Tag Archives: Rachel Landon

Burg Review: Open Stage delivers powerful, intimate tribute to Judy Garland in “Over the Rainbow”

May 27, 2021 | by Gina Napoli

Three microphones. Three singers. Three strikingly distinct interpretations of Judy Garland belted out by Open Stage’s chanteuses Carly Lafferty, Rachel Landon and Stacey Werner.

Aside from Judy Garland’s signature movie songs, “Over the Rainbow” and “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart,” you might not recognize the remainder of the song selections. This isn’t mainstream Judy following the yellow brick road or in St. Louis in a horse-drawn sleigh during MGM’s “Golden Age” of Hollywood. This is a tribute to Judy’s lounge act, with the audience playing the role of her most enduring fans seated in a nightclub.

Open Stage does not need to alter itself much to evoke the look and feel of a venue where Judy Garland might have played way back when. To borrow lyrics from another band contemporary to Ms. Garland, everything inside is already painted black. Her black-and-white pictures, blown up as the background, show an unsmiling, faraway Judy—a tragic figure of entertainment who glittered on the outside and recoiled on the inside.

It is that sense of bittersweet melancholy that drives the music and the outward glamor that inspires the costumes. Each of Open Stage’s performers wears something Judy Garland herself might have worn: sparkles, lace, a pencil skirt, ruby slippers, 1941 Victory Red lipstick.

Open Stage’s Judys diverge in the vocal approaches, with all the talented ladies showcasing their signature ranges and styles. With the singers alternating who takes the stage, there is very little pesky narrative and audience interaction to interrupt the flow of all the great music. Most of the numbers are solos, and in a few, all three come together with harmonies that hit the ear just right.

Carly Lafferty’s approach to Judy Garland reminds me of the young, red-headed Esther Smith in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” except that Lafferty’s hair is minus those hideous bangs that must have been popular in 1903. She starts out in a bright voice, the high register that youthful Judy had before life’s burdens set in. Lafferty is able to make a real connection with her audience. After months of theater delivered over Zoom and YouTube, I had forgotten what a strangely intimate act eye contact is while singing from the stage.

Rachel Landon’s rendition of Judy Garland draws more from her Vaudevillian career. With her cute pin curls and playful unrestraint, Landon’s plucky interpretations play best on the rollicking show tunes. Then she digs deeper on the more soulful ballads, hinting at how many times her heart must have been broken. She sings with the same faraway look in her eyes as Judy does, looking way above the cameras into the distance.

Bluesy Stacey Werner has a strong, flinty voice that lends perfectly to both the jazzy ragtime and the wistfully sad songs Ms. Garland sang in her more mature years. I may have been mistaken, but I think I heard Werner’s register once hit a note in the baritone range. Her sultry pipes perfectly conjured Judy’s turmoil, with a commanding stage presence that is obvious, front and center.

All three Judys were playfully affectionate with each other during some of the numbers. The more they enjoyed themselves, the more that energy rubbed off on the audience.

If you are a Judy fan, or even if you just like a well-sung, retro lounge act, this show is (as Judy said herself) the berries!

“Over the Rainbow: The Songs of Judy Garland” will run in-person shows May 28 to June 25 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For dates and times, visit www.openstagehbg.com/show/judy. There will also be a special presentation at the Italian Lake Pavilion in Harrisburg on June 25 at 7 p.m.

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Open Stage announces a return to live theater, the latest Harrisburg venue to reopen

April 19, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda

Open Stage has announced a return to live performances.

The Harrisburg-area arts scene soon will take another step towards normal operations, as Open Stage today announced the return of live performances to its downtown theater.

Open Stage will reopen with a series of concerts, beginning in late May with a Judy Garland celebration entitled, “Over the Rainbow: the Songs of Judy Garland.”

“It’s obviously been a difficult year for theater,” said Stuart Landon, producing artistic director at Open Stage. “Last March, we asked ourselves, ‘What is theater without people sitting in the audience?’ And we—the five full time staff members—took some time away from the space. But through a very dark time, we were able to find some light.”

