Ringing in the New Year with Dinner and a Show. My sisters and nephew and niece invited me to go with them to a New Year's Eve production of "Pride and Prejudice" at a local community theater. Apparently, the Hale Center Theater Orem does this type of production every New Year's Eve. They host a catered dinner at 9:00 pm where the patrons eat at their seats. Then they start the show at 10:00 pm. Dessert is served at intermission. They break for the ringing in of the New year at 12:00 midnight no matter what point they are in the show.
This theater company has a tiny, tiny stage. The limited audience is seated very close to the stage and see the show "in the round." So whatever play or musical this group mounts cannot rely on fancy sets or props or even a very big cast. There simply is not enough room for many bodies, bulky costumes, intricate sets, or a lot of props. From what I noticed, the only set decorations were some white mirror frames hanging high in the rafters. The set pieces were some elegant dining room chairs, one small round table, and a small "box" spinet (piano). They used very few props such as bonnets, shawls, a small stack of novels, a couple of pieces of sheet music, and letter writing materials. The characters had one costume each with a few extras such as a shawl or jacket. One actor played two different characters. (His change of make-up and costuming was more dramatic and transformational.)
One thing I can say for this production is that they played it for laughs. Jane Austen's writing is already humorous, but they added even more comedy, particularly when developing some of the side characters. Their version of Mr. Collins was comical without being creepy. His silliness was offset by a very sweet and steady Charlotte Lucas. Many of the characters were mentioned but never seen, and much of the story line had to be skipped or told briefly in passing to make the play shorter. I dare say that most of the audience knew the story very well -- so well that they could fill in any missing elements in their imaginations.
From what I have heard, I understand that in Jane Austen's day, it was popular to perform "parlor theatricals" to be produced by the people in the household. This production felt like that. It was intimate and obviously trimmed to bare bones, yet so enjoyable. In fact, I understand that Jane Austen herself wrote quite a few "parlor theatricals" and had them performed by her own family and friends.
Kudos to a theatrical company that can do so much with so little!
This theater company has a tiny, tiny stage. The limited audience is seated very close to the stage and see the show "in the round." So whatever play or musical this group mounts cannot rely on fancy sets or props or even a very big cast. There simply is not enough room for many bodies, bulky costumes, intricate sets, or a lot of props. From what I noticed, the only set decorations were some white mirror frames hanging high in the rafters. The set pieces were some elegant dining room chairs, one small round table, and a small "box" spinet (piano). They used very few props such as bonnets, shawls, a small stack of novels, a couple of pieces of sheet music, and letter writing materials. The characters had one costume each with a few extras such as a shawl or jacket. One actor played two different characters. (His change of make-up and costuming was more dramatic and transformational.)
One thing I can say for this production is that they played it for laughs. Jane Austen's writing is already humorous, but they added even more comedy, particularly when developing some of the side characters. Their version of Mr. Collins was comical without being creepy. His silliness was offset by a very sweet and steady Charlotte Lucas. Many of the characters were mentioned but never seen, and much of the story line had to be skipped or told briefly in passing to make the play shorter. I dare say that most of the audience knew the story very well -- so well that they could fill in any missing elements in their imaginations.
From what I have heard, I understand that in Jane Austen's day, it was popular to perform "parlor theatricals" to be produced by the people in the household. This production felt like that. It was intimate and obviously trimmed to bare bones, yet so enjoyable. In fact, I understand that Jane Austen herself wrote quite a few "parlor theatricals" and had them performed by her own family and friends.
Kudos to a theatrical company that can do so much with so little!
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