You Say Tomato

Caught Mesquite Community Theatre's final performance of A Bad Year for Tomatoes. This was my first trip to MCT's Black Box at the Mesquite Arts Center. The space is a bit odd and difficult for staging shows.

The show itself was fine. I had Assistant Directed this play a couple of years ago, but because I also served as Stage Manager, I never really got to see it once we were in full tech and costumes.

In Mesquite, Act 1 lasted an hour and forty-five minutes. I know some of that is just because the Act is written long, but I think the pacing could have been a bit tighter. I saw folks leaving at intermission. I don't know if it was because they weren't enjoying it, or if they just had to get home and were afraid that Act 2 would be just as long. Act 2 only ran 25 minutes, which did make the total time fairly reasonable.

When I was involved with this show, the Director suggested that we move intermission to after Scene 2 of Act 1. That would have made the balance better, but there are costume and makeup issues that would make such a break difficult to pull off. However, it would make more sense because Scene 3 is a couple of months later than Scene 2, and then Act 2 follows Act 1 Scene 3 later the same day. It seems that the entire reason for the Act break is because of the costume and makeup issue.

Grease is the Word

I managed to catch the final Dress Rehearsal for KCCT's production of Grease. I'll be getting back for a real performance before the run is over. I was told that opening night was Standing Room Only, and chairs were brought in along the aisles. KCCT hadn't had a sell-out since 2003's production of 42nd Street. We came close with Anything Goes and Annie but never quite got there.

Congrats to Sarah, her production team, and the cast for a successful opening weekend. Hope the whole run goes great.