The announcement marks the latest in a series of theater re-openings in Harrisburg following a general pandemic-related shutdown over a year ago.

Recently, Gamut Theatre returned live with a three-week run of “2 by Strindberg,” which extends through late April. In addition, Midtown Cinema last week announced the return of first-run films and public screenings to its recently renovated theater.

Over the past year, several area theaters began to stream performances. For instance, Open Stage premiered its “Open Stage at Home” streaming last April with a six-part production of “Angels in America.”

“The community has been a boon to us during this time,” Landon said. “So many patrons have purchased streaming passes and signed up for our monthly giving program. We are really humbled by the passion for the arts during a time when people can’t gather. But theater-goers are ready to return to live entertainment. It’s time for us to welcome artists and audiences back to Court Street.”

“Over the Rainbow” will run for about a month, starting May 28, at Open Stage’s theater. It will culminate on June 25 with one outdoor performance at Italian Lake Park in Harrisburg.

The concert features performers Carly Lafferty, Stacey Werner and Rachel Landon with Music Director Nicholas Werner at the helm. The production is directed by Stuart Landon, who believes this concert series, featuring local talent from central Pennsylvania, will satisfy both the long-time patrons and newcomers to the theater.

“There is also something very beautiful about a bunch of strangers sitting in a dark room sharing an experience—seeing a well-formulated story, hearing beautiful music—and knowing that the person next to you is experiencing the same thing,” Landon said. “‘Over the Rainbow’ will be just that.”

“Over the Rainbow” will be followed by a July concert featuring the works of singer-songwriter Carole King, along with shows featuring solo artists from the Harrisburg area. In fact, for the first time, Open Stage will produce a full summer season.

Open Stage’s regular fall season will kick off in September with plays, musicals, cabarets and special events, according to the theater.

Open Stage is located at 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. Tickets are available starting May 1 at openstagehbg.com. Capacity will be limited, adhering to CDC guidelines and local and state government regulations. Physical distancing, mask-wearing, and rigorous sanitation practices will be in place in order to keep audiences and artists safe.

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Open Stage delivers a bowler hat of fussy fun with “Poirot Investigates!”

April 3, 2021 | by Gina Napoli

“Poirot Investigates” has opened at Open Stage

Reprising roles from their earlier cozy Poirot mystery play in November, the Open Stage cast reunites to solve not one – but two – murders alongside Agatha Christie’s smuggest detective, Hercule Poirot.

Although you may recognize some of the gags as hearkening back to previous crafty slapstick, the second play presents a more intimate and poignant look at the cast and their process. Open Stage invites the audience into their world while still keeping us at a safe distance via video. If you saw the first play, you’ll be relieved to know that the second one stands alone in its own right. And if you didn’t see the first play, don’t worry. You won’t be lost.

Before the play proper begins, we voyeuristically follow Poirot (Director Stuart Landon) inside the communal dressing room, observing his rituals of shaving, applying his character’s signature Pringles mustache, then donning his tuxedo and bowler hat. Then he joins the rest of the cast arranging the stage props.

We also climb into another “backstage” of sorts, inside the mind of the story’s author herself. Agatha Christie (Rachel Landon) recounts how much she grew to loathe “that blasted Belgian” she created, describing the process of writing him so often as a “long marriage between Hercule and I.” Christie quipped, “If you place your head in a lion’s mouth, you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.”

Storytelling through characters we love to hate is a device that works with Poirot. As Landon slips into character, Poirot presents as even more awkward, smug and finicky than the first go-round, yet holding his tongue in cheek throughout. The action of the play is mostly narrative, told through Poirot’s sidekick, Capt. Arthur Hastings (Chris Gibson), who serves as the target of Poirot’s constant corrections and outlet for gloating.

The structure of the play is melodramatic, obvious and delightfully absurd in the telling. Much like Christie’s writing style, her formula employs colorful characters of various nationalities and royal lineages functioning as caricatures of themselves. Rachel Landon and Benny Benamati once again prove their quick-change skills in playing a host of quirky people.

