Actually I almost never go to the theatre. Too damned expensive. They priced out the proles decades ago. Still I'm glad it's all there. Gives the tourista's something to do.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Never had live theater back in old Stepford, Cow Hampshire. The Sceenic was whyere all the action was. Lines and lines of kids for a Saturday matinee. Wait your turn, pay 35 cents, a quarter if you were lucky, or a half buck if it was an "epic". Once inside, 15 cents bought a box of popcorn, a dime a tooth shatteringly sweet cup of orange pop, and a way we went into the dingy darness.
The yelling and carrying on ceased once the bright white eye flashed on. A cartoon or two, coming attractions, then it was John Wayne killing Japs, or a Disney Princess being bamboozled by some rapacious old crone, or bad guys and sherriffs facing off at rtwenty paces.
It was mostly entertaining, sometimes educational and could even get scary. Infrequently it got boring, and when that happened you might end up doing stuff with yourself and your buddies that you didn't want mom to know about. But that was educational too. in it's own way!
Later on the movies went up to a buck: the Beatles, teenage angst, trying to discover girls. But I didn't want mom to find out about that either. To embarassing, and unsuccessful.
Live theater occasionally came our way via the local high school's masque and Dagger who put on standard fare high school melodramas and the occasional Gilbert and Sullivan. But that didn't cost a lot, and Jimmy Stewart and Marilyn Monroe weren't exactly entering stage right.
Late in my childhood, a Summer Theater company came to town and for several years brought refried third rate Broadway muisicals to the protelariat, staged in the ancient City Hall auditorium, such as it was.
Dad warned me to never have anything to do with the guys from the Summer theater. They were easily identified byt the flashy clothes, the swish, and the dishy manner of speech. "They're queers." he warned me, as if associating with them would put me i danger of contractinhg a dangerous disease.
Little did he know, that was a bug i had caught a long time ago, and there was nothing more my heart of hearts wanted at the time than to be a summer theater guy.
2 comments:
Never had live theater back in old Stepford, Cow Hampshire. The Sceenic was whyere all the action was. Lines and lines of kids for a Saturday matinee. Wait your turn, pay 35 cents, a quarter if you were lucky, or a half buck if it was an "epic". Once inside, 15 cents bought a box of popcorn, a dime a tooth shatteringly sweet cup of orange pop, and a way we went into the dingy darness.
The yelling and carrying on ceased once the bright white eye flashed on. A cartoon or two, coming attractions, then it was John Wayne killing Japs, or a Disney Princess being bamboozled by some rapacious old crone, or bad guys and sherriffs facing off at rtwenty paces.
It was mostly entertaining, sometimes educational and could even get scary. Infrequently it got boring, and when that happened you might end up doing stuff with yourself and your buddies that you didn't want mom to know about. But that was educational too. in it's own way!
Later on the movies went up to a buck: the Beatles, teenage angst, trying to discover girls. But I didn't want mom to find out about that either. To embarassing, and unsuccessful.
Live theater occasionally came our way via the local high school's masque and Dagger who put on standard fare high school melodramas and the occasional Gilbert and Sullivan. But that didn't cost a lot, and Jimmy Stewart and Marilyn Monroe weren't exactly entering stage right.
Late in my childhood, a Summer Theater company came to town and for several years brought refried third rate Broadway muisicals to the protelariat, staged in the ancient City Hall auditorium, such as it was.
Dad warned me to never have anything to do with the guys from the Summer theater. They were easily identified byt the flashy clothes, the swish, and the dishy manner of speech. "They're queers." he warned me, as if associating with them would put me i danger of contractinhg a dangerous disease.
Little did he know, that was a bug i had caught a long time ago, and there was nothing more my heart of hearts wanted at the time than to be a summer theater guy.
Alas!!!
Mr. Chips
Well said!
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