IT'S FUNNY AND FAST...AND NOT SCARY

IT'S FUNNY AND FAST...and NOT SCARY by Barbara Biddison

I begin this blog with this "not scary" statement because potential audience members were asking me, just before the show opened, if it was just too frightening for them to be able to enjoy it.  The Night of the Living Dead has a title that leads you to believe you'll be
uncomfortably scared for a couple hours as you sit in the Warehouse Theatre.  Not so!  I saw it opening night and found it to be fast-paced and funny as it presented a complex mystery that held my focus throughout.  The sell-out audience loved it  and gave it their complete attention until it ended with a standing ovation! After which we all gathered in the Warehouse Gallery for Opening Night food and conversation

Now about the show and its director Noyes Lawton.  This is his first time to direct a main-stage Hamilton-Gibson show; however, he goes way back  with HG beginning with Injun Joe as an actor in Tom Sawyer17 years ago. He has designed and built sets, and he plays Christmas Present in our annual A Christmas Carol, and he has also performed for Elmira Little Theatre.  He met and married Sarah Lawton when they were in HG's Blithe Spirit, and she serves as assistant director in this show. It's worth of note to observe that we have more than one married couple active in HG.

As Noyes says in the program, "This is more than just a zombie play."  Well, there was an original movie so that's probably part of the great name recognition that gave us a full house opening night. Which makes me think of the Warehouse Theatre seating arrangement..
Chairs are close together, and Box Office asked ushers to request of audience members, as they came in, to sit right next to the person on their right or left.  (People are generally prone to leave a "polite distance" between their seat and the already seated).  Absolutely everyone honored that request.  It was clear, as the last reservation arrived, that we had a full house and it was time for the show to begin!

[NOTE: Performances of Night of the Living Dead LIVE continue this weekend on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 at the Warehouse Theatre. Tickets can be obtained at HGP.BOOKTIX.COM or by calling the HG office at 570.724.2079.]

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