A special round of applause to Benamati for playing Cronshaw, a ridiculous-looking chap whose lines were written all in alliteration. When every keyword in the sentence began with the letter “H,” I worried something would spring from the back of their throat, but Benny made it through the lines with poise.

The murder suspects are members of a troupe who perform commedia dell’arte, showcasing a cavalcade of gorgeous and appropriately strange harlequin costumes and plague masks, much like a nighttime New Orleans parade (costumes by Rachel Landon). The play within a play adds to the eccentricity of the murder “Affair at Victory Ball,” so dubbed by the newspapers of the day.

In the midst of analyzing conclusive, case-cracking details unimportant to his cast-mates before bringing everyone together for the big reveal, Poirot doesn’t miss a single tea sandwich ritual, politely chewing while side-eyeing his guests who clink their ice in their glasses and dig into Poirot’s candy dish with no trace of subtlety.

A hearty “well done” to the entire cast for bringing new and amusing jokes to a familiar character. And even the segments that weren’t perfect later contributed to a hilarious blooper reel that the cast was generous, vulnerable and brave enough to share.

“Poirot Investigates!” runs through April 18. For a link to tickets for viewing on YouTube, visit www.openstagehbg.com. During this financially difficult time, please consider sending an additional tax-deductible donation.

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Burg Review: A tradition goes virtual with Open Stage’s inventive, offbeat “A Christmas Carol”

December 5, 2020 | by Gina Napoli

One of my family’s holiday traditions is to watch all 19 movie and television versions of “A Christmas Carol” we have recorded on CDs and VHS tapes. These include the versions featuring Henry Winkler, Mr. Magoo, and Rich Little. And we try to catch a stage show when we can all get together.

So it was a real treat to finally see a version of our favorite go-to Christmas movie staged as a radio show. This year’s Open Stage’s “A Christmas Carol” felt like infiltrating the backstage of a sound and visual effects studio, with just a splash of Monty Python. All that was missing was an oversized microphone, a blinking “Applause” sign, and a sponsored message from unfiltered Lucky Strikes.

With most of our modern familiar holiday traditions on hiatus stemming from COVID-19, the austerity of 2020 could have been penned by Charles Dickens himself. Just as 2020 threw some new things at the world that left us all improvising, Rachel Landon’s adaptation breaks tradition in a few different ways. In the spirit of the poverty-addled Cratchits assembling what they could afford, the troupe of Open Stage cobbled together pieces and parts for props, flotsam and jetsam, from different cultures and time periods, to put together a performance that mixed things up while simultaneously pacing along with the traditional Dickens classic.

Not far from the Rich Little version, Open Stage players Benny Benamati, Chris Gibson, and Rachel Landon traded off alternately on playing each character, carefully synching sound effects with each other’s actions. If you look closely, you may even spot a few crinkly dog toys used to simulate a crackling fire.

Landon’s offbeat adaptation did keep some elements of the traditional story, most notably a narrator in front of a hearth interloping once in a while in his British accent to further the plot. Both the narrative and the dialogue closely resemble the novel.

The supernatural elements of the show rate as avant-garde performance art, with a spectacular amount of spook factor introduced by those creepy Japanese bunraku puppets alone.

Although empty theaters are only a temporary break in this year’s holiday tradition, you can watch Open Stage’s rendition through a modern media YouTube paradigm. Rule-breaker that I am, I sort of enjoyed forging a new tradition of watching the Open Stage troupe air-playing Dickens to my hand-held tablet while I sat in my bean-bag chair.

Oh, and there’s bonus video material. You can spend your intermission listening to interviews from the actors from previous years—ghosts of “A Christmas Carol” past.

As an important thread running through our lives, Open Stage has kept this play as a holiday tradition for 21 years and counting. Player Chris Gibson feels “connected to past performances, as well as the lessons of Dickens’s ghosts.” He said, “Be aware of your own ghosts. They connect you to your past.”

The family-friendly “A Christmas Carol” runs Dec. 4 to 29 on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. Access the show through the Open Stage YouTube page and on Facebook Live. For more information, visit www.openstagehbg.com.

