ryan's niagara

"Hey, nice crowd there at At Asbury Memorial! What was going on?"

Ryan McCurdy's new musical, "Niagara", had its Savannah premiere tonight! Well, not all of the play, but more than half of it, with him giving us bits of narrative along the way as several of the songs were performed. See those six people up there?

"Of course I do. Who are they?"

Well, consider them as pairs interacting through a time warp as they travel to Niagara Falls, all for different reasons. On the far left are a young couple, 'David' and 'Eve', from 1959. In the middle are a father and his 9-year-old daughter, Winnie, both in 1999. Then, on the far right, in the year 2023, are a sister and brother, 'Gwynne' and 'Andrew'.

"Very cool!"

Just wait, it gets even cooler. Two of those people were in the New York premiere and came here specifically to do this for Ryan! Those are Mick Bleyer and Pearl Scarlett Gold, who are perfect as the father and daughter.

"And isn't that Cecelia Tran Arango??? I remember her from those cabaret shows at the Lucas!"

Yes, it is, and she was there to portray 'Gwynne', the sister. She's the only one I knew of the local cast. The brother, 'Andrew', was played by Topher Cronin. The young couple were Eli Talley and Emmaline Morris.

"As nice as that sounds, why wasn't it a full version of the musical?"

Well, its progress hit a wall in 2020 when Lauren Widner, Ryan's writing partner, died of COVID-19. Recently, her mom and sister have been promoting the show as a last homage to Lauren. Tonight's performance was free to attend (thanks to J. Wilson Morris), but it was meant as a fundraiser. Ryan had invited every theatre performer and musical fan that he knew, to help get the word out. He knew he could count on me!

"Oh, my goodness! Is that your play-going trio, out in force with you?"

You know it! I've been going to musicals with Sandy, Kaye, and Barbara for at least five years, though I'm sure it's longer. Kaye doesn't usually come for the CinemaSavannah outings, but Carolyn does, so we still have a quartet. That's a nice number for meals after!

"I agree. And did Carolyn not make it to this? I know she loves music events."

Yes, she does, and I had made sure she was there! I made sure all of them got their own tickets, in case there was a problem with an overflow crowd.

"I thought you said the show was free...?"

Of course it was, but they still needed to keep track of how many were coming. The sanctuary only has a limited number of seats.

"Of course, of course. Hey, isn't that Hai with her?"

It certainly was! He and I have been on much easier terms with each other ever since VBS. Our acting in the same skit seemed to have changed his attitude toward me. Even Carolyn commented on our looser behavior together tonight when I drove her home.

"Well, that's a step in the positive direction!"

Most definitely. I'll just let him lead on this new phase. (smile!)