More than just a play, the Old-Fashioned Melodrama is a nostalgic variety event

Jul. 2—There's the play within the Old-Fashioned Melodrama, and then there's everything else.

One can't live without the other.

Now in its 66th year, the long-running Cheyenne Little Theatre Players production is well established as one of the more prominent events to be held around the city during the population spike of Cheyenne Frontier Days.

It's a theatrical performance that harkens back to the vaudeville days of the Historic Atlas Theatre, when cowboys and railroad workers would pack into a much smaller downtown Cheyenne to witness simple, lowbrow productions full of villains, heroes and the heroines those heroes must rescue from peril.

Not much has changed from the original format, save for the stories being told though the years. These stories remain simple, direct and designed to give the audience old-fashioned entertainment the same way a shot of dopamine awakens the senses.

Yes, there's a performance on the stage, but to watch the actors and ignore the rest of the production would be to miss the true essence of the entire event. Worse, it could significantly reduce one's enjoyment.

The story this year, written by Cheyenne resident Lindsey Hanlon (who also is a member of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle Editorial Board), subverts that of a traditional Western vaudeville performance. While there are basic plot elements of a classic Western, the author put some clever twists on the format, many of which were written with the input of this year's director, Nancy Stange.

With previous Old-Fashioned Melodrama experience, Stange knows how to turn actors into the highly animated characters they're designed to be.

"I keep telling my actors to be more 'Looney Tunes,'" Stange said during a recent rehearsal at the Atlas Theatre. "Yeah, it's slapstick. It's melodrama, so it's going to be melodramatic. I tell the actors to make the biggest choice you could possibly think of, and I'll tell you if I needed less energy."

If the audience enters the Melodrama expecting high drama, then they should prepare for a swift slap in the face. During rehearsals, characters with the names Danny DoGood, Sally Sarsaparilla and Peter Pigwallop are jumping around the stage and shouting to one another in overblown Southern drawls.

There are only three acts to the production that altogether spans about 30 written pages — the length of about one act in a full-length play — which means that once the cast has all of their lines memorized, they should be able to blow through the play three times in one night of rehearsal alone.

To smooth things out, there are two casts of five actors for the Melodrama that rotate, depending on the night of the week. There are too many dates to play to run with just one cast, especially with most CFD dates having two shows a day.

The good thing about this is that there's a different experience that goes along with every show. The actors, depending on the cast, have a unique chemistry that couldn't be replicated with different members. This means that there will be different jokes, hiccups and dispositions, depending on who's playing what character.

"They're both very different casts. You can do things in different ways, and you can explore a lot more," said Sequoia Nelson, who plays the role of Sally Sarsaparilla in the second cast. "Sometimes, somebody has this idea, and it works for this cast member, but just doesn't quite work with the other cast."

It might sound like the actors have relatively less work on their plate, but where dialogue has become a lesser point of stress, the act of upping their performances to ridiculous levels is an entirely different challenge. This proves especially true for the many cast members who are experiencing their first lead role in the Melodrama.

Chris Taylor, who plays the role of Danny DoGood, the dull, yet good-natured hero of a frontier Cheyenne, has never performed in a lead role before. But here he is, taking the stage with the first cast in the Melodrama.

"With the Melodrama, I was told to be big with your part — like when acting out the motions — just be big," Taylor said. "I kind of knew what I was going into, being eccentric and over the top. I had a lot of fun doing it."

The characters of Pigwallop and DoGood aren't simple to portray, by any means, but they are played a little more straight than their female counterparts — Sally Sarsaparilla and Bella BadLove, the villainess of the play.

In the interest of avoiding any plot spoilers, the story presents viewers with the conflicts between a male hero and villain, both of which who aren't particularly effective in their respective roles.

Then there's the women of the play, each of who's cunning leads them to begin pulling strings behind the scenes in order to see a little more success derive from their love interest's lackluster schemes.

"It's been really fun because my character isn't always a damsel in distress," said Jacqueline Thornell, who plays Sarsparilla in the first cast. "She's very intelligent, and she gets upset, shows anger, shows being annoyed and also being in love. She has the whole rollercoaster of emotions.

"It's a slightly deeper character for what's going on in the play."

The greatest trick to the performance for most actors is toeing the line of zany believability. As Thornell has learned in her years of theater, comedy only works if the character actor themself is taking the situation seriously.

Even when things are going off the wall and the audience is calling in response to the actors — yes, the Little Theatre actually encourages the audience to cheer, boo and shout — there's still the need to create a character with a purpose.

This is more difficult for Simeon Cooper, who is in his second year of playing the villain.

Pigwallop is as ridiculous as the rest, wearing a top hat and cape with a long handlebar mustache that Cooper has been growing out for this role since January. With all of his dastardly shouting and maniacal laughs, the character of the villain can quickly become too ridiculous if not handled carefully.

Cooper's main goal is to represent his character's desire to be evil, capture his empty bravado as he fails to manufacture any viable results from what he believes are masterfully constructed plans.

"It takes a certain type of person to play a Melodrama villain," Cooper said. "You've got to love what you do. You've just got to be energetic and charismatic. It is just empty bravado."

As mentioned, there's more to this show than one might expect going in. In fact, a percentage of the show takes place off-stage. Without this additional entertainment, the nostalgic touch of the Melodrama might be lost.

In between acts, there will be a variety of vaudeville style performances, or "Olio Acts," which just means a "mixture or medley" of acts. Singers, can-can dancers, jugglers and comedians will take the stage for short performances to keep the audience entertained.

Stange is thankful that she wasn't pegged with the responsibility of coordinating the Olio Acts in addition to her role as director. That role went to longtime CLTP participant Rory Mack, who, for 21 years now, has played the sheriff that jokingly regulates the audience during the show.

Characters doing crowd work with him include the Master of Ceremonies, who introduces each act, and the card girls, who walk throughout the audience, often flirting and trying to cause mischief.

"Especially as MC, card girl and sheriff, there's a lot of improv because you have a lot of interaction directly with the audience," Mack said. "You never know what's going to happen. You have your routine laid out in your head, but depending on what happens with the audience, you may go in a totally different direction

"That's part of the fun, and I especially like being the sheriff."

The Old-Fashioned Melodrama can end up getting pretty silly, but it does so with a purpose. After all, there is a reason why people visit Cheyenne from around the country to catch the show.

Tickets are now on sale at www.cheyennelittletheatre.org/66th-old-fashioned-melodrama-1.

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.