When riding down the main street of South Fallsburg, NY, one of the first things easily noticed is the old Rivoli theater, a building that seems run down, abandoned, and lonely. The only way of telling that it’s still in business is the change of signs that occurs every two weeks or so, and even then, it doesn’t give much promise of anything spectacular.
The rest of the town does not help, either, full of bad drivers, homeless walkers, and used car dealers. However, when the night swings in, and the lights turn on, the Rivoli Theater comes alive.
When I was first dragged feet first to see a rendition of Fiddler on the Roof last year, I didn’t expect much. The theater had looked gross from the outside and the people who shuffled along outside scared me. However, when the lights dimmed, I was stunned from start to finish.
The actors did splendid work, even though they were a small local group, and it was very obvious they took their passion to a professional level. I especially loved the lead actor of the play, whom I mentioned last year after I had seen it. I managed to see Dial M for Murder also, a few weeks afterwards, which also was really quite entertaining to watch.
Sure, a lot of the time, small parts are filled by first timers, but as the cliché goes: In theater there are no small parts, just small actors. A lot of the same actors are recycled through different productions, but seeing a familiar face is never a bad thing.
The reason I bring this theater up had to do with my viewing of Arsenic and Old Lace, a play I had heard of, but wasn’t familiar with. At first, I was skeptic of how well it would be played out. The actresses who play the lead old ladies of the house spoke almost too quietly for the audience to hear, lines were forgotten, and parts of the set fell down.
It eventually got going, though, and was definitely a production that both entertained me and made me laugh. The man who played Jonathan, the crazy brother who hadn’t been around in 20 years stole almost every scene, with his twitchy facial expressions and his ability to go from sane to manic in an instant. He played the part of the villain exceptionally well.
I’ve learned something from going to these plays. You really can’t judge something by it’s façade, and even though that’s something that’s been drilled into kids’ heads ever since they were young, it’s something that needs to be experienced.
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