Wow . . . 50 years.
How can you possibly sum up all the people, performances, and applause produced over five decades by The Great American Melodrama in Oceano?
Well . . . you can’t. But John and Lynne Schlenker, Stacy Halvorsen, and John Keating—the venerable institution’s current producers, managing director, and artistic director, respectively—give it a go with a 50th Anniversary Spectacular, onstage through September 20.
If you haven’t seen the show yet (it opened on August 8), or if you’ve never been to the Melodrama (shame on you!), now is the time to enjoy a sip of the delicious elixir that this eclectic company manages to produce day in and day out, year after year. Your taste of this ageless—and addictive—intoxicant will most certainly include aromas of delight, the feel of a good laugh on your tongue, a hint of melodramatic crisis easily resolved, and the smooth aftertaste of a satisfying three hours of live theatre.
To give you a sense of the Melodrama’s scope, this 50th Anniversary Spectacular offers a classic melodrama written by Dion Boucicault in the 1800s, and not one but two vaudeville revues. Five Melodrama veterans, two relative newcomers who should immediately be granted veteran status, and a music director with deep roots in the company are the front faces of the show, with more than a dozen others behind the scenes making the whole evening worth your while.
“Old-timers” Billy Breed and Suzy Newman, each with more than a score of Melodrama years under their belts, are only old in the sense that they have made a living out of entertaining others a little longer than most on the Central Coast. With allowances from director Eric Hoit in the classic boo-the-bad-guy-cheer-the-good-guy melodrama Flying Scud or A Four-Legged Fortune (the first act of the three-act show), both Breed and Newman play to the audience nonstop. They know how to throw a wink and a nod, and clearly love keeping the audience abreast of the skulduggery surrounding an inheritance and a horse race.
Mike Fiore, Jeff Salsbury, and Toby Tropper—each having devoted more than a decade giving Central Coast audiences their very best—are a trio of troupers who can always be counted on to nail a joke, pass off an accent as authentic, or sing a silly song in a serious (if highly unlikely) situation. Tropper’s evil laugh makes him the ideal villain in this soap opera of a play, but Fiore’s vulnerable (if slightly dim) good guy and Salsbury’s purple-vested fop garner the most laughs.
At one point in the proceedings, however, newcomer Audrey Cirzan commandeers the laughter with her hilarious cry of “Betrayed! Betrayed!” when her character thinks she is, well, betrayed. Likewise, Annaliese Chambers, who joined the company this past season, delights in the broad strokes of her character’s attempts to evade the villain and live happily ever after.
The obvious is king in a melodrama ruled by choreography of movement (yes, saved-by-a-sneeze is a real thing in the world of good-always-triumphs-over evil). Hoit here displays his creative mastery of the form, both in adapting this nineteenth century script for a modern audience and in steering his actors down the most productive path toward pleasing Melodrama patrons.
Breaking the Melodrama’s usual format of a two-act play followed by a vaudeville revue, the 50th Anniversary Spectacular continues after the one-act Flying Scud with a “Back to Vaudeville” half-hour show written, directed and choreographed by the multi-talented Hoit. Acknowledging the roots of the form, this revue features five vignettes that give a nod to vintage vaudeville.
Judging by audience response, this second act comes together as the creative cornerstone of the evening (perhaps due in part to the active participation of music director Jordan Richardson, who plays more than the piano in two of its sketches).
In “The Whatever 4,” a barbershop quartet (Breed, Salsbury, Trotter and Richardson) becomes a mini marching band. “Silliness at the Shore” features Breed, Chambers and Salsbury tap dancing in flippers while Tropper and Cirzan trade quips as pirates (“No one buries treasures any more—just feelings!”).
Richardson in antennae and wings leads the Oceano Water Glass Orchestra in a manic but fascinating “Flight of the Bumblebee,” and Newman in a stunning red dress and black boa belts out “Hard-Hearted Hannah” using audience members as props. Finally, in a tribute to stride piano, “Handful of Keys” features the company in black and white dancing on a piano keyboard.
If “Back to Vaudeville” is the cornerstone of this spectacular Spectacular, then what follows is its creative capstone. Written and directed by the prolific Erik Stein, resident artist/artistic associate at PCPA Pacific Conservatory Theatre, and choreographed by the always inventive Drew Silvaggio, “The Next 50” gives us a peek at three shows “potentially” destined to play The Great American Melodrama. These playful parodies, based on Central Coast environmental icons, are highly unlikely ever to see the light of day, but you’ll never see a Morro Bay otter, Monarch butterfly, or Pismo Beach clam again without remembering these clever bits.
In the “This time they’ve really outdone themselves” category, costume and wig designer Renee Van Neil, scenic carpenter Martin Ramirez, lighting designer Cody Soper, and prop designer Nathan Miklas deserve a heap of praise for making everyone and everything onstage in these three acts look good. And kudos to the stage management work of Kathryn Robinson and Miklas, who make everything in these three acts look easy.
Finally, an unapologetic spoiler alert: the evening ends with Breed suggesting we all raise a glass to the Melodrama, and so should we all—in person, enjoying a pitcher of beer or soda (and a tub of popcorn), toasting to the next 50 years of tales well told and live theatre worth seeing any day of the year.