Wildcard Wednesday--Sixth Street Theater's "The Miser"

The Sixth Street Theater in Wallace is preparing for the opening of "The Miser", a romantic farce by Moliere. Pictured are cast members Molly Roberts, Luke Crigger,Paul Roberts, Chance Hughes and Chelane Connell.

The play opens Friday, February 22nd with a Opening Gala at 6 p.m. followed by the play at 7 p.m.

WALLACE—A miserly father plots to marry his daughter to a rich old man, but the daughter wants the man she has brought into the house disguised as a servant.
The father also wants to marry, but he wants the same girls his son loves.
This is just the beginning of the twists and turns experienced in “The Miser”, the Sixth Street Theater’s upcoming production.
The play opens Friday, February 22 at 7 p.m., with theater goers invited to a special Opening Night French Soiree at 6 p.m. complete with refreshments.
Other evening performances will be on Feb. 23, 28, 29, March 1, 7, and 8, with matinee performances at 2 p.m. on Feb. 24, March 2, 8 and 9.
The play features Paul Roberts in the lead as Harpagon. Roberts is also directing this production.
Performing in the role of Harpagon’s daughter Elise is Molly Roberts, and the role of Cleante, Harpagon’s son, will be performed by Chance Hughes. Luke Crigger and Chelane Connell play Valere and Mariane, the love interests of these two siblings, and are both new to the Sixth Street stage.
David Selman, another newcomer to Sixth Street, is Master Jacques, one of Harpagon’s servants. His other servants are Cherri Bartle as Mistress Claude, Zoe Roberts as Brindavoine, and Cosette Roberts as La Merluche.
Trying to help all these love interests work out is Frosine, the matchmaker, portrayed by Carol Roberts. LaFleche, the valet of Cleante, is played by Frank Peretti, who makes his debut performance on the Sixth Street stage as well.
Rounding out the cast are Sixth Street veterans Ken Bartle, as Monsieur Anselme, and Vern Hanson, as Master Simon and the Magistrate.
“I played this role in a production in Montana about 20 years ago,” said Roberts, the play’s director. “I have always enjoyed this character and the farcical comedy of this play, and decided to bring this production to the Sixth Street stage.
“Farce is similar to melodrama, in that the humor can be exaggerated and way over the top. But it is different, in that there is not the audience interaction with the booing and hissing.”
Roberts has also taken an anachronistic turn in parts of this production, using some popular Beatles music in this 1660’s Paris, France setting.
“This is the perfect opportunity to shake off some of the winter doldrums, and come for a great evening of theatrical comedy,” said Roberts.
For reservations call 752-8871, or 1-877-SIXTHST. Tickets are $12 for adults, and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets must be paid in advance or held with a credit card.
The Sixth Street Theater is located at 212 Sixth Street, in Wallace. For more information, visit the website at www.sixthstreetmelodrama.com.

Another Opening, Another Show

Another op'nin, another show

In Philly, Boston, or Baltimo'

A chance for stage folks to say hello!

Another op'nin of another show.

Last night it was the stage at Kellogg High School. Tonight, it was a stage about 15 miles down the road, in Wallace, at the Sixth Street Theater.

Tonight was the opening of "Country Through The Years...Hee Haw Style", taking the corniness and country humor of the old Hee Haw show, and mixing it with some country music.

But this time, I'm not an actor, or a writer, or a singer. I am the lighting technician. I light up the stage. I blackout the stage. And because of the type of show this is, I have a lot of lighting cues. And it is really fun!!

I love the theater, and I want to learn all different aspects of it. Some day I will probably take the opportunity to direct a play, so this helps me gain more understanding of the total process of what it takes to put on a production.

The audience really enjoyed tonight's performance. The cast received a standing ovation. They did a good job.

If you are interested in some fun entertainment, come and check out "Country Through The Years...Hee Haw Style". The show will run this weekend, and the following two weekends. Go to http://www.sixthstreetmelodrama.com/ for more information about show dates.

It's SHOWTIME folks!!!!

As you may have noticed, I haven't ventured into the blog world much this past week. The above picture is the main reason I have been missing.

Most of my free time has been taken up preparing for the upcoming July Production of the Sixth Street Melodrama in Wallace, Idaho.

The name of the play is "Nightmare at Dream Gulch, or...Wake Me When It's Over." The whole production is a family affair.

I wrote the script for the play. PKR is directing the play. PKR, The Princess and myself are all acting in the production, and are joined by fellow cast members Vickie Weil, Kyle Pettis and Don Sauer. Z2 and Kiki Aru are our backstage crew.

The play is based on a true story from the Gold Rush in Murray, Idaho, a small town up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. (About 20 miles from Kellogg.)

The story is about a preacher named Floyd Davis who comes into Murray and spends a few weeks learning about gold mining, then buys his supplies and heads out into the hills around Murray. About six weeks later he returns with gold, and tells a story about having a dream for many nights in a row, telling him if he came to Murray he would find riches. So he came to Murray and followed the landmarks from the dream, and found Dream Gulch, which still actually exists on the outskirts of Murray.

