Moonlight Musicals

Tonight, I attended the final performance by Lubbock Moonlight Musicals http://www.lubbockmoonlightmusicals.org/ of "Fiddler on the Roof."  I fell in love with the music to this play my freshman year in college, and take opportunities to watch the movie or attend plays as I can.

This was an excellent performance, the final one of this play for this season.  The people who played Golde and Tevya are a married couple, and the people who played Hudel and Percheck are a married couple.  I think that helped generate some emotion and spark on stage.  The choreography was really good.

After a few years of shaky performances and equipment problems, the Moonlight Musicals have a good stage, and quality sound equipment.  Last year, the minor performers could not be heard well. Tonight, everyone could be heard well.   It was a pleasure to watch this performance.

The house was full: there is a terraced area for seating, in the Wells Fargo Amphitheater, http://lmcc.ci.lubbock.tx.us/facilities/amphitheatre.aspx and it was full: the ushers were asking people to move closer to allow for more seating. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets to sit on, but the house does provide some chairs. Tonight, the house chairs were all used. On both sides and behind the terraces there are grassy banks where people had to sit tonight.

Although the program indicated a 15 minute intermission, there was an announcement that the intermission would be 20 minutes.  Having heard the founder speak about the facilities, he was very aware of the need for adequate restrooms (more for women than men) and adequate time at intermission to access restrooms and refreshments. I suspect the extra 5 minutes was in deference to the size of the crowd.

I have not heard how the attendance this year has been.  The first 3 years it was mediocre at best.  But, the quality of the performances, and choosing popular musicals makes this a more popular activity.  I am glad the word is getting out.  I am amazed, though, that some people I know do not know where the amphitheater is .

I did not realize it but this is the 7th year of performances for Moonlight Musicals. The first year, they did one play:  "Oklahoma."  The sound was spotty, the stage bare, with no real facilities for the cast and crew. 

The next year, the sound equipment was stolen, and by the end of the season of 3 plays, they had to scale back the music from an orchestra to an ensemble due to budgetary constraints. 
But, the founder, Gerald Dolter http://www.depts.ttu.edu/music/Faculty/GeraldDolter.asp, persisted.

Each year, they get more underwriting from foundations that support the arts.

Part of the plan for this is to support drama students at Texas Tech so they can have summer theater experience, and be paid for it.  They are succeeding at doing this. 

They have added dinner theater during the fall, winter and spring seasons.  I went to the first year performance of "White Christmas" and really enjoyed it. The last season selections did nothing for me, and I did not attend.

Overall, this is a great endeavor for Lubbock.  It will not make Lubbock a destination city for people from across the nation, but for people in the general area, it may someday make Lubbock a destination city.