North Park Vaudeville’s Melodrama: Cruising the Carolinas,
Keeping it Light and Silly
Words by Kristen Fogle
For those that have attended the charming, unassuming El
Cajon space that is one part candy shop (60+ treats!) and two parts 35-seat
theater space, you have come to know husband and wife owners Summer Golden and
Jeff Bushnell. You may also know that in addition to putting on the STARS program
for developmentally challenged actors and a playwright festival in the fall,
they also do an annual melodrama.
As Jeff explains in his introduction, prior to the show, a
melodrama is really a morality play; popular in Victorian times, they
reinforced good and evil through two central figures—the hero and the villain.
The audience members were instructed to cheer the hero and boo the villain,
making for good, interactive fun.
Because of the size of the Vaudeville space, it simply
became impractical to pay royalties on melodramas; Jeff adds that they have
also exhausted all the melodramas created for smaller casts (which the tiny
stage dictates). So, for the last few years, Summer has taken it upon herself
to write the melodramas herself…which leads us to the newest one, “The Cruise
of the Carolinas.”
The plot is simple but fun: Lt. Goodman (the hero) meets
Miss Goodness and (naturally) falls in love with her. Before he can act on
these impulses, however, a band of men invite Miss Goodness, her Mother, and
Aunt Wilde on a “pleasure cruise.” What they don’t know is that the men are
scheming against them and…pirates! Captain Caustic is set to make Miss Goodness
his—however, Domencia, second in command on paper at least, will see to it that
he doesn’t…as will Lt. Goodman, if he can reach Miss Goodness in time! The
question is…can he? Does Miss Goodness love him back? Will Domencia take care
of Miss Goodness before true love can spark? And what about that cross dressing
pirate Mr. Horrendous—is he a she or is she a he?
Always silly and engaging the support of the crowd (which
was a little more talkative than I would have liked the night I saw the show),
the cast was energetic and over-the-top, keeping us watching and waiting.
Rebekah Bonney shows she is quite a talent, especially with punch lines and
timing; she was definitely the star of the show as the oh-so-sweet Miss
Goodness. Lt. Goodman was full of energy, responding to the crowd’s every
reaction (he kind of reminded me of Steve from “Blue’s Clues”). Terry John’s
Captain Caustic was full of spunk and spirit, Aunt Wilde was played splendidly by
Barbra Hoffman, Rachel Godbaum was entertaining as Mother, and Sheila Martenies
played Mr. Horrendus humorously. Summer Golden turned out her inner dominatrix
as the sexy Domencia. Mark Anthony also served double duty as a draggish
looking Governor and director of the show.
At almost two and a half hours, “Carolinas” is just a bit
too long for a melodrama, but it is always fun to see what the group churns out
in this space. No one else in San Diego does what Vaudeville does, and that is
creating and producing original work on such a consistent basis. It should be
praised for that, as well as creating impressive props, costumes, and sets.
Their next show, the female version of “The Odd Couple,” should be quite
good—the fun runs June 22 - July 1; Fridays/Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at
2 p.m.
“The Cruise of the
Carolinas”
4/27-5/12
North Park Vaudeville
and Candy Shoppe
2031 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, 92104
619-647-4958
www.northparkvaudeville.com
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