With Power returned to the Powerhouse,
The Town Players Re-Schedules Amadeus “Opening Night” to Sunday, November 6th Matinee at 2:30PM.
Fêtes and fireworks! We have a show! Town Players’ Amadeus producer Robert Doran announced this afternoon that the “opening night” of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus has been re-scheduled for Sunday, November 6th at 2:30 PM at the Powerhouse Theatre in Waveny Park, barring further outages as CL&P brings power up everywhere. He is looking forward to welcoming audiences to a warm theatre and the Town Players’ 203rd show and 65th season.
What a wild, woolly and disjointed Tech Week it’s been! Since Town Players’ costume mistress, Deborah Shields Runestad, who often designs and constructs costumes from scratch, was expecting her first child in late November, the decision was made to rent Amadeus’s 18th century costumes and wigs, scheduled to arrive last Friday. The actors were to try on costumes Friday and Saturday, Debbie would discover what alterations needed to be made, and there would be a “safety pin” photo shoot on Sunday. The costumes didn’t arrive till Monday.
Come Saturday, the storm knocked out power and a tree at the Powerhouse—and baby Gwendolyn Jean Runestad arrived four weeks early Sunday morning. The theatre was dark Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, Steve Gravereaux arrived with a generator. An ingenious blending of the 18th and 21st centuries made the stage sufficiently warm for a rehearsal which allowed cast and crew to regroup and begin figuring out how to proceed. Blocking cold air pouring onto the stage from the auditorium and conserving warmth provided on stage by an electrical heater, crew member Ed Donahue hung blacks (theatre terminology for black velvet curtains) where Jezebel, the Town Players show curtain normally hangs. Portable work lights provided illumination in the lobby and on stage. Carole Kaye who has costumed other Town Players’ shows stepped in to oversee alterations. Rehearsals were cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday, no power, too cold.
The cast will play a full dress rehearsal on Friday night and run the show twice on Saturday before going home to an extra hour of well deserved sleep due to the end of Daylight Savings Time.
Performance dates for Amadeus are Sunday, November 6 & 13 at 2:30 and Friday and Saturday, November 11, 12, 18 & 19 at 8PM. Should the Sunday opening for any reason be cancelled, box office manager Sheri Dean will call everyone who has reserved tickets. The Town Players box office number is (203) 966-7371.