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Burg Review: “Poirot Investigates!” a funny, fussy affair from Open Stage

November 7, 2020 | by Gina Napoli

Open Stage blends a cozy mystery, British comedy and French farce with one of Agatha Christie’s oft-repeated and longest-running characters, Hercule Poirot.

Applause goes to Executive Director Stuart Landon (pictured) for two Herculean feats: 1) for adapting Christie’s short story, “The Adventure of the Western Star,” into a seven-scene stage play, injecting lots of silliness and absurdity, and 2) for managing to keep Poirot’s quizzical eyebrow halfway up his forehead for the full hour he portrayed the signature character.

The play opens with a nod to the audience as intelligent and discerning connoisseurs of detective stories—sophisticated puzzlers with superior reasoning powers. Their characterization and compliments made me feel like an aristocratic MENSA member instead of a tired mom watching a YouTube video in my sweatpants on a Thursday night, eating frozen waffles for dinner.

Told mostly through the narration of Capt. Hastings [Chris Gibson], Poirot’s assistant, the play follows the basic recipe for a whodunit and is heavily seasoned with clever repeat gags. Poirot and Hastings investigate the story of a stolen diamond worth 50,000 pounds called “The Western Star.” Through them, we meet the various suspects who are pulling quadruple duty as quick-change costume artists. Rachel Landon and Benny Benamati showcase how versatile their skills are, playing an assortment of male and female archetypes ranging from femme fatales to a farty hotel clerk.

Much of the character-driven subplot of the play is about Poirot’s personality. He is portrayed as a fastidious boor who approaches investigations in an ordered manner with pomposity and arrogance. Christie created Poirot early in her writing career, wrote about him often and later grew to despise him.

The author herself has the opportunity to voice that opinion when presented as a figuratively and literally flat character. Christie appears as a portrait on the wall, voiced with perfect tongue-in-cheek delivery [Rachel Landon]. In fact, the author wrote an essay about how much she didn’t like the very character she created and then over-used in over 50 of her stories.

Because I only spent an hour with Poirot, I rather grew to like Stuart Landon’s rendition of the fussy chap, wearing his tuxedo while sitting in his flat, looking down his snoot at everyone around him. The repeat gag when Poirot rang a bell and someone immediately brought him a three-tiered tea tray full of sandwiches especially made me chortle. (“Chortle” is a snobbish word for “laugh.” I chortle now because I’m so darned posh.)

The melodramatic music and sound effects [composer Nicholas Werner and guitarist Anthony Pierucci] also become personified as characters in the play, and both deserve an honorable mention. The actors and the music interact with each other, producing a mood of that is simultaneously foreboding, off-kilter and funny. Together, they bring life to the show’s many long-running gags and inside jokes.

The play contains the usual number of distractions produced by being locked down into a video format. Any would-be inconsistencies or mistakes are easily chalked up to being an inherent part of the farce.

If I could make one suggestion to improve this play, it would be to add subtitles to the video. The characters’ accents, hailing from various parts of England, were at times just authentically British enough to require closed-captioning.

If you’re a fan of whodunits and witty British comedy, don’t miss this play. You can view it for free online. During this financially difficult time, please consider sending a donation through Open Stage’s website.

“Poirot Investigates!” runs Nov. 6 to 22 on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. The show can be accessed through the Open Stage YouTube page and on Facebook Live. For more information, visit www.openstagehbg.com.

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Open Stage presents free, all virtual season amid COVID-19

September 8, 2020 | by Maddie Conley

Open Stage in Harrisburg announces plans for its 2020-21 season.

In the coming months, you may find yourself pulling on your finest sweatpants, sipping on your sweetest boxed wine and sliding on your fluffiest slippers for a trip to the theater.

For its 2020-21 season, Open Stage Theatre of Harrisburg presents a lineup of completely free, virtual shows.

