Poll Results: Favorite Male Lead

The poll results are in: Jerry Dunn, who played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof has been voted the favorite male lead. Out of 85 votes cast, Jerry got 47, or 55% of the vote. Nate Unck's performance as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat got 30 votes (35%) to come in second.

When I posted that poll, I didn't realize that there were only three musical among the seven shows represented. It doesn't surprise me that the musical actors out scored the non-musical performers, but its like comparing apples to oranges. Maybe we'll run this as two polls, one for musicals and one for non-musicals.

Check back soon. I'll have another poll up soon.

4th of July in Magna!

We've been getting a lot of donations for the "Super Colossal Yard Sale," and the Tribune and the Provo Herald have both published our notices. Joline is going to need some help tagging and pricning stuff. We can use a couple more hands to help run the sale too. If you can help, call the box office and let Suzanne know!

In addition to the yard sale, we'll be selling concessions both in the parking lot and in the Empress Theatre lobby. And we'll be offering tours of the Empress, so bring your friends that haven't seen a show yet.

In the meantime, there are some other cool things going on in Magna on the 4th:

• Lions Club Chuck Wagon Breakfast from 8:00 to Noon!


• The Senior Citizens Center is having a rumage sale (We're the copycats!)


• The Arts Council of Magna is having an art show featuring local artists in the Magna Chamber of Commerce building


• The annual Magna-tude parade will start at 12:30. Laura Bedore will be announcing the parade from near the Empress!


• All of the normal Copper Community Park Festivities will be be happening, including the carnival.


• Fireworks after dark.

Homeschool and the Theatre

One of the cool things about homeschooling my children and being involved with the Empress Theatre is that we can build our curriculum around the shows we're working on. It can be pretty amazing where this process can take you. For example...

• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is obviously set in 1850 Oregon, so there's that whole slice of Amercian History to cover.


• Seven Brides is based on a short story by Stephen Vincent Binet called "The Sobbin' Women" which is a wonderful way to get into the writings of Binet. "By the Waters of Babylon" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" are a couple of my personal favorites.


• "The Devil and Daniel Webster" is cited as an "unofficial" legal case in The United States ex rel Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff (54 F.R. D. 282 - 1971), which opens up discussions about legal jurisdiction and procedure. Can a man actually sue Satan?


• Binet's story, in turn, is based on The Rape of the Sabine Women, from Plutarch. This opens up the history and mythology of the founding of Rome.


• The notion of bride kidnapping has been practiced in many parts of the world, and still is in some parts of the lower steppes of Asia and parts of Africa. This is a stepping off point for discussions of different marriage customs, morals, and scruples. Did you know that the tradition of carrying the bride across the threshold dates from the custom of kidnapping her first?


• The "rape" in The Rape of the Sabine Women means to abduct or kidnap, and has nothing to do with the modern meaning of sexual violation, which leads to discussions of how our language changes over time. Since it comes from the same Latin root (Raptio) that is the source for "rapture," "rapine," "rapacious," "ravish," and "raptor," we can expand vocabulary.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

So here's this week's trivia question, just for Leisa: Be the first to tell me who painted the picture accompanying this post, and where it hangs and you'll get two tickets to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Volunteer Discount

Did you know that Empress Theatre volunteers get a 15% discount on program advertising?

Here's what you can do with it... Obviously you can place an ad in the program. Or on the email tickets, or on this blog... That's pretty cool if you happen to own a business.

But what if you don't own a business? Well, you can sell ad space to other people that do own businesses and keep the difference for yourself. Lets see, a full page ad costs $185, so that's about $27.75 you'd get to put in your pocket. And the really cool part is that you get the difference every time they renew their ad too.

There are still a couple of days left to get an ad into the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers program. The ad deadline is Friday, June 27th.

So what are you waiting for?

A Lesson Learned

Yesterday evening, Mara, Peter, Neeva, Meyrick and I jumped in the van and drove over to the Empress for closing night of Big Bad Musical. When we got there, the lobby was packed, there were two lines at the will call desk, and Joline had jumped in to help behind the concession counter.

