OK, maybe I'm jumping the gun a little.
Saturday found me at Gotham Radio Theatre's production of Auntie Mame! It was a great retelling of the Patrick Dennis memoir of life with his Auntie Mame. I was seeing it through the filter of the book, the play, and the musical. Still, I got the gist of the story, though I may go back and read Dennis' original memoir.
The Gotham Radio Theatre troupe have Drood-style Radio Theatre characters (played by real-time actors playing Radio Theatre characters playing the characters in Auntie Mame!). I'm going to skip that. Here's the real-name cast list with their role(s) in Auntie Mame!
Laura Leopard – Auntie Mame (Mame Dennis)
Valerie Gilbert – Vera Charles, Nora, Agnes Gooch & others
Megan Mekjian – Pegeen Ryan, Gloria Upson & others
Jack Milazzo – Young Patrick
Kurt Hellerich – Patrick and others
Martin McGeachy – Beau, Mr. Babcock, Ito and others
John Moss – O’Banion, Lindsay and others
Directed and adapted by Sydnie Grosberg Ronga; Musical Director – Michael Ferrara
First off, the actors appeared with scripts in hand, which would be par for the course for radio broadcasts. And all of the troupe members took part in the audible sound effects—clip-clop shoes, paper rustling when reading the will, ding-dong! doorbells, pouring Auntie Mame's drinks, etc. And all of the actors were terrific. Watching Ms. Gilbert voice Vera, Nora and Agnes within seconds of one another was a tour-de-farce, while Ms. Leopard brought the right panache, plus sincerity, to Mame. Of special interest to me was the nifty hand-off when Patrick (as our narrator) would yield the stage to Young Patrick. Just a little nod, but it was a telling gesture repeated throughout the performance.
The score was provided by Mr. Ferrara (piano) plus strings (violin, viola, cello), reeds (saxophone, clarinet, flute), and drums. In true radio theatre style, our sponsor for the show was Chevrolet, so we heard, "See the USA, in your Chevrolet" (sing along—you know you want to) several times. The saxophone as a hunting horn for the fox hunt scene was a bit of genius. Other perfect sound effects included hand-manipulated tap shoes and slide whistles—I'm not making this up you know!
And at one point, there was a very effective split-screen situation—we were seeing it, but you could really hear it as part of the broadcast.
This is my second (at least) experience with Gotham Radio Theatre, and they have a real convert here. This was a most enjoyable afternoon in the theatre/radio.
Sunday found me at the Carl Schurz Park Ye Olde Annual Candlelight Holiday Carol Sing Along, which also included a countdown to lighting the Christmas tree. Not quite Rockefeller Center but more manageable. This was pretty much a repeat of the last two or three that I've attended—Cantori New York singing, and Orbital Brass (quintet) playing.
The welcoming remarks, featuring local politicos, was a little more streamlined this year, but still sort of yada-yada-yada-look-what-I've-done-for-you-and-the-park. Hey, that's what happens. This year, however, Cantori presented a much better-sized choral opening, with four nicely sung holiday songs (though with a slightly over-aggressive ved-y English-dictioned tenor).
They started (a little surprisingly) with Go Tell It on the Mountain, followed by Carol of the Bells, I'll Be Home for Christmas, and finishing with We Wish You a Merry Christmas (with lots of Med-y Ch-dr-istmases and B-dr-ing some dr-ight here from the aforementioned tenor). When the sing along started, I wended my way to the local liquor store while singing along with the brass, as long as I could hear them. Yeah, I got some weird looks on the street, but 'tis the season!
ConcertMeister
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