“We are in unprecedented times; from the smallest community theater to the big houses on Broadway–all theaters are struggling,” said producing artistic director Stuart Landon in a statement. “But we feel strongly that this is the right direction for us to go in. We have so much work to do to engage the parts of our community that have never been to live theatre.”

From October to June, Open Stage will perform a different play each month live-streamed on YouTube.

Only five staff will comprise the casts, production teams and crews for the entire season—Benny Benamati, Brianna Dow, Chris Gibson, Rachel Landon and Stuart Landon.

“All of us have worn many hats in our careers, both here and in theatres across the country,” Chris Gibson, production manager, said in a statement. “We are going to be using that collective experience while pulling a lot of tricks out of our sleeves to make these entertaining and meaningful shows.”

The show schedule will be as follows:

October 9-26, 2020: “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus”—adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley
November 6-22, 2020: “Poirot Investigates!”—adapted from the works of Agatha Christie
December 4-20, 2020: “A Christmas Carol”—the 21st annual production adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens
January 8-24, 2021: “Kafka’s Shorts”—adapted from the works of Franz Kafka by David Lee
February 5 – 21, 2021: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”— adapted from the short story by Washington Irving
March 5 – 21, 2021: “Everyman”—adapted from various sources by Patrick Hughes and Chris Gibson
April 2 – 18, 2021: “The Time Machine”—adapted from the novel by H. G. Wells
April 30 – May 16, 2021: “Treasure Island”—adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
May 28 – June 13, 2021: “Poirot Returns!”—adapted from the works of Agatha Christie

Shows will include unique theatrical devices, including puppetry, found-object design, trunk show performance, projection and green screen techniques, said Open Stage.

Landon said through the free virtual format, he hopes financial barriers that previously kept people away from theater will be broken down.

Low-cost online theater classes for students will be offered, starting in September. They will have virtual performances throughout the year, Landon said.

Open Stage is still undecided on whether they will re-open their newly renovated building to the public next year or not, Landon said. He added they are being cautious, but optimistic.

Open Stage said the theater’s budget has been slashed dramatically, leaving them to rely on ticket sales, classes and fundraising to make up $200,000.

A pay-what-you-will ticketing system will allow the community to donate, Open Stage said. People can even choose to be part of the theater’s “Inner Circle,” giving them access to special events, in addition to all performances.

“Theatre has survived plagues, wars, government coups and stock market crashes,” Landon said in a statement. “Even without audiences, it will survive Covid-19.”

To access Open Stage’s live and archived performances, visit the theater’s YouTube page. For more information, visit Open Stage’s website.

Engaging, endearing, “A Christmas Carol” opens for 20th year at Open Stage

November 26, 2019 | by Amy Mastrangelo

Nicholas Hughes stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in Open Stage’s 20th anniversary of “A Christmas Carol.” Photo: Marc Faubel

Do you watch “A Christmas Carol” every year? Sometimes, it feels good to return to the things we know best.

An annual tradition locally, as well, “A Christmas Carol” had its 20^th annual premier at Open Stage this past Saturday, adapted by Rachel and Stuart Landon from the Charles Dickens story, and it is a compelling reimagining of the classic story. It revisits the traditional characters and events, yet sprinkles in some differences to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Several surprising elements keep everyone intrigued—even those who know the story inside and out. And, if you aren’t as familiar, this holiday season is the perfect time to experience it.

On Saturday, several young cast members (The OSHkids Performance Co.) joined us in the lobby and began singing Christmas carols in their tweed caps, plaid scarves and oxfords. Once finished, they led us to the stage, which was cloaked in a light fog. We heard low rumbling sounds, reminiscent of an old London port by the Thames. We walked right past Tiny Tim and the Cratchits, and one performer asked an audience member if they’d like to buy an apple. The interaction invited us to not only witness the scene, but join it.

Suddenly, a large door burst open to reveal a woman (Terri Mastrobuono) shaking a tambourine along with her acting troupe. The actors wore masks with puffy cheeks and big noses to entertain the crowd and poke fun at the nefarious town grump, Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge.

