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Doug Shanaberger
'Haunting' aims to give audience total immersion experience
For the Old Schoolhouse Players in Hickory, he's guiding an adaptation of Shirley Jackson's terrifying novel, "The Haunting of Hill House." It's not the usual fare for this director, despite past credits such as the tongue-in-cheek "Little Shop of Horrors." This is the real spine-tingling deal, psychological overtones, supernatural occurrences and all.
How did he turn the stage at the Mt. Pleasant Township Community Center into a mansion and haunt it as well?
"My solution was to place our audience inside the house rather than have them watching from the sidelines," he said.
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Muzopappa also enjoys working with his cast, including Kauleen Cloutier, James Meyers, Michelle LeWay, J.P. Patrick, Karen Hanes, Thomas Mokwa and Carole Turk. He does caution that the story isn't for children, though, as the sound effects "may be truly disturbing for them."
"The Haunting of Hill House" opens Friday and runs through Oct. 25.
Late love
What's the secret to finding love at a mature age, after the death of a spouse or following an acrimonious divorce?
Whether she has the answer to that question is something for playwright Aviva Ravel to share with the public, though her new comedy, "Senior Moments," deals with second-chance romance. And she did marry Albert Fleitman a few years after her first husband passed away.
"It was love at first sight," she said of their introduction, a blind date arranged by mutual friends. So, yes, she based "Senior Moments," which opens Friday night at Stage 62 in Carnegie, on her own experience in having an unexpected romantic connection.
Yet Ravel wrote this semi-autobiographical play "because young people have misconceptions about love between older people," she said. "For example, I did. In my early 20s, I thought 40 was old. In fact, I once asked a 40-year-old family member if she and her husband still made love."
In "Senior Moments," Arlene Merryman stars as Ravel's alter ego, Rachel, and Howard Elson - very much a chameleon in this case - portrays all eight men Rachel dates thanks to the well-intended meddling of her best friend, played by Sylvia Hanna.
"Senior Moments" runs through Sunday. For reservations, call 412-429-6262.
Witty in pink
You have two more weekends to visit Little Lake Theatre and discover how creatively Stephen Santa directed "Pinkalicious" for the Fall Family Matinee Series.
True, this musical adaptation of the best-selling children's book aims straight for the grade school audience, but it does so without stooping to what has never been fashionable on stage at Little Lake anyway: condescension.
And she's right. Under Santa's care, "Pinklicious" becomes a witty comment on childhood indulgence and an irresistible parody of fleeting obsessions. The story speaks to anyone who, in youth, loved anything beyond reason. And who didn't?
"Pinkalicious" closes Oct. 25.
Doug Shanaberger can be reached at ds7f@andrew.cmu.edu.
