Cavalcade: The Show must go on for Park Playhouse

Outdoor theatre’s a tough business to get into and to do in the first place. Weather, weather, weather – just like “location, location, location” makes the difference in a show having a spectacular run or a mediocre, shortened exhibit in theatrical practice.

Park Playhouse, which just completed a four-week run of The Producers with Jason Marks and Jason Jacoby in the title roles of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, has been the venerable outdoor showhouse for not only Albany, but for the Capital Region for over twenty years.

This past Sunday, I caught the last performance of the show’s run amid ominous clouds all day, resulting in a bit of rain during Act 1. However, with roughly 200-250 audience members strong and a cast wanting to cap off a strong show with one, last performance – Sunday’s performance was not only reflective of the cast and crew’s perserevance to keep to “the show must go on,” but the organization itself.

Park Playhouse is a unique institution in that it’s municipal-based, but this past year recieved no funding from the City of Albany due to Jerry Jennings’s cuts to arts grants. In the past, Park Playhouse’s budget comprised of approximately 20 percent coming from the city. And unlike its recent past with such landmark shows (pun fully intended) as High School Musical gracing its Washington Park stage, Owen Smith - its producing artistic director for the past two seasons – is on pace in restoring the name of Park Playhouse back to the era of Steve Fletcher in the late 1990s with such Broadway-caliber productions of Damn Yankees, Hello Dolly, and Guys & Dolls.

I mentioned this to Owen Smith myself as someone who grew to love theatre because of what I saw on stage during my childhood through now. The summertime productions were something to look forward every July and my cousin and I used to go way early (we’re talking while it’s still daylight) in order to grab the best seats in the Washington Park amphitheater. And as other things in my childhood have gone by the wayside (the destruction of the North Allen Street playground adjacent to School 16, the closing of St. Teresa of Avila School on New Scotland), Park Playhouse remained the link to the past.

Yes – supporting the arts at the city level may be a “novelty,” but the impact it has for residents – particularly those who never would otherwise have the opportunity to engage or enjoy free musical theatre – is priceless. The success of Park Playhouse’s education programs under Shirley Arensberg is proof enough – with Park Playhouse II now in its 16th season and Park Playhouse Kids a growing part of the arts program with the Albany City School District.

The Producers‘s plot involving two producers aiming to make a buck by producing a flop. Instead of producing lackluster productions, Park Playhouse is continuing to give vibrancy and summer electricity to a city that desparetely needs it. Just as Tulip Festival, LarkFEST, and Bombers are Albany landmarks, Park Playhouse earns its spot up there.

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