However, the spectacle is broken up by rain, and the play shifts indoors to where we find Scrooge himself (played by Nicholas Hughes) lying in his bed. His caretaker (Patty Cole) enters, crooning a funny, off-key rendition of “Silent Night.” We soon learn that Scrooge’s business partner, Marley, died seven years ago on this very night (Christmas Eve).

Hughes, as Scrooge, wears sideburns, and the corners of his mouth sag as he speaks. He spits the word “pudding” and shoos off young carolers with a fireplace poker. While he occasionally squints his eyes and raises his bushy white brows, he remains quite expressionless otherwise. He intimidates the street solicitors who owe him money, and they tremble in his presence.

When the fog rolls in, Scrooge returns to the comfort of his own bed but is greeted there by the ghost of Marley. Covered in chains and dressed from head to toe in macabre silver hues, Marley has wispy hair, ragged robes and looks as if he has returned from the depths of a shipwreck. He warns that Scrooge will be visited by three ghosts: Past, Present and Future.

Scrooge wakes to a rather terrifying Christmas morning, which was executed very well onstage. There are disorienting flashes of greenish-blue light while masked performers pop up around his bed. The bed, impressively, begins to spin and move on its own to the side of the stage to make way for the ghosts.

Thanks to brilliant sound effects, the Ghosts of Christmas Past (also played by Mastrobuono) and Present (Karen Ruch) speak in normal voices interlaced with otherworldly male undertones and sinister echoes.

Scrooge leaves the safety of his bed and blankets to stand in the center of the stage and face the third Ghost of his Future. Here, we see Scrooge at his loneliest and most vulnerable. Though I won’t spoil what he looks like, this final ghost has a threatening presence standing in the shadows and looming behind Scrooge’s shoulders.

Open Stage’s adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” is engaging throughout and features endearing cast performances in its finale. From moody to joyful to downright cantankerous, Hughes’s portrayal of Scrooge is not to be missed. Friends and family of all ages are sure to enjoy it.

“A Christmas Carol” runs through Dec. 29 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For more information and tickets, call 717-232-6736 or visit www.openstagehbg.com.

Burg Review: At Open Stage, a delightful night on the wrong side of Whoville

November 18, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Rachel Landon as Cindy Lou Who in Open Stage’s new, must-see “Who’s Holiday!” Photo: Marc Faubel

“Who’s Holiday”: A Review in Verse

The night air was chilly
in need of a heater.
As people rushed into
Open Stage’s new theater.

Gathered were many,
the straight and the gay.
It was opening night
of “Who’s Holiday!”

We strode past the bar,
tickets were scanned in.
Seats, lights and music,
then the star, Rachel Landon!

She wore sparklers and frizzlers,
silky stockings and stays.
She was Cindy Lou Who
who had seen better days.

At first she seemed merry
but then started to curse.
As she spoke of a rough life
all in Seussian verse.

The years were not kind
since her fame as a toddler.
Her Grinch-ian fond-ship
had grown a little too fonder.

In a trailer she lived,
where she tried to be happy.
With cigs, pills and booze
and that whacky tobacky.

It was funny and touching
and bawdy, as well.
With jokes, songs and F bombs
from the talented Ms. L.

It ended rather wistful
with hope and delight.
My funny bone, I think,
grew three sizes that night!

Editor’s Note: My bad poetry aside, “Who’s Holiday!” is a fantastic production. Rachel Landon, alternatively hilarious, lecherous, sentimental and regretful, delivers a profoundly entertaining one-woman, adults-only show (directed by Stuart Landon). “Who’s Holiday” is for anyone who needs an off-colored respite from the annual onslaught of traditional holiday merriment. It may be the best (and funniest) way to spend 90 minutes in Harrisburg between now and New Year’s.

“Who’s Holiday!” runs through Dec. 28 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For more information and tickets, call 717-232-6736 or visit www.openstagehbg.com.

What the Who? Cindy Lou breaks bad in new holiday comedy at Open Stage.

