i am not a snob, by any stretch of the imagination. i'm just a small-town girl whose idea of ultimate culture is listening to Paschabel's Canon in D Minor (Electric Guitar) or eating in a restaurant with cloth napkins.

however, i was raised on live theater. my momma was very active in the local theater group (they called it "little theater") and there was a playhouse on the lake that did shows with stock players from NYC. there was also a dinner theater across the way from the lake. in addition, road companies would stop at the downtown theater to perform Broadway musicals. theater is alive and flourishing in central New York.

i believe i might have been around ten or twelve the first time i did props for a show. i don't remember the first show in which i participated; i was backstage for most of my little theater career except for a couple of memorable incidents. i do remember my mother's first show was Blithe Spirit and i loved it. she took me to see the road company out of NYC put on "Jesus Christ Superstar," and i can sing every song of that show to this day.

Syracuse has a few wonderful theater groups. i used to volunteer to chaperone the high school kids when they went on field trips. it was great :)

i never saw any theater when i lived in kentucky, unless you count the dramatics of the girls, or the family. (yes, i think that counts.)

the year before i left New York i attended "Joey and Antonia's Italian Wedding" and had an absolute blast.

tonight i had the opportunity to attend a "Mystery Dinner Theater," and i was actually looking forward to it. it was sponsored by one of the local chapters of the Rotary Club, which is a fascinating organization. tickets were $30 apiece, underwritten by the president of the Rotary Club here in our area, which happens to be Gem.

uh. i'm glad the money went to a charitible entity, and that i didn't pay for the tickets, or i would have been pissed off.

it was held in a bingo-hall type of place, with tables set up cafeteria style. it was obviously going to be a buffet, which was fine. the metal chairs were not comfortable.

the flyer on the table said, "You will see one of the following shows: Gilligan's Island of Death; Gone With The Passing Of The Wind; The Grapes Of Death; I've Got Friends In Buried Places...." there were several more, but you get the gist. all written by the same guy.

our mystery was "My Fair Murder." there were two players, a man and a woman, and the man played two parts. it was silly and goofy, with some of the audience playing parts they were given. it was amusing, but theater?

uh, no.

the food was good, the money went to charity, and we sat with two members of the Red Hat Society who were interesting to talk to. (i'm not old enough to wear a red hat; i would be relegated to wearing a pink hat for another year...but i digress.)

so, it was nice to get out. and people are always interesting to watch. the chicken was good, but the instant potatoes...not so much.

this "show" was like the instant potatoes.

****

also on the flyer were the different locations in which these shows are performed. each and every one of them is in wine country.

yes, copious amounts of wine may have helped.

****

it was a pleasant evening, but i must say it whetted my appetite for actual theater. there's something about a live performance, an energy, that's missing from a TV program or a movie. it's alive and thrumming, a level that is seldom captured or expressed in other media.

when it is done well, it can be a life-altering experience. i will never forget "JCS" live, never. or "Madwoman of Chaillot," dinner theater like it's supposed to be done, or "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," which my momma directed and i stage managed at sixteen.

i miss it. i will seek it out.

no more instant potatoes.



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