I slipped over to the will call desk and told Kathy that, in the off chance that she got everyone seated and still had a some seats left over, that the five of us were there. She laughed at me, then showed me the waiting list. And that was after the ushers had deployed all of the temporary seating.

When we left to come back home, Douglas Nelson was giving up his seats to another patron. The kids were a bit disappointed that they didn't get to see the show again, but I was elated that our young performers' theatre had gone "solid with a waiting list."

There will come a time, and I don't think it's too far off, when this is the norm. I guess I'll just have to get used to reserving my seats on line.

Big Bad Acquitted Nicely

The opening night jury voted overwhelmingly to acquit Mr. Big B. Wolf in last night's premier of The Big Bad Musical, undoubtedly a result of the talent displayed by Justin Kofoed, who nailed the character on stage; playing the Big Bad Wolf somewhere between James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause and Henry Winkler's Fonz. The rest of the cast and crew acquitted themselves nicely as well.

Ordinarily I won't review an Empress Theatre production on this blog. I'm usually too close to present an unbiased opinion, and I normally have to look at a production through so many different viewpoints that a review would either be a fractured mess, longer than Gone with the Wind, or would otherwise get me into trouble. But since all I did was make sure the program got to the printer, I'm not quite so close to this one...

It is important to remember that this is a "young performers" production. The whole point of the production is to help young actors, singers and dancers develop their talents. With that in mind, and noting that there were only a handful of adults involved beyond a little advising here and there, the performance I saw last night was remarkable.

Here are some of the highlights:

Madison Ford's portrayal of the Evil Stepmother, from costuming to posture and gesture was so good her parents should either be worried, or they should be preparing to send her to a real law school. My only complaint about her performance was that her blocking kept her back to the stage right audience for most of the performance.

Shannon Jones did a wonderful job on her big song, despite having a touch of a cold. Her characterization of the Fairy God Mother/Prosecuting Attorney was consistent, with enough sweetness that we could believe she was FGM, enough grit that we could believe she was a lawyer, and enough histrionics to keep us laughing.

Skyler Blumel was hilarious as Judge Wise Old Man; this young man has an incredible amount of talent. Keep your eye on him. In fact, keep one eye on Skyler throughout the performance and watch his reactions to the action on stage.

Was it a flawless performance? No. Young performers tend to be quieter than more experienced actors, so the singing, especially on chorus numbers, was a bit unbalanced. (Although the "Wolfettes" rocked!) The choreography wasn't as polished as it could have been. There were a few other things that I noticed that didn't quite work.

But comparing this to high school and junior high school productions I've seen, it was significantly above the average; excellent, even outstanding in places. Definitely a good show for children and the family; my younger children loved it.

Unlike the real legal system, which prohibits being tried twice for the same offense, Mr. Wolf will have to face a jury four more times: tonight at 7:00 PM, tomorrow at 2:00 and again at 7:00, and then Monday at 7:00.

You are hereby called to jury duty!

There but for the grace of Leo go we...

The Laramie Boomarang in Laramie, WY is reporting that the City of Laramie has issued a demolition order for the Fox theatre, and is now seeking funds to tear the building down.

According to the story, a consultant was hired to determine whether the old theatre, which was built in 1912 and originally called the Empress Theatre (first picture) and then later changed to the Fox Theatre, could be saved.

The consultant determined that the building is beyond salvage.



Judging from the movie title on the marquee, the second picture shows the Fox Theatre ca. 1939. The movie, Disputed Passage, starring Dorothy Lamour and Akim Tamiroff and JohnHoward premiered on October 27, 1939. I just love that period art-moderne styling.

The Empress Theatre closed on June 26, 1939, and reopened a six months later with the changed facade and new name. The grand re-opening was September 14, 1939. The second photo would have been taken just a couple of weeks later.

Internet sources indicate different times for closure. Some say the theatre closed in the 1950s or 60s, while the Boomarang says the theatre operated until the mid 1970s.

The final picture shows the Fox theate as it looked in 2005. I don't know about you, but I think the demise of the American movie theatre is a cultural loss. I'm just glad we have our Empress!