Untitled Document
Every year at least one Muni Opera show suffers from
the intense summer heat. This year’s victim was Oklahoma!, which ended the Muni
season this past weekend. For a period show in which everyone — especially
the women — wears layers of clothing, it’s no fun, but
it’s a part of performing outdoor theater. This brings to mind the question we ask of ourselves
each year: Why do we do outdoor theater, especially in central Illinois?
Not only has the cast of Oklahoma! dealt with the upper 90-degree temps, Theater in the Park
at New Salem also opened its production of Li’l Abner last week, during the hottest
weekend of the summer.
Pam Brown played Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! during the recent
heat wave. “We audition for Muni in March, and you tend to
forget what might come your way in August,” she says. “One night before the show my internal temp went
too high when they put the wig on me and I was literally boiling over, but
I was able to finish the show because we had a prepared nurse on our staff,
ready in the wings with ice packs, cold compresses, and cups of water. I
was able to cool down with ice packs in my hose and a cold compress under
the neck of my dress.”
For pros like Brown, adversity offers a special
thrill. “It is kind of a challenge to see if your show
can beat, or stand, all of the elements — heat, rain, chilly
nights,” she says, but theater, she adds, is her passion.
“I’ll take on anything — and survive — in order to
do it.”
Shelly Flickinger of Theater in the Park says that she
enjoys the challenge “of being able to finish your line of dialogue
despite the fact that a gnat has just flown down your throat!”
Flickinger says that she wouldn’t trade an
occasional gnat snack for the opportunity to perform at New Salem, which
she loves for its intimacy, “the trees all around us, the sound of
the crickets — it’s just beautiful!”
Muni veteran Donna Ragan says, “I have performed
in extremes as far as temperature and misting rain, have eaten bugs, and
competed with all the noise nature has to offer. I love theater, and I love
being able to be part of something that gives so much back to the
community.”
“Would it be better indoors?” Ragan asks.
“Maybe, but on those nights when the weather isn’t perfect and
there is still an audience waiting to be entertained, you kind of want to
work harder, because if they are willing to brave the elements, they really
need what you have to offer.”
Of course, it’s not just the actors and stage
crews who must deal with the weather. We have some loyal audiences who
brave the heat and show up for the performances. • Li’l Abner, running at New Salem through Sunday, Aug. 20, is
based on the famous comic strip by Al Capp and was a hit in the 1950s on
Broadway. It is a fun night out with a winning musical score and some great
performances, especially Michael Murphy as ‘Marryin’
Sam.’ Kudos to Linda Schneider and musical director Dave Shaeffer.
(For tickets, call 800-710-9290). • The Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan is
finishing up its final show, the musical La
Cage aux Folles, running through Aug. 19. The
musical, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical (score by Jerry Herman,
book by Harvey Fierstein), is a tuneful throwback to the 1960s Herman
musicals (Hello, Dolly!, Mame).
The show has lots of laughs and the cast is good, especially Chicago actors
John B. Boss and Michael Haws in the lead roles. • The Little Theatre will stage a fall show, Honky Tonk Angels, running
Oct. 18-21 and 25-28. Next season’s lineup has also been announced: Cabaret, Guys & Dolls, West Side Story, Annie and the new Elvis musical All Shook Up. (Call
888-261-9675 for tickets).
Contact theater writer Phil Funkenbusch at
Phil.Funkenbusch@Illinois.gov.
This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2007.
