Ron Fassler has a special place in his heart for Priscilla Beach Theatre (PBT). Back in the late 1970's, he spent parts of three summers performing here on the Barn Stage. Those times are part of a fascinating story he weaves both in his remarkable book, "Up in the Cheap Seats," and in the stage adaptation of the same story he recently performed here on PBT's Barn Stage.
I don't want to give you too many spoilers - you should buy his book to find out - but, in 2015, the current PBT owners, guardians, and producers Bob and Sandy Malone, invited Ron back to have the honor to direct the first show on the newly renovated and reborn iconic Barn Stage. That show was "Fiddler on the Roof."
How that came to pass is a worthy and wonderful tale of youthful passion, determination, hope, serendipity, and an unbounded love of theatre. Give it a read, it's a delightful memoir and available at ronfassler.org, or your favorite bookseller.
Ron was on campus at PBT this month directing the production of "Dirty, Rotten, Scoundrels," and he was able to bring this special presentation of "Up in the Cheap Seats," to the stage for one show only. His "friends" are on campus, too, as members of the resident company cast of "Scoundrels," and they were able to bring their wonderful musical talents to the effort.
The following images were taken during the actual show, in order of occurrence, from the very back of the balcony tech booth with a 300mm lens - hopefully, that distant view still captured some sense of the event.
Ron opened the show against a background of reproductions of many of his actual saved ticket stubs from 50 years ago.
Using his paper route money, a 12-year old Ron traveled from his home on Long Island to Broadway to pursue his youthful passion up in the cheap seats.
Bianca Rivera-Irions
The above was one of Ron's field notes/reviews from his youth. How a 12-year old reviewer knew that a Broadway show was "gripping," is food for thought in a lifetime of experiences. (Red highlight is mine).
Jack Lynch
Carly Caviglia
Ashton Harris
Mo DeGreen
Few of us in life find out early on, and then, are successful in creating the path to live our passion. Ron is one of those rare ones who did and still does.
Livin' the dream.
As a veteran presence at PBT, Ron has directed the following previous works here on the Barn Stage in recent years:
"Fiddler on the Roof" in 2015,
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" in 2016,
"The Producers" in 2017,
"Guys and Dolls" in 2018, and now
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" in 2019.
And he'll be back next summer for:
"Spamalot" in August 2020!
Season tickets for the 2020 performance season at PBT go on sale in December 2019. Get 'em while you can! Support this extraordinary performing arts venue right here in our community.
Ron also performed his stage version of "Up in the Cheap Seats," last summer on the Barn Stage. My blog post from then is at this link.
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