Zoned Out

By Gary Zeidner, Boulder Weekly
November 6, 2003

You park at the end of a residential street because of the conspicuous absence of a valet or private parking lot. Looking upward for the flashing lights and glowing marquee, you are greeted only with a hand-painted banner and the denuded limbs of trees swaying in a late October wind. A kindly older woman in the mold of June Cleaver rather than Liza Minelli ushers you to your seats in a tiny theatre obviously converted from some earlier use. The people around you are dressed for casual comfort rather than sartorial splendor. Your program is not glossy. No orchestra warms up in the nonexistent pit, and no champagne glasses clink in the background. You are not on Broadway–nor even at the DPAC. You are about to enter the Community Theatre Zone.

Let’s tell it like it is. Human endeavors stratify themselves purely by nature. You don’t expect the same level of play at a little league baseball game as you do at a Colorado Rockies game (OK, maybe sometimes). Your niece’s piano recital fails to push you to the same heights of passion that the Vienna Philharmonic would. The same, of course, remains true in theatre. The mirrored Meccas of New York and Los Angeles generally serve as home to the best and the brightest. Regional touring troupes bring mimeographed versions of those shows to the provinces. Local reparatory organizations play at a level on par with the touring productions. Smaller, independent theatres that overreach their supposed ability more often than their more highly touted, larger competitors occupy the next stratum. Finally, at the lowest end (or, conversely, the purest beginning, as full of potential as the pause before the first line of dialogue or note of music sounds forth) resides the community theatre company.

This week, the company in question is the Lafayette Community Players. Their creation, TZ-3: Twilight Zone, A Parody, is their homage to the classic television mind game hosted by the legendary Rod Serling. In fact, the LCP have devoted their meager resources to producing parodies of classic Twilight Zone episodes for three years now. That fact alone illustrates some of the magic that comes from theatrical variegation. Where a larger company might scoff at presenting condensed stage versions of a now-defunct television series’ most classic episodes, the LCP embraces the opportunity to pay respect to the stories they have loved and enjoyed over the years.

Each of the three TZ-3 "episodes" is appropriately introduced by Rod Serling (Dan Orner). Orner does an excellent job of mimicking all of Serling’s speech and physical mannerisms without aping them. His Serling strikes the all-important first note of authenticity needed to pull off this sort of show, in which theatre plays tribute to television.

Though the stage design is extremely spare (and the lack of a curtain to hide scene changes does tend to emphasize their lagging nature), one very clever aspect of the set–as well as the costuming, props etc.–is that they remain true to the television show’s black and white format. This subtle touch immediately elevates TZ-3 and is a credit to its creators.

The three episodes enacted this year are "Perchance to Dream," "One for the Angels" and "It’s a Good Life." In "Perchance to Dream," a man (Ray Viggiano) with a rather untenable problem seeks the counsel of a psychiatrist (Bill Graham). The man, you see, fears his dreams to such a degree that he is terrified of slumber. But if he remains forever awake, will he not just as surely die?

"One for the Angels" stands out as the most sentimental piece of TZ-3. Faced with the very real and very imminent possibility of his own demise, a career pitchman (Ed Schoenradt) thinks he’s outwitted Death (Trisha Werner). But as we all know, it’s not always easy to tell for whom the bell tolls, and the pitch man must risk everything to set life’s balance right.

The final episode, "It’s a Good Life," is by far the most recognizable, and it continues the thread of underlying humor begun by the other two pieces. But as I mentioned at the outset of this review, TZ-3 resides in the area and at the level of performance known as the Community Theatre Zone, a place where it is best to leave your expectations at the door and simply enjoy the ride.

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