October 31, 2019 | by Rachel Landon

“Such an innocent I was. Oh, the ignorance of youth.
Then life starts to unfold and you get kicked in the tooth.
…See? My loathing stems from a deep-rooted place
In a town known as Whoville, where I can’t show my face…”

Around 1988, my mom successfully recorded most of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on our BETA VCR.

My brother and I watched it about 70 times a year, most of those showings outside the holiday season. It’s the perfect Christmas redemption story—misanthropic green monster is annoyed by noisy neighbors and attempts to destroy their celebrations, only to have a change of heart after the Whos down in Whoville join hands, celebrate and sing. Spoiler: the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes, he learns the error of his ways, and he brings their stuff back. They all live happily ever after.

Or maybe not quite?

In the world of contemporary theater, authors have often found great success in asking the question—what happens after the “happily ever after,” and what is the fallout after “the end?” (See “Into the Woods,” “Dog Sees God” and “Clybourne Park” as perhaps the most famous examples.) “Who’s Holiday!” which opens Open Stage’s 34th season, is the story of Cindy Lou Who after her very first encounter with the Grinch on that fateful Christmas Eve.

You remember her, right? The wide-eyed 2-year-old who catches the Grinch in the act of shoving her Christmas tree up the chimney, asking the quavering question: “Why Santy Claus? Why?”

Fast-forward 40-plus years, and the pink pajama-clad toddler is a vodka-guzzling, pill-popping, Spandex-clad hermit who has been ostracized from Whoville. She now lives alone in a hand-me-down trailer at the top of Mount Crumpit. When we meet her, it is the night before Christmas, and Cindy Lou is throwing a holiday soiree. You, the audience, are among the first guests to arrive.

Cindy Lou’s life has become rather complicated after her first encounter with the Grinch, and the 90-minute story that follows is packed with a tale of drug abuse, poverty and starvation, and even murder. That said, this show is most definitely considered a comedy—albeit one packed with a whole lot of cussing, drinking and some highly inappropriate behavior. Oh, and it’s all done in Seuessian rhyme.

This one-woman show, originally featuring the phenomenal Lesli Margherita in the 2017 off-Broadway production, will make its Pennsylvania premiere at Open Stage this month, breaking in the brand-new, 60-seat Studio Theater. This show will also be the first play to open in Open Stage after the massive renovation to the space. It’s a tall order, considering Open Stage will be producing the 20th anniversary production of “A Christmas Carol” across the lobby in the Angino Family Theater at the same time. For those looking for a family-friendly tale of redemption, “A Christmas Carol” is definitely for you. For those seeking an adults-only evening of entertainment, “Who’s Holiday!” is your ticket of choice.

Stuart Landon (my aforementioned brother), who is entering his third year as producing director at Open Stage, will be directing me in this one-person outing. Landon is no stranger to the genre, having portrayed the indomitable Crumpet the Elf in “Santaland Diaries” at Open Stage from 2011-16. Cindy Lou is an exciting and terrifying character to play, and the challenge of bringing this minor Seuss character to life is a daunting one—she is crude, she is crass, and she is a highly aggressive flirt to boot. But despite her tasteless outfits, strident alcoholism and penchant for colorful four-letter-words, Cindy Lou is a complicated Who with tragic past and a heart of gold.

“Who’s Holiday!” is not for the faint of heart, but for those who enjoy irreverent humor, smutty stories, Grinch-themed shots and perhaps even bad Judy Garland impressions. Get your tickets to this twisted Christmas tale premiering at Open Stage this holiday season.

“Who’s Holiday!” runs Nov. 16 to Dec. 28 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. Tickets can be purchased at www.opentagehbg.com or by calling the box office at 717-232-6736. Open Stage’s new walk-up box office hours are Monday through Friday, 4 to 6 p.m., and up to one hour before performances.

