“Play it Again, Patti” now in
Rehearsal
“Reprise” is an interesting word. A lot of
things are reprised; fashion, relationships, music, but I’m going to
talk about theatre.
LTOB is currently in rehearsal for a show
called “Play it Again, Patti”. I’m sure you may wonder, who the heck is
Patti?
Well, Patti is Patti West, and she was a
Director of many shows at Little Theatre on the Bay. Block Busters! She
could bring together multitudes of production people, actors, musicians,
dancers and put on a show that would sell out show after show.
She was always on the cutting edge,
sometimes even a little ahead of the cutting edge in her choice of
Musicals. My relationship with Patti started when she was Assistant
Director to Pat Eisenbarth during the production of “Cabaret” in 1980. I
played a very patriotic Hooker “Fraulein Kost” in the show, which was my
first LTOB production. We got to know each other a little better and I
eventually became one of the Ladies of LTOB. We were a core who got
things done.
Patti directed “Oklahoma”, “South
Pacific”, Guys and Dolls” “Gypsy”, “Into the Woods”, “the Boyfriend”,
and my favorite: “Little Shop of Horrors”, along with many straight
plays. They’re called straight plays because they’re strictly talking
and dialogue, instead of singing and dancing. I’m sure she would have
gone on directing again and again, but she had an untimely death.
I thought it would be a great tribute to
Patti to put together a reprise of some of her Musicals, and I presented
it to the Board of Directors. Now we are in production. My idea was to
invite original cast members to “Reprise their roles” and fill in the
gaps with a wonderful cast of singers. So that’s what you’re going to
get. Two hours of solid entertainment.
“Play it Again, Patti“, features 3 major
Musicals: Oklahoma”, “South Pacific”, and “Little Shop of Horrors”, with
5 or 6 numbers from each show tied together by a few lines of dialogue
to keep the story making sense. I’ve peppered “Olios” between the
Musicals using Original cast members from “the Boyfriend“, “Gypsy“, and
“Guys and Dolls”.
The musical accompaniment will be live and
features Janice Kendall as Musical Director, with Ida Jo Gates assisting
on keyboard. I’m building the sets and painting the drops…just like I
did with the original productions. It’s really giving me a lot of time
to reflect on what a contribution that wonderful gal gave to our
community.
The show will be one weekend only, May 9,
10, and 11 to accommodate the out-of -towners who are coming back to
reprise their roles, so circle that date on your calendar right now so
you won’t miss it.
Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at
2pm. I’ll fill you in on more, as we get closer to the show date. Don’t
miss this tribute to a wonderful gal.
ATTENTION: