Sue Merrell's Blog: Laughing for a Living, page 28

Now that's a tragedy!

Should the translation of a classic Greek play like "Medea" be accurate or actable? Talk about a  to-be-or-not-to-be question. But Grand Valley State University Professor Diane Rayor has the answer. "My translations do both," Rayor told me. Good thing Rayor is writing the new translation of  "Madea" which Heritage Theatre Group will premier next week. Rayor has been fine tuning her translation after rehearsals trying to make the language more understandable and readable while preserving the accuracy. Although director Karen Libman and her actors are excited to be part of the process of honing the script, they've had to call a halt to any further changes with opening night less than a week away. See it at 8 p.m. July 12-14 and July 19-21 at Spectrum Theater.

Legally Laughing

The sky is exploding ever since they made fireworks legal in Michigan. And ever since the Augusta Barn made the next show legal .. that is, "Legally Blonde." ... the stage is exploding with a huge cast and more rollicking rock music than seems possible for a small pit band.. This is one of my favorite shows. Snappy songs with witty lyrics, and lots of heart in the story. The Barn's production bubbles with energy (see review) Besides, who doesn't root for the underdog? And this show has two dogs and plenty of ooos and ahhhs from the pooch fans in the audience.

Fish tale

My friend Steve and I are vacationing in Upstate New York this week and were on our way to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this morning when I happened to see a few small red words on the map of New York: Gladding International Fishing Museum. "Oh, I wish I hadn't seen that," I said. Duty demanded that I tell Steve, who is a fishing fiend. After humoring him for a visit to a baseball museum (snore!) how could I possibly endure a stop at a fishing museum?

But I knew how much he would like it. Especially after we checked it out on my smart phone. While he was driving down the road to Cooperstown, I read to him about the octagonal 1860 Newton Homestead which housed the museum, according to hits on Wikipedia and Facebook. Then I read him a wonderful New York Times story by James Sterngold.

"To the uninitiated, true, it will look like a musty attic full of junk. They will also think it a particularly odd spot to house such a trove, lying as it does on a hill in a tiny village in Chenango County.
But to that person whose wellsprings of hope and patience run deep, who is bound up in the mystery of how fish can be persuaded to attack odd wood or metal objects with that distinctive viciousness, the collection is more evocative than a gallery of Monets."

His descriptions sold us, especially his ending.

" To my mind, the best are the stuffed fish. Topping the lot are a 42-pound salmon caught in 1930 and a 37-pound Muskie from 1937. The Muskie looks nothing like the vacant, limp creature that a dead fish is supposed to be. This one is moth-eaten and much the worse for wear. But it has a look in its eye, its dark wary eye, as though it were spying through the grasses of a lake bottom, lying in wait for something sneaky in red and white with menacing yellow and green eyes."

I was hooked, just like that poor fish. I didn't even notice that the New York Times article was published Aug. 2, 1987. Or that the New York map from Steve's collection was dated 1979-80.

So, after our tour of Cooperstown, and a little picnic lunch on a lovely lake, we asked our GPS "Sammy" to take us to the little town of Otselic. "Sammy" believes in as-the-crow flies navigation so she took us by the straightest route (only 45 miles from Cooperstown) but over mountains and down roads that became increasingly more narrow. By the way, "Sammy" didn't have the fishing museum in her list of attractions, but it was opened only three afternoons a week, according to the Times article, so I wasn't too surprised that it wasn't listed on the GPS. Once we made it to Otselic, which can't be called a town in anyone's vocabulary, we turned toward South Otselic, about 6 miles away. According to the map, the little red square marking the museum was between the two towns. We could hardly miss an octagonal house, could we? But there was no oddly shaped house. No sign about a fishing museum.

South Otselic proved to be much larger than Otselic and Steve, who is never afraid to ask directions, pulled into the post office and went inside. He returned a few minutes later laughing.

The museum had closed 20 years earlier!

The Gladding International Fishing museum was as tempting as that red and white fly with the yellow and green eyes -- and just as fake.

Three's a riot!