Upcoming Theater Events
At Open Stage
www.openstagehbg.com
717-232-6736

“TGIW: Thank God It’s Wednesday!”
Parody readings of your favorite shows from the ’80s and ’90s.
Every Wednesday at 9 p.m. in the Open Stage bar
Nov. 6, 13, 20, 27

“EFF (Erotic Fanfiction) Live!”
Embarrassingly awful readings of fanfiction by local performers.
Every Saturday at 9:45 p.m. in the Open Stage bar.
Nov. 2, 9, 23, 30

“& Anthony”
Jazz classics and standards by pianist Anthony Haubert in the new Open Stage bar.
Nov. 7, 8, 9, 15, 20 at 7:30 p.m.

“Lady Boy Sings the Blues”
Drag clown Mr. Treats takes on their greatest love: musical theater!
Nov. 20 to 29

“Who’s Holiday!”
A raunchy and hilarious one-woman show about the years following “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Nov. 16 to Dec. 28

“A Christmas Carol”
The holiday classic returns for its 20th anniversary production.
Nov. 23 to Dec. 29

New Season, New Space: Open Stage is in the midst of a makeover

August 21, 2019 | by Yaasmeen Piper

An artist’s rendering of the new front entrance of Open Stage of Harrisburg

People often told Stuart Landon that Open Stage was one of the many hidden gems of Harrisburg.

Even though they meant well, Landon, the theater’s producing and artistic director, would joke that he’s ready for the space not to be hidden anymore. Just a gem.

Thanks to a $1 million renovation project, Open Stage is on its way to achieving Landon’s “just gem” status. Almost every part of the theater is being revamped, including the stages, lighting and sound system, and even a new N. Court Street entrance.

“It’s going to be more of a destination than it ever was,” Landon said. “We’re hoping that this allows us more visibility, along with improving the experience of our patrons and improving our experience with our students.”

One of the bigger additions is the Open Stage bar. The bar will feature a small stage, which will be used for spoken word and open mic nights, cabarets and drag performances.

Along with the stage in the bar, the theater will have two other stages: the main stage (see floor plan, right side) and a black box or studio theater, which will hold around 50 people (see floor plan, left side).

For performers, Open Stage is reconfiguring its backstage area and upgrading its green room and dressing rooms.

“It’s important that our mission is to support a company of artists, and it’s important that their spaces are all utilized and efficient in a comfortable way,” Landon said. “So that was a big part of our renovations.”

Open Stage is also adding a classroom for students in the Alsedek Theatre School. Named after Don and Anne Alsedek, co-founders of Open Stage along with Marianne Fisher, the Alsedek Theatre School helps K-12 students develop their acting skills through workshops and productions. This spring, students are performing “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach” on the new black box stage.

“It’s really exciting for them to kind of have a home that they can call their own,” Landon said.

Open Stage also is increasing the theater’s accessibility and adding bathrooms and an emergency exit near Strawberry Alley.

Open Stage was able to upgrade its space (which, according to Landon, “is long overdue”) thanks to its 30/30 campaign. The 30/30 campaign is a fundraiser in which the theater honors its previous 34 years, while looking toward the next 30 years, hence the renovations.

“We’re going to be here for the long haul,” he said. “We love where we are. We love our space. We love being downtown. And so it’s like, ‘Okay, if we’re going to be here, then what do we need to do to our facility to make sure that it can last for the next 30 years?’”

Open Stage started its campaign in spring 2017 and has gotten donations from residents, local businesses and foundations. According to Landon, it’s the largest capital campaign in Open Stage history, and they still have a ways to go. So far, they’ve raised $700,000 of the $1 million they need to reach.

“We’ve not only never made an ask this big, but we’ve never made an ask like this,” he said. “The fact that we looked to our community and said, ‘Hey, will you help us?’ and they turned right around and said, ‘Yes.’”

Open Stage is set to open the doors to its new space in early October. Their first production will be “Who’s Holiday!” which runs Nov. 16 through Dec. 28 and stars Rachel Landon, who also is Open Stage’s marketing manager.

“[Patrons] get to see this beautiful product that a group of artists put together, and so it’s a really beautiful thing,” she said. “So, I’m glad that we get to improve our facilities and improve the experience because I think it’s worth it. It really is.”

Open Stage of Harrisburg is located on 25 N. Court St, Harrisburg. For more information, visit the Open Stage website.

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