement to buy the property. But it needs more money to close the deal by the deadline of Jan. 3.
What happens if they don’t meet that deadline? “I feel confident the owner will give us another extension,” Carter says.
“The Big Show” begins at 7 p.m. Friday in the auditorium at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School in Harmony.
Professional and local performers will dance, sing, tell jokes and perform feats of magic for this fundraising effort. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students when purchased in advance, or $12 at the door, Details: (724) 742-0400.
The computer-connected can visit a Web site to see photos of the theater as it is now as well as more colorful and upbeat images on how it will look after restoration. To learn more about the Strand Initiative and its plans, or to learn how to make a donation, visit the Web site, www.thestrandtheater.org, or call Carter (not me, the other one) at (724)742-0400.