My friend and I have a tradition. It started out years ago as my birthday present to her, but it's…read moreevolved into a shared birthday event. We've seen many shows both inside and out. We've missed the outdoor amphitheater the past two years as they remodeled the buildings surrounding the outdoor venue.
The other night, we saw Twelfth Night, which is a comedy. The play itself was fun. I don't understand the casting of the male twin, Sabastian, with Kenny Fedorko. He isn't either built or have any resemblance to the woman twin, Viola, played by Meg Rodgers. And, he wasn't as good an actor as she is. Ms. Rodgers was amazing. I hope to see more of her in the future. The Sabastian role is small, so perhaps the director didn't care so much about the casting. But I think it does a disservice to the play. For me, it was distracting. I'm sure they could have cast someone who at least was closer in stature. You really had to suspend disbelief to acknowledge them as twins and accept the other players' confusion. That's all I'll say. The rest of the casting was well done, and the music was also wonderful throughout, most of it by Jordan Coughtry as Feste. We saw him in a similar role in The Tempest last year.
I have a couple of critiques of the new setup. First, it's a safety hazard that there is only one way in and out. It was jammed, and there was no emergency. Had there been one, it would have been a disaster, and people would have been hurt. There need to be additional doors, especially to get out.
Next, I love the store they have now. That's a positive. It's not as cramped as the setup behind the amphitheater they had in the past.
It's important to know that the bathrooms are now co-ed. Both men and women use the same stalls, sinks, and stand in line. It's all fine with me except that there aren't enough of the stalls! Come on! What were they thinking? The men looked confused, for sure. They're not used to our lines! But I did run into an old male friend, who was standing behind my friend. Good to catch up, and I'm not sure I would have seen him any other way.
The area where you wait before the show, during intermission, and after is way too crowded. And, like I said, only one way out, or back to the amphitheater.
The amphitheater itself felt smaller than it used to be. My friend didn't agree, but we also sat up closer than we had in the past, so it's hard to know for sure. There is not as much room behind the seats, I don't think. And not enough helpers to put away the stadium seats at the end, so it caused a bottleneck there, too.
I hope they learn from the mistakes and make improvements.