Melodrama: family entertainment from a simpler time

2012-03-23T19:51:31Z

Our world is just too complicated sometimes. We are surrounded by politicians, economists, scientists, and religious leaders who dazzle us with conflicting misinformation about how the world works and what our place in it should be.

Nothing is clear anymore. It’s really hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
Used to be, it was much easier to know who to cheer for.

Take, for example, the legend of Robin Hood. The guy was a clear hero, an outlaw who stood up for the poor and downtrodden against the greed and evil of a corrupt government. He outwitted the minions of darkness and brought hope and security to the powerless and exploited peasantry.

He was the champion of the 99% in 13th century England.

In Old Sacramento, aboard the historic Delta King riverboat, a small theater company has brought the legend of Robin Hood to the stage in a most unusual fashion.

Sacra-Melo is a musical parody company which presents Robin Hood in old-fashioned melodrama style.

There’s something really satisfying about knowing exactly who the bad guys and the good guys are. The melodrama format makes this even easier by engaging the audience in cheering for the heroes and greeting the villains with hisses and boos. Cued by the live piano accompaniment (Bonnie Otto, at stage right) as well as by the broad posing of the actors—Robin (Alexander Hogy)strikes a hero pose with hands on hips and jutting chin, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Gregory Smith) leers evilly with an upraised eyebrow—the audience becomes an enthusiastic participant in the production.

A third cue, of whinnying whenever Maid Marion’s lady-in-waiting Lady Clydesdale is mentioned, was obviously nabbed from Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein”. Nonetheless, the audience loved the opportunity to snort and neigh.

The cast is able to really chew the scenery in this type of production. Broad hamminess and ad-libbed asides direct to the audience are encouraged by director Gary Winterholler, who also plays Sir Guy, henchman of the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Maid Marion (Jennifer Morrison) and Lady Clydesdale (Bethany Hidden-Cauley) are both accomplished singers as well as delightful actors, and they lend their voices from backstage to beef up the musical parody numbers sprinkled throughout the show.

The entire cast is enthusiastic, the simple sets and costumes work, and the production is suitable for a family audience. There are a few rather racy double entendres throughout, but nothing too objectionable even if the youngsters do manage to catch on.

The small theater deep in the hull of the riverboat is comfortable, the popcorn is free, the ticket prices affordable, and the comedy is light. The production is altogether a good entertainment value and brings a breath of fresh air to the Sacramento theater scene.

Robin Hood runs for five more performances, on Friday and Saturday evenings through March 31st with a Sunday matinee on March 25th. Sacra-Melo has also been contracted for a four-show season next year, starting in September.

For information or tickets, please visit http://sacramelo.com

Sacra-Melo: A musical parody playhouse aboard the Delta King

2011-12-02T04:55:40Z

The audience booed the villains and cheered the good guys, cued by the piano keys played by Musical Director John Cocuzzi Saturday during Sacra-Melo's production of "It's A Wonderful Life" aboard the Delta King.

Sacra-Melo, a combination of the words “Sacramento” and “melodrama,” is a musical parody playhouse, co-founder Gary Winterholler, 46, said. He and his wife, 46-year-old Cammie Pavesic, started it in January.

"I have done some work for another theater in town, and I loved it. I went and auditioned for the next show, but they did not cast me, and I said, ‘Let's start our company,’ " Winterholler said.

The first musical parody Sacra-Melo performed was the "Phantom of the Opera," which premiered Sept. 30 and ran for 12 shows.

"It comes from vaudeville, that kind of stand-up comedy and burlesque wrapped into one," Pavesic said of musical parody melodrama. Sacra-Melo's musical parody melodramas come with live music played by Cocuzzi, which she said is an important part of their performance and something that is unique to Sacra-Melo.

With a cast and crew of 16 people for their current show "It's A Wonderful Life," the Sacra-Melo actors all agreed that their company is best described as a family.

The characters in the play interact with the audience during the show, addressing phones that ring or spilled drinks, and add those elements as ad-lib comedic material.

"We get to play with the audience, and we get the elimination of the fourth wall," Winterholler said. "You are an actor when you're sitting in the audience."

Sacra-Melo’s improvisational style means the actors are not “married to the script,” Winterholler said. They have the opportunity to ad-lib, depending on the situation presented during their shows.

Saturday's show was no exception.

When one of the stage curtains failed to open, Gian Montesini, 44, playing the role of Mr. Potter, said, "The beauty of live theater," as his reaction to the curtain failure.

The audience laughed at the blunder – something that would have been catastrophic for traditional plays, but with Sacra-Melo, it was an opportunity for some laughs.

"It's not your traditional musical theater that has been done to death, your traditional fluff comedy that has been done to death or your thought-provoking Shakespearean plays," Montesini said.

Director Cindy Lopez, 35, said Sacra-Melo fills a gap that is missing in local theaters. Winterholler added that they are the only musical parody playhouse in Northern California.

"This is pure fun and pure entertainment," Lopez said. "We're not gonna try to make anybody cry."

Some of the cast for "It's A Wonderful Life" were also cast members of their production of "The Phantom of the Opera," while some were selected during an audition Lopez held in October.

A lot like any other family, Winterholler said that being part of Sacra-Melo had trials and tensions, but also a lot of love, which had cast members coming back despite hectic, and at times stressful, rehearsals. They had four weeks of rehearsal for "It's A Wonderful Life."

"It's super cool, and it feels like we all fit in together," said Jaya Dardick, who at age 11 is the youngest member of the cast.

Winterholler said that it is a collaborative effort with all the members to come up with their jokes.

"Everybody that you see here is everybody. We don't have extra people. We do our set changes ourselves … (and) extra bits of cooperation bring us together even more," Actress Bethany Hidden-Cauley, 27, said. This is her first production with Sacra-Melo.

Not all actors are comfortable or can do very well with the type of environment at Sacra-Melo, Montesini said. "It takes that kind of actors to fit in, and that's why we’ve become family, because we're weird like that.”

"How many times have you watched a theater in a boat?" Montesini asked. He said that Sac-Melo's location at the Delta King adds to the overall experience in watching the show.

Click here for more information about Sacra-Melo, ticket prices and show schedules.

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Melodrama: family entertainment from a simpler time

Sacra-Melo: A musical parody playhouse aboard the Delta King