Theatre Stuff

Brother's First Melodrama

So first of all, how y'all doing? I haven't posted in a while. Before I start telling the story I will update you guys on a few things. Back in October I saw the touring cast of Cats but I forgot to write about it lol, I saw a high school's production of Newsies, I saw the Hamilton touring cast in April, then back in May I got the honor of watching my drama program's spring show which was Singin' in the Rain!

Anyways, let's get to the story of my brother's first melodrama. I don't think I have mentioned this before but my local community theatre does a annual summer melodrama. This year's was called... Somebody Save My Baby Ruth! (Or other name for it is Foil That Villian!) I went with my mom and my brother (obviously) on July 2nd. My sister was originally going to go but she wasn't feeling well. We asked my brother if he would like to go with us and he said no. However, we were getting in the car and my brother popped up suddenly deciding he wanted to go.
Here is the theatre's description of the show:

When lovely young widow Penny Candy and her baby, Ruth, are taken in by her Aunt Praline, owner of The Sweet Shoppe candy store, little does Penny know both love and danger lie ahead. The villainous Sidney Swindle is determined to buy The Sweet Shoppe, at all costs. Should Praline refuse his offer, Sidney is prepared to do away with her and her heirs in order to obtain the land at public auction! With the help of his beautiful but less than brilliant cohort in crime, Ada Sourball, the villain sets his evil scheme in motion. The hilarious results include the kidnapping of Baby Ruth, an attempt to burn down The Sweet Shoppe, and a wild chase through the audience with the good guys pelting the villains with candy... which the audience can eat, of course! Other characters include Penny's new love and our hero, police officer Ernest Noble, cooks Farron Heit and Cindy Grade, and clerks Taffy and Toffee and their boyfriends. You'll be eating out of our hands... literally... in this tasty theatrical treat.

As you can see, it was a very entertaining show to watch. The director was in the show playing a mom who loved to visit The Sweet Shoppe with her daughter. The twist is that her (he is younger so you couldn't tell) son played her daughter, her daughter played Taffy (one of the clerks), and her husband played Sidney Swindle (the villian)! It was great to see him as the villain as he has only been cast as the sweet and more timid side characters in past shows. He did a great job as the villain tho, and it was fun to see him egg the audience on to boo at him louder.
My brother actually wanted to leave after we had been seated and go hang out with his friend who lived in the area. We convinced him to stay and his friend was busy anyways so it worked out.
At the beginning of the melodrama the music director who played the piano for the show had the audience sing Rockin Robin with him so that was fun.
When the show started my brother was a bit shy on his reactions to the characters. However, he slowly get into it. My brother would whistle at the "greaser" characters and at the hero like he thought they were cute. Let's just say that I wished I didn't know him at those moments. He also would boo at the villain and say things like "Go home!" And "Get off the stage!" When the crew would move set pieces they would have some of the characters sing on the side of the stage. At one point, the older greaser sang and my brother whispered to me that, that was his dad. My brother whistled at him at the end of his song and I'm pretty sure he got a wink in response...

Ada Sourball (the other villain) was less of a villain and more of a unorthodox sweetheart who is confused at what is right or wrong. In my opinion her voice sounded like a mix of Betty Boop, and Lina Lamont from Singin' in the Rain.
Anyways, when the characters found out that the villain were up to no good they chased them through the aisles of the house (where the audience is) and threw candy at the audience. A candy hit my brother square in the face. After the actors were all on stage my brother threw a snickers at their feet and yelled "Take your candy back!" 🤦‍♀️
A few moments later a audience member threw mints at the back of his and my head which I'm pretty sure was because they were trying to tell my brother to stop without using words.
After the show I said hello to my friend who was the main character and forgot the words for good job so I didn't say anything that was encouraging. I said hello to one of the greasers as well and still couldn't think of the words for good job. What is wrong with me? 🤦‍♀️
Overall, it was a great experience besides my brother being embarrassing.
How are you guys doing btw? I know I haven't really talked to any of you in a while.