This fall and winter 2019/2020 we discovered a new local theatre with our friends Renée and Larry who invited us to get season tickets with them to the Douglas Morrisson Theatre in Hayward. Renee and her mom had a long history of enjoying season tickets to this theatre and we are continuing the tradition, actually occupying the very same seats Renee and her mom did. A season involves three plays and two choral performances. I had started this blog post back in September when Frank and I attended our first show there but decided to hold back and consolidate all the performances into one post. Our final choral event was to be held Saturday March 28th but was cancelled due to the social distancing mandated to hinder the spread of COVID-19. Its cancellation, plus my extra time due to sheltering at home from the coronavirus, prompted me to resurrect and finish the post. The season was still great with three shows and one concert. Per the DMT website
The mission of the Douglas Morrisson Theatre is to involve and enlighten the community through the experience of live theater.
Housed in a charming, small building nestled in a Hayward neighborhood adjacent to the Hayward Japanese Tea Gardens, the theatre presented its first public performance in January 1979, with a production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, The King and I. This intimate 217-seat theatre was a revelation to Frank and me, a quaint and secluded venue. The three shows we attended – The Three Musketeers, Hello Dolly, and Black Comedy – represented a variety of entertainment. The choral performance in December had a holiday theme.
The Three Musketeers
I had never seen a performance of The Three Musketeers before. Frank and I do frequent the theatre fairly often, but it is usually the local theatre type show, rarely the very pricey shows in San Francisco and San Jose. I do recall seeing Hamilton in San Francisco in 2019 (post for 3/10/19), Book of Mormon in San Jose 2015 (post for 7/6/2015), and Mary Poppins in San Jose in 2012. Yes, the staging is more impressive and the sound generally better at these big city "professional" shows; but when you leave your home early enough to drive into the city, find a parking space, and hoof it to the theatre you have tired yourself out enough that you really do need any semblance of relaxation the high-priced show may offer. Then you have the long trek home. Occasionally, for special shows, splurging is good and worth it; but for the more often outing, I like local theatre. Locally, it is not unusual to see a musical or play I have already seen, but that is okay. I like the familiar and enjoy singing along in my head. So The Three Musketeers was a treat in that it was novel to both Frank and me when we viewed it on September 21st.
With the inability to bear the cost of elaborate staging, one of the perks of local theatre is that the sets rely on creativity and ingenuity. There was one set for the multiple acts of The Three Musketeers and one modest sound board and monitor that controlled it all. The table in the foreground of the set almost became a running gag as it was scooted from one side of the stage to and repeatedly repurposed in many roles: table, altar, shield, stage, bed, room divider, and many, many more that I cannot recall.
The show was a fun romp, not truly a comedy but rather a drama that did not take itself too seriously. There were many wry interpretations, snarky comments, and athletic slap stick actions sneakily sandwiched in between swashbuckling scenes, romantic interludes, and villainous plotting. Renée laughed after the show saying she never expected it to be so campy? Campy? I had to look that up. It was the perfect work to sum up the show. Campy and fun.
Hello, Dolly
Two months later on Saturday November 16th we attended our second show of the season, the musical Hello Dolly. I had a vague recollection that I had seen it before but in reality I had it completely muddled with The Unsinkable Molly Brown. I was still perplexed midway into the show as to why there was no ship. Dolly Gallagher Levi and Molly Brown were strong female characters of the roughly the same era (early 1900's) so I am not totally crazy. Costuming would have been similar between the two which led to my continued befuddlement.
We perched in our same seats and perused our programs. Once I saw some of the song numbers, the ones that were familiar to me jogged my memory: Hello, Dolly, It Only Takes a Moment, Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Before the Parade Passes By. Memory of the songs was sparked, mind you, but not memory of the plot. I got to enjoy the show from a whole new perspective since I remembered not lick of the storyline.
The curtains were closed until the show began and so I have no photos of the set. I did take the pre-show time to admire the curlicue hearts on the curtains. The set was equally creative with street fronts and shops and a set of stairs with a trap door for surprise appearances. Dolly was quite the romantic, mischievous, conniver so I enjoyed the playful deception. I was never quite sure how she convinced the guy who fell in love with her in the end to fall for her, but she did. And he did.
Holiday Concert
This choral entertainment occurred on Saturday evening December 7th. I had been Oklahoma visiting my daughter the previous week and my return flight was scheduled to land at Oakland airport at 6:15pm less than two hours before the concert, which was to begin at 8:00 pm. The airport was not very far from the theatre so if I got picked up and went directly to the theatre, if my flight was not delayed, and if my bags came reasonably soon, I would make it to the concert on time. Larry and Renée dropped Frank off at the terminal to greet me and chivalrously help with my luggage. Instead of waiting in the cell phone lot for my call, I think Larry circled the airport, over and over and over again. Renée good-naturedly grumbled that she got dizzy. 
