Anyone who is in NE Ohio with fond memories of the 70s, and who is looking for entertainment the next 2 weekends:

[Ms. Toad]

Let me know! I'm in a production of Disaster! It's a jukebox musical (i.e. a figurative jukebox filled with 70s tunes) merged with every disaster movie from the 70s. I die singing the only solo I've ever had . . .I

Seriously, it's literally a laugh a minute, non-stop disasters, and brings back a lot of memories for the cast - and a large part of the audience, if I'm any judge of ages. And your chance to see what I look like when I'm not behind a keyboard!

Here's a peek (from the Broadway production).

[forgotmylogin]

1. Disaster is pretty funny!

Sister Mary Downy is my favorite character.

[Ms. Toad]

6. Our Sister Mary Downy is not quite as wild as the one in the Broadway performance -

But she is a hoot!

[marble falls]

13. Because after all, this is Cleveland. Born in Cleveland, mom went through high school at John Marshal...

... on W1405th street.

We lived on the near west side -walking distance to the West Side market. Went to Lutheran elementry schools. Still have family in the suburbs.


I've always wondered about two scripts: one for the theater crowd and one for the rubes in Peoria, or Cleveland.

[EYESORE 9001]

16. W1405th St? That's Sandusky, cap'n!

[forgotmylogin]

19. Jennifer Simard is incredible.

She's currently in the tryout of the new "Death Becomes Her" musical in Chicago.

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[Hope22]

2. Thank you for sharing this!

Wish I could be there! 😁💗

[Ms. Toad]

7. You're welcome!

Since the show isn't well-known, we've been struggling to sell tickets. (The theater seats 200 - all 9 shows of Scrooge were sold out at Christmas, and most of the seats were sold for last year's performance of Guys and Dolls. But in the first 3 shows we've only had about 270 people total.)

I thought maybe I might find a few takers here, since I know there are some local folks on DU - and we all tend to be about the right age to really enjoy it.

[forgotmylogin]

20. Marketing needs to subtly imply it's essentially "Poseidon Adventure: The Musical" !

I know they can't say that outright, but it's a very fun jukebox musical with 70s music that should sell hopefully sell it. Hopefully you run long enough for word-of-mouth to work!

[Ms. Toad]

21. The person who usually does marketing is pretty overwhelmed,

So it is a lot of word of mouth. The cast has been pushing it as hard as we can via social media.

Our hope is that people will hear about this past weekend's shows and send their friends to see it this weekend or next. We did get a standing ovation on Sunday, and a number of positive posts on social media (from people other than cast members). There's around 110 tickets sold for Friday and Saturday. Looks like about 40 for Sunday (Mother's day). The theater seats in the ballpark of 200 people. So it's respectable - but we're used to selling out..

[forgotmylogin]

22. That is a hard Mother's Day show to sell!

It's a subversive midnight laugh riot with hilarious death scenes - not usual fare depending on what moms like!

I remember when we did BABY back in the day we filled two Mother's Day shows to SRO capacity and they added another weekend matinee...much easier sell!

That show was much less fun though!

[Ms. Toad]

23. The theater group is relatively new,

Last edited Tue May 7, 2024, 12:40 AM - Edit history (1)

This is our third spring, and the first spring we've done a Sunday matinee (it's been just Fri/Sat). I don't think the planners had their thinking caps on when they scheduled the 3 x 3 in May, rather than just making it an 8 show run. By the time they realized it, we were in tech week and we'd all invited kids/moms to the show - or made plans to celebrate mother's day on a different day. They offered to cancel, but most of us preferred not to at that late date.

[captain queeg]

3. I fit the requirements but not in Ohio anymore. Why is that part of the deal?

Is this showing somewhere in Ohio?

[Ms. Toad]

5. A NE Ohio theater group, designed for actors 55+, is putting on the musical

I've been acting since I retired (first chance I got - post-high school, since life kept me very busy until I retired). This is my 4th show.

Our first three performances of Disaster have just finished. There are 6 more (3 on each of the next two weekends).

So I guess you could fly/drive in - but probably not realistic.

[captain queeg]

10. I'm going back for a visit on 6 June. Will you still be doing the show?

[Ms. Toad]

11. Unfortunately, no.

The last show is May 19.

[captain queeg]

14. Ok thanks. By the way what town are you from?

I grew up mostly in Garrettsville.

[Ms. Toad]

15. Currently the Akron area.

Before that the Cleveland area. Before that Nebraska.

[MLAA]

4. Wish I was nearby! Break a leg!

[Ms. Toad]

8. I have mixed feelings about the phrase -

Since I have already broken a leg (not acting - I picked a fight with black ice. Black Ice always wins. But I seem to be typecast for physical comedy roles and fall down a lot. I'm on the floor at least 3 times in this performance, including one very dramatic fall when a chandelier falls on my head in the middle of my solo. Since they don't actually have a chandelier, or an image of a chandelier, the only way to get the point across that I died a sudden death is a dramatic collapse on the stage.

But I appreciate the sentiment!

[MLAA]

9. May all of your falls be on stage! 💕

[Ms. Toad]

12. I hope so. Already dreading the next few doctor's visits.

I'm of the age that the first question they ask is have you fallen in the last X months. My answer is alwyays yes - I've had two forms vertigo, one which has never absolutely vanished. If I get off-balance, I go down - at least once every 6 months or so. (It's also the reason I can fall on stage - since I fall so often I've trained myself to completely relax when I fall so I don't hurt myself.)

But the answer this time will be 75 times, give or take a couple. I already get labeled at risk for falling by the Cleveland Clinic, and slapped with a bright red wristband, accompanied by directions to park as close as possible and get a wheelchair. Not sure what they will do for this one. I wish they would distinguish between risk of falling (always) and risk of injury (virtually nil - the only fall injury I've had was when I skidded around the front of my car on a patch of black ice until my foot hit solid ground and stopped cold - but my body didn't).

[captain queeg]

17. I had the PT tell me I was a fall risk and should use a cane. I blew it off.

The night I fell pretty hard and smacked my head on concrete, so I’ve been using a cane since. I’m real careful and haven’t fallen since but I’ve had to accept the reality that I am a fall risk.

[Ms. Toad]

18. Oh, I'm definitely a fall risk.

But the real problems with falling is injuring yourself. My bone density is good (measured within the last year, since I was on medication that might have given me osteopenia or osteoporosis). So no more risk of broken bones from a fall than when I was younger. And vertigo (with the many, many falls that accompanied it) means that I know how to control my fall so I don't injure myself. All but one of my on-stage falls are closer to sit downs that falls, but one is a dead-weight fall from standing (followed by scrambling to my feet to get off stage).

That said, I used a cane for the year when I had active vertigo - as much as a visual sign to others that I might not be as able-bodied as I appeared as for balance (since it didn't really help a lot with that). If someone slams into me I'm going down, since I won't be able to catch my balance. And because I can't control that there is a risk of injury - but a cane wouldn't help me stay upright.

[forgotmylogin]

24. "Break a leg"

I can understand having trauma about that, but it refers to "curtain legs" - the phrase comes from "I hope you get so many curtain calls that you 'break a leg'" - meaning the curtain rigging breaks from having to raise the curtain for so many bows!

[Ms. Toad]

25. Interesting. I've heard several theories about the original on the phrase -

But that's not one I've heard before.