Summer theater usually has no shortage of comedies. I've seen a couple of great ones in the last week and another one, "Escanaba in da Moonlight," opens tonight at Circle Theatre. I mentioned "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" in an earlier post. It continues at Civic through Father's Day. Now, for the triple crown, I'd like to nominate a third show, "The Fox on the Fairway" at Augusta Barn Theatre. It's a pretty typical door-slamming farce with six characters running every which way. My review will be published tomorrow on Encore Michigan. The show runs for another week and will be followed by "Pal Joey" staring West Michigan's favorite soap queen, Kim Zimmer. Zimmer was in the audience of "The Fox on the Fairway" opening night and seemed to be having a great time. Barn producer Brendan Ragotzy announced Zimmer will be touring with "Wicked" on the West Coast starting in December.

Torture, back breaking torture!

See, this is a perfect example of the terrible job I have. First I went to the dress rehearsal for "A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre. My circle at Grandville United Methodist Church had made plans to see the show so I went along. The next night, I returned to review the show. Oh, woe is me. Night after night of laughing. Actually, it's more than just fun. The music is quite catchy with nice wordplay. I love double entendre. So even a couple of days later I find myself humming "Everybody ought to have a maid" and I laugh again. Nice way for Civic to close the season.

Louder isn't better

What is it about today's sound technicians? Are they all deaf? I went to see the touring show Quidam, one of the Cirque du Soleil productions, and had a horrible time. Oh, the show was fantastic. Unbelievable contortions and athleticism. But I couldn't applaud because I had my fingers in my ears. The show was so loud that I kid you not the concrete beneath my feet was vibrating. Imagine what it was doing to all those ear drums. A show like this should come with a warning from the surgeon general's office: Warning. This show could be hazardous to your health. Don't worry. I'll never see another Cirque du Soleil. And I may never go to the Van Andel Arena again, either. My ears hurt for hours afterwards.

A Funny Thing

A funny thing happened on the way to review Grand Rapids Civic Theatre's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
 I had the wrong date, as did my editor.
We were both using the original schedule and expected the show to open next week, June 8. Then Tuesday I happened to see something someone posted on Facebook about June 1. I went to Civic Theatre's web site and sure enough. The opening had been moved a week earlier! We made the necessary adjustments. I went to tonight's dress rehearsal just to get an idea of what to expect and I'll be there to review tomorrow night. Glad I did a no-notes preview tonight. I was laughing too hard to really pay attention! Maybe tomorrow night I can catch everything I missed. At least I won't be running down the aisle wailing "I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!"

Planning to laugh

I love reviewing theater. A close second is spending the day in a room full of reviewers discussing theater and planning for a great summer of reviewing Michigan theater. And that's what I did today. Some of the reviewers for Encore Michigan -- Donald Calamia, John Quinn, Judith Cookis, Martin Kohn, Bridgette Redman, Jenn McKee and myself -- met at Michigan State University today to plan the summer ahead and discuss the annual Wilde Awards which will be presented in August for the best in professional theater all over Michigan. Encore Michigan covers great professional theater from Mason Street Warehouse in Saugatuck and Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company in Grand Rapids to the Fisher Theatre in Detroit and Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea and the Michigan Shakespeare Festival in Jackson. And lots of other professional theaters in between. If you haven't discovered Encore Michigan, check it out. It's one-stop shopping for Michigan theater.

Where have all the flowers gone?

His name was Andrew H. Tullock. He's a great great uncle, the baby brother of my great great grandfather Samuel who hid out in the Missouri woods rather than fight for the Union or the Rebels in a war he didn't believe in. But Andrew took up a gun. He fought for the South to try to keep those dang Yankees from invading the family farm in Missouri. He lost a leg in the war, and ended up living with my great grandpa Samuel for a few years, until he died in 1869 as a result of his wounds. He was 31. Never married or had any children. I found his grave stone a few years ago. The graveyard is in the middle of someone else's cow pasture now. The stone had fallen over and was buried, overgrown with grass. But I scraped away enough to read the name. So on Memorial Day I think of Andrew and all the soldiers who died in wars not of their making. And I think about that song, "Where have all the flowers gone?" about the futility of war. "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?"

Share the fun

For more than a dozen years now I've been getting paid to have a good time in the theater. Last night I decided it was time to share the wealth -- not the pay which isn't that much honestly --but the wealth of laughter. I invited three local theater professionals -- Joe Dulin, Larry Young and Mary Beth Quillin -- to join me at a performance of "The Addams Family." and I think their reviews show a good time was had by all. The idea is to start a conversation about theater. It isn't about what I think. It's about sharing what you think. Theater is not a solo experience. Live theater is shared with the other members of the audience, and sharing our impressions is a way to add to the fun.