The Drama Workshop Presents Love Rides the Rails, a Melodrama by Morland Cary

 A play with a Villain, a Damsel, and a Hero.

The fun started when Stephen and I walked in the door of the Glenmore Playhouse in Cheviot, Ohio.  Stephen sat down and Rusty Lacy painted a mustache on him in the style he ordered.

Stephen was too delighted to sneer.

Then we picked up ammunition to throw at the villains.  The Can-Can girls passed out ammunition to those in the audience who hadn't picked up theirs in the lobby.  You can see the tub that held the bags of popcorn is empty.  The audience was ready for those villains.

There were "House Rules" printed in the  Playbill.  (As always, you can click on the pictures to get  larger ones.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the piano playing by JoAnn Ward before and during the performance.  She played those old songs popular during the era of melodramas and provided the musical sound effects during the play.

There was someone off stage providing additional sound effects which often made the audience laugh. The Can-Can girls helped by cuing the audience when we had parts in the play.  The audience enthusiastically helped out.

Here is the cast.

Below are the names of those in the cast...  Actors often act with more than one community theater so if you go to community theater regularly, you will recognize many of the names from other plays that have been presented by other community theater groups..

The story is the classic melodrama with all the required features...a villain who threatens to foreclose on the poor widow's house, the sweet damsel the villain wants for his own, the hero who saves the day, even a victim bound and gagged and laid on the railroad track.  There are a few different twists to the classic tale.  You'll have to see the play to learn those.

I took this photo after the play.  Most of the cast is in it.  They are listening to the director, Amy Hamilton, who is setting a time for a brush-up practice before this coming weekend.  No matter how well the actors perform, they are always eager to do even better. (You can see the "ammunition" still on the floor.)

I am always impressed by the enormous amounts of time community theater groups put into providing their audiences with great performances. Many members are never seen but are essential to the polished, finished production.  And they do this, not for pay, but because they love theater.

If you have been to other performances at the Glenmore Playhouse, you will note that the acoustics are improved.  ArtsWave enabled The Drama Workshop with a generous grant for the project.  Read more about ArtsWave at 

www.The ArtsWave.org

There are four more performances this coming weekend.  The dates are August 9, 10, and 11, 2013.  Check The Drama Workshop website for information about times.

www.thedramaworkshop.org