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Marit writes:
We had so much fun producing “In the Restroom at Rosenblooms” by Ludmilla Bollow. Our cast (four women) ranged in age from 50 years (Clare) up to 81 years (Winifred), and what a pleasure it was to work with them. Other than the one “silly” rehearsal (there’s always one!) where everyone can’t seem to get anything right and the whole lot ends up in fits of laughter, they were so serious about their roles and hard on themselves, that our Director felt she was almost superfluous.
We staged the production in a historic 100-year-old community hall, equipped with a raked stage (for those unfamiliar with a raked stage –– it is higher at the back and sloped towards the audience, thus giving rise to “upstage” and “downstage”). For the set, we created a corridor to the Restroom that was visible to the audience because we realized that otherwise they wouldn’t see much of Clare when she was pounding on the door from the outside. We had a volunteer design a logo for “Rosenblooms” which she based loosely on the Bloomingdales logo, and we used it on the posters, programs, shopping bags we created for the walk-on parts, dress boxes and on the front doors of the theatre to give the impression that you were entering the actual store. We had a “Customer Service” desk to greet patrons and take tickets, the restrooms became change rooms, clothes were hung on the wall with “Sale 40% off” signs, and a door opening that we wanted blocked was turned into an old fashioned elevator. We opened the show with the song “Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be, Seven Old Ladies are Locked in the Lavatory……” which had the audience laughing before the curtain even went up.
Audience response was great, and by closing night we had a Sold Out crowd! In every way it was a great success.
Marit
Sarah writes:
Our first senior production was a huge success. We chose "In the Restroom at Rosenblooms". We staged the show in front of our curtain to accommodate another show that was in production. The show was performed as reader's theatre but with a set and costumes. I was able to include four ladies who did not want to have a speaking role, but wanted to get on stage. These ladies played my Rosenbloom customers. We had three shows and because the show was inexpensive, we made a profit of $1000!
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