Friday, April 23, 2010

Plaza Suite in Saipan

After you've enjoyed the Flame Tree Arts Festival this weekend, you can start enjoying Taste of the Marianas every Saturday. And in case you'd like to take in some theatre, Friends of the Arts will be staging scenes from Plaza Suite at the Multi-Purpose Center next weekend.


Community theatre doesn't rise to the level of professional theatre or come close to Broadway, but it is fun and a great way to get some experience with live theatre and be entertained.
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6 comments:

Saipan Writer said...

from my personal e-mail, I got this feedback:

"I appreciate your measured description of community theatre but it is still art and one of the greatest cultrual pleasures of life!!! So there."

(Agreed)

April 26, 2010 at 8:42 AM
Anonymous said...

Jane,

i get the feeling the excerpt above came from an email in which the writer was a bit peeved at your description of community theater or your comparison.

i, on the other hand, would like to thank you for pointing out that "Community theatre doesn't rise to the level of professional theatre or come close to Broadway"

and i truly mean that in a positive way towards our great community theater.

while their are exceptions to the statement you made above, in general, it is fairly accurate.

the reason why i commend you on stating it, is that there are members of the community that attend community theater for the first time expecting a broadway productions and are disappointed with what we provide in contract to what they had expected. i have spoken with people that have this initial view after watching a performance. they speak of lighting, stage props, etc and pick at every minute detail.

this is not an attack on community theater. it is a reality of the situation. community theater operates on a fraction of the budget for any broadway production and with a skeleton cast of mainly novice actors (exceptions also apply here).

so, when people spend money and attend these friends of the arts programs they have to realize that what they will be watching is an expression of art that is excellently done considering the limited budget and mainly volunteer green actors. they won't get superior sound and lighting and a dedicated performance stage. they will get passionate actors giving their all and doing a great job making due with what they are given.

again, this is not an attack. think of this as the difference in watching an NFL game versus our island football league games at airport field. both give the audience something to cherish and enjoy and take away with them but they are incredibly different.

i would hope that the actors and the other friends of the arts people know this and do not take offense to what i am stating. i support the FOA and all that they are doing to better our community!

now go out and watch a darn good show :

Neil Simon's Plaza Suite
April 30 - May 2
Multi-Purpose Center
7:00PM

April 26, 2010 at 11:21 AM
Anonymous said...

rushed that one.

remove the "s" and it should have read "contrast" not "contract"

April 26, 2010 at 11:24 AM
Saipan Writer said...

Thanks, Anon.

Some people do have unrealistic expectations when they come to these productions.

They expect a show as slick as the movies. Many have never seen live theatre.

Broadway productions are expensive--Anna Rose just came from NYC where she payed $128 for a ticket to see a show that has been on Broadway for 20 years--not something new; not the greatest of seats in the theatre; just the going rate.

Community theatre is not as impressive, but it is theatre. I've seem some amazing performances here in Saipan. I think the sports analogy is a good one. We're having fun with the form--hope the audience likes it too.

April 26, 2010 at 1:49 PM
Anonymous said...

Hi Jane,
This one is out of your topic but I just need to hear your opinion on it. This morning on my way to work. There was a white extra cab pick-up truck came from the DPS road where there were 3 men wearing inmate shirt seating at the back of the pick-up. I'm beside them at the MHS traffic light so I look out checking if there was something written on the pick-up truck such as DPS or any gov't office name. There's none infact it is a new model of extra cab frontier pick-up truck. I have notice the these 3 men, their hands were hanging loose outside of the truck while they were comfortably seating dowm at the back of the truck. I got this thought at the back of my mind "What if any of them or all of them jumped out of the pick-up truck and run away" since there was no police officer accompany them at the back of the truck. I have this uncomfortable feeling that something may happen if there is no security measure being done in transporting this men especilly that the vehicle looks like a private car since no name written on it.

April 30, 2010 at 12:35 PM
Saipan Writer said...

Dear Anon, I was not online yesterday, so sorry for the late response.

Was the driver a police man in police uniform?

I'm not really sure what I think about this. The DOC puts guys in orange jumpsuits if they are in jail for any reason. Despite the comments on the Variety and here (including my own), I think there are plenty of guys (and some women) in jail who are not dangerous, maybe shouldn't even be there, and would pose no threat or likelihood of escape, even riding in an open pick-up truck apparently unescorted.

It depends on the facts--who were the three men? If they were in jail for serious crimes, then the set-up seems ridiculously lax. Were they federal detainees being taken to federal court for proceedings (knowing they'd be in deeper trouble if they didn't show up)? Were they guys in for a very short term going out to do community service? (These include DUI's.) Just not enough facts to form an opinion.

But it's really good to have the community eyes on what's going on and asking questions. Perhaps someone else can answer.

May 1, 2010 at 11:04 AM

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