Death Takes a Holiday at First Unitarian Church

Normally, an amateur show at a local church wouldn't be on my radar, but fellow Concentus-member Johanna and her husband were performing in this production, so I passed up Jeff Tyziek's 20th anniversary RPO concert to see a musical version of Death Takes a Holiday, which originally ran Off-Broadway three years ago. The goal of the FirstLight Players at First Unitarian Church is to "bring new light to relatively unknown shows of merit and shed light on social issues."  I'm not sure there were any social issues in this play, but it is a relatively unknown musical.  And perhaps for good reason. The play it is based on might be familiar (from the original 1934 version or the 1971 remake), but the score is unremarkable and repetitive.

Obviously, this was nowhere close to a professional production.  But there's room in Rochester for amateur theatre groups, and the great turnout of friends and family on a Friday night proved this.  The cast was uneven, but there were a few particularly talented individuals, and Johanna's husband's comic portrayal of his character was a scene stealer (I was disappointed that Johanna, who has a lovely voice, didn't have a larger part).  And they all had a lot of guts and gusto.

The biggest failings, I thought, were on the part of the director.  First, because of the many lengthy scene changes and the plodding pace of dialogue, the show lasted just under three hours! Second, even though the church is not that large, everyone in the cast was miked.  And the speaker system was terrible - there was no end to the buzzing, and the cutting in and out of sound.  It was not only distracting to the audience, but was a disservice to those on stage.  A couple in the cast seemed capable of compensating by projecting without the microphone, but unfortunately they had no control over the amplification.  Either the organization should invest in a better sound system, or, better yet, it should dispense with its use entirely, and have the cast members speak and sing without the technology.

(Gwen, Kristin, Denise, Jenna, me, Michelle)

I''m still glad I went, because I think it's important to support the performing arts at all levels, and because I also participate in the arts an amateur, so I can empathize with them!

And I ran into several other Concentus singers, who were also there to support the lovely Johanna.