An actual account of this story is found in The Murray Sun, the newspaper published in Murray during that time. I read this story in the book "Beneath These Mountains".

After intermission, the cast then performs Kelly's Alley Revue, a set of musical numbers both funny and serious to entertain the audience.

The theater is located in Wallace, Idaho. The building the theater is located in is one of the oldest buildings in town. It was one of the only wooden buildings to survive the fire of 1910, that came through and destroyed most of the town of Wallace. Most of the other buildings in the town were rebuilt in brick. The theater was also a former bordello, and, if you look up at the pressed tin ceiling in the lobby, you can see original bullet holes from those "historic" days.

Our opening night is Thursday, July 5th, and we perform Wednesday through Sunday through July 29th, with performances on Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and matinees are at 2 p.m. on Sundays.

If you are looking for some fun entertainment this summer, and want to come to Wallace, I encourage you to come and check us out. I think you will really enjoy yourself.

For more information about the theater, go to www.sixthstreetmelodrama.com.

Interstate 90

Tonight I am going to share some thoughts about Interstate 90. It may seem odd to write about a road, but this highway has played a very important role in my life and has taken me to some very interesting places.

I-90 has been in the local news lately. I think there is a type of "Bermuda Triangle" between the two exits signs in Wallace. Two times during the last two weeks, there have been semi truck accidents that caused that stretch of highway to be closed down. Both times we were having play performances in Wallace, and knew something was up because of the backlog of semi trucks around Wallace.

Here is a funny story my husband shared regarding some of his students last week. On Friday, Kellogg students were put in lockdown because an armed robber was on the run after holding up the Wells Fargo Bank uptown. It had been explained to my husband that the schools were in lockdown because the robber could be fleeing on Interstate 90, and most of the schools were close to the Interstate.

So he tells his students, "You know, I-90 goes all the way from Seattle to Boston, and he could be anywhere along the way, so this may take a while."

"Really?"

Yes, some actually believed they were going to check all along the highway from Seattle to Boston!!!

The Idaho State Patrol have sure been out in force this past week, at least between Kellogg and Wallace. Almost every time I travel east toward Wallace, I see someone pulled over for speeding. I make sure the cruise is right at 75 mph.

I have no memory of there being something other than I-90 traveling through Kellogg. I do remember when it wound its way through Wallace, and you had to stop at the stop light.

We traveled to Spokane a lot growing up, because my Grandma Woolum lived in Spokane. I remember when the Fourth of July Pass was a lot closer to the lake, and you traveled right by Tony's, not above it. You also went by an old run down A-Frame building, but I'm not sure what it was. Then there two different motels. One was pink and set back on the right as you traveled west, if my memory serves me right. Then there was the place with the little cottages. Now it is called the Bennet Bay Inn, or something like that. Oh, what was it called before. Can anyone help me with that one? I do remember hearing a wierd rumor in high school that they hid movie cameras in the cottages and taped the guests. So my senior year, when I was in pep band and we were traveling to either Coeur d'Alene or Post Falls for either the district or state basketball tournament (with them both in North Idaho that year, we traveled I-90 a lot that winter) and as we headed up the pass, I REALLY had to go to the bathroom. I believe Mr. Taylor, our band instructor, sensed the panic in my voice as I told him I NEEDED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. So we stopped at this little motel with the cottages, and I ran out of the bus, and asked the first person I saw if I could use their bathroom. But, of course, all the time, running through my mind, as I was in one of those cottages using the bathroom was, am I being taped? But I really didn't care at that point.

Remember when I-90 took you through State Line, not past it. You would travel right by "The Slab Inn". The outside really hasn't changed that much in 30 years.

Traveling to Spokane to Grandma's house changed over the years. I remember when I was really young, we would always take the Argonne exit to go the her house. As soon as I saw the water tower, I knew we were close.

Then the route changed, and we took the Freya exit. Then we took the Hamilton exit, which turned into Nevada, which intersected with Bridgeport, the street where Grandma lived.

I traveled I-90 to get to my first job interview after I graduated from college, and I-90 got me part way to my first job in Glendive, Montana before I veered north on I-94 by Billings.

I-90 also brought me back to my safe, secure, closed-in little valley when I lived in the "Big Sky Country". I think it was when I got to Frenchtown, Montana, and the valley would begin to form that I knew I was almost home. It was a very comforting feeling for me.

I walked over I-90 almost every day when I attended Kellogg Junior High school, because that was the way to and from school. One game my friend April and I liked to play was waiting for the semi trucks to go under the bridge. There was a certain excitement while you stood there on the bridge and they would speed below you.

While growing up in Kellogg, I never thought of I-90 as a menacing presence, one that would bring all kinds of scary people into my little community.

But, I hear that a lot now. People referring to I-90 as a way for undesirables and criminals and heaven knows what else to pull off the highway and invade our small town and violate our peace and quiet.

I guess that attitude comes with the times, maybe, or with growth, or the way the world is changing around us.

It is too bad.