Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival

Back in 2012, my friend from Florida and I attended a wonderfully entertaining production of Fingers & Toes, by Logan Medland, at the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival in Auburn. It was the festival's inaugural season, and I remember remarking to Nanette that it was too bad it was so far away, instead of right here in Rochester. Fast-forward four years, and Auburn, just under 60 miles away, no longer seems like such a hike. So when our friends Tom and Glen offered to take us to dinner and a show there, to thank us for storing their wine for a year, we accepted.

They chose Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical, with dinner before at Moro’s Table. We arrived at the restaurant ahead of the crush to enjoy a leisurely meal before the show. Dinner was delicious, from our starters of tuna sushi, fried oysters, and fried green tomatoes, to dessert of chocolate bread pudding and a basket of tiny, tasty madeleines. All of the mains on their menu are available in “appetizer or entrée sized portions,”  and the 2/3 sized appetizer portion was certainly sufficient. Our server was extremely attentive and knowledgeable, and we will definitely put this on our list of restaurants to revisit.

When we got to the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, I was confused, but delighted. Confused, because this was not the downtown Auburn Public Theatre Nanette and I attended in 2012. Delighted, because the 500-seat theatre reminded me of a playhouse on Cape Cod (it was built in a former carousel building in a park). The location couldn’t have been more idyllic – right at the top of Owasco Lake. It shares Emerson Park with an events pavilion, which we cut through (we walked quickly, since a wedding reception was in progress) to get a stunning view of the lake, with the almost-full moon reflecting off it.

The theatre’s seats were a bit tight, but the show was engaging enough to overcome any discomfort. Although it’s a two-hander, the actor playing Rosemary Clooney’s psychiatrist also portrays a number of other roles as the story unfolds, including her sister, her mother, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby, to name a few. Even though Clooney was before my time, most of the songs were immediately recognizable (e.g., “Count Your Blessings,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “Mambo Italiano”), and they were cleverly woven into and in furtherance of the plot. 

One of the festival offerings I’d love to attend next summer is the PiTCH – workshops for musicals in development. How fun would it be to be one of 80 audience members hearing a new show being pitched – the writers presenting their idea, with samples of songs and choreography – and then giving your feedback? Who knows, you might even get lucky and witness the genesis of the next Hamilton or Book of Mormon! And it would be a good excuse to return to Moro’s Table…