But we did get to the concert with plenty of time to spare. About half of the songs on the program were familiar holiday carols and the audience was encouraged to sing along on a few. I enjoyed those and participated. The ones that were not familiar – maybe intended to expand our cultural horizons – were not so captivating. I blame a day of traveling and some jet lag due adjustment due to a two-time-zone difference between my Oklahoma internal clock and my California internal clock for my behavior. I might have dozed off for couple of minutes during a few of the numbers. Certainly it was not the caliber of the singing. Frank adhered to my request to nudge and wake me only if I snored. I did not snore and I roused myself intermittently. I did not miss much. We took some festive pictures in the lobby afterward. See? I do not look the slightest bit sleepy. I was refreshed during the show.
Black Comedy
Our third and final show of the season on Saturday February 29 was a unique comedic play titled Black Comedy. I was expecting Eddie Murphy type humor. I can still hear in my head his voicing the Donkey in Shrek.
The play was not that; it was totally unexpected and weird. The overview in the Baystages program explains the premise and invites the audience to "an evening of some very silly fun".
Of course in order for the audience to see the characters acting in the play, the stage cannot be in black out mode. The scenes would go in and out of blackness, in reverse of what the audience was to assume the actors were seeing. When a match was blown out, the players could see each; when there was the sound of a match being struck and lit, the players were plunged into blackness so the audience was clued that the actors could not see and therefore stumbled into each other and over objects in their way. Initially it was difficult to adjust to the reverse clues. Thankfully Frank had read a Wikipedia article on the play and illuminated us on the ride there as to what to expect. Since we were attending on Leap Day, it was reasonable to expect the play would take a leap of faith. Even the set was eclectic. There was a plethora of props to trip over, knock over, run into, fall on, and mistake for other objects. It was kind of wild.
Our third and final show of the season on Saturday February 29 was a unique comedic play titled Black Comedy. I was expecting Eddie Murphy type humor. I can still hear in my head his voicing the Donkey in Shrek.
The play was not that; it was totally unexpected and weird. The overview in the Baystages program explains the premise and invites the audience to "an evening of some very silly fun".
Black Comedy is a traditional "farce" presented in a very non-traditional way. A farce uses elements like physical humor, deliberate absurdity. drunkenness, bawdy jokes, and mistaken identity for one purpose only; to make people laugh The standard methods used to "keep people in the dark" is the characters entering a series of doors, opening and closing at the exact moment the characters are most likely to be seen. The play you are about to see certainly has all of this. Where it differs is the standard use of opening and closing of doors is substituted with the availability or non-availability of light! The characters are forced to interact almost entirely in the dark! Hence the title of the play Black Comedy.
Of course in order for the audience to see the characters acting in the play, the stage cannot be in black out mode. The scenes would go in and out of blackness, in reverse of what the audience was to assume the actors were seeing. When a match was blown out, the players could see each; when there was the sound of a match being struck and lit, the players were plunged into blackness so the audience was clued that the actors could not see and therefore stumbled into each other and over objects in their way. Initially it was difficult to adjust to the reverse clues. Thankfully Frank had read a Wikipedia article on the play and illuminated us on the ride there as to what to expect. Since we were attending on Leap Day, it was reasonable to expect the play would take a leap of faith. Even the set was eclectic. There was a plethora of props to trip over, knock over, run into, fall on, and mistake for other objects. It was kind of wild.
The comedy was very slapstick and silly. Mistaken identity reigned. The actors were very athletic to do all the physical comedy and stunts. At one point the lead actor fell/rolled down the full flight of stairs. All this required an exerted effort and must have consumed a lot of calories. Watching made us all hungry so we stopped at Knudsen's Ice Creamery for an after-the-show snack. The creamery was a show in itself. Be sure to check out the YouTube video embedded in their website.
When we were there a group of about fifty Asian-American soccer players showed up perhaps from some special league; they'd given the store about fifteen minutes notice. The rowdy but polite, happy bunch was fun to observe. They were served swiftly and efficiently and did not impact the speed or quality of our service. It was an experience and a great place to return to. Just look at the size of these sundaes! As we were rising to leave Renée, who was seated opposite Frank, knocked over a full glass of ice water, straight on target to baptize his lap. I had never seen him leap to his feet so quickly and avoid the deluge. Great reflexes! This memory was another great laugh to add to our evening of fun and finish out the season.
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