Boston Bureau

Cape Playhouse Plans Music, Music, Music for 2008

The Cape Playhouse: Grande Dame of Summer Theatres
Holds her head high for upcoming 82^nd season

By Libby Hughes, Cape Cod Today Drama Critic

The golden days of the summer "straw hat circuit" brought magic and excitement to New England theatres in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. When plays and musicals closed on Broadway, they were packaged with stars and spent a week in each of these theatres: the Ogunquit Playhouse and Skowheg Playhouse in Maine; North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA; South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA; Falmouth Playhouse on Cape Cod; Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA; Westport Country Playhouse in CT; and the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA; and sometimes the Melody Tent in Hyannis, MA. It was a true summer theatre circuit.

No straw circuit today

Today, in the 21^st century, the circuit of old doesn't exist. Each theatre does its own thing either with a repertory company or packaged shows out of NYC. Audiences in each area have different tastes and the theatres cater to them. During the straw hat decades, stars could easily be paid at least $50,000 a week for their appearances.

Star system once upon a time

And the Cape Playhouse in Dennis was no exception. When this reviewer started covering the Cape Playhouse in 1977, a parade of stars from Ginger Rogers to John Ritter to Jean Stapleton marched across the boards, commanding large salaries. Every week, the legendary Margaret Adams, Publicity Director, held press conferences in the stage restaurant for interviewing the celebrities. This was great copy for the daily and weekly newspapers. Stories about celebrities sell newspapers as they do today. One could never be overwhelmed by a star because there was a story to write and a deadline to meet. It was at the Cape Playhouse I met and interviewed Ginger Rogers. Eleven years later, she tracked me down and asked me to come out to her house in California to edit her autobiography.

Cape Playhouse is the Grande Dame

The Cape Playhouse is something of a star itself. It is the oldest summer theatre in America and deservedly is called the Grande Dame. In 1927, a young theatre enthusiast, Raymond Moore, landed in Provincetown to fulfill his dream of becoming a landscape painter. Instead, he joined an acting group. Intense competition existed between his group and the famed Provincetown Players with whom Eugene O'Neill was associated. On a whim, Moore bought an old Unitarian Meeting House, bought it for a few hundred dollars, and moved it to a three and a half acre cow pasture in Dennis. Beneath a torrential rainstorm on July 4, 1927, the Cape Playhouse opened its doors. The rest is history. The only time it closed was between 1942 and 1946.

Transitioning to non-profit

In the past few years, the Playhouse has been transitioning between a commercial venture to the 501 C3 non-profit status along with the rest of its campus compatriots: the Cape Museum of Fine Arts and the Cape Cinema. This non-profit status has caused a difficult financial strain on the Playhouse. They will now be dependent on grants, patron gifts, subscribers, and ticket sales to keep them afloat. With a roller coaster economy and the price of tickets climbing, the task has not been easy even though tickets are half or even a quarter the cost of Broadway. Nevertheless, their confidence has not been dampened in the face of some financial bumps.

At a press reception on April 17 for nine Board members, patrons, and the press, James Wilson, President of the Board, said, "We are making an early announcement of our 82^nd season at the Cape Playhouse, and we are broadening the Cape Center for the Arts and making it more diverse with the Cape Museum of Fine Arts, the Cape Cinema (where they did simulcasting of eight operas from the Metropolitan Opera during the winter.), the Stage Café, internships at the theatre, and the Dennis Walk for the Arts. The over-all thrust seems to be for educational projects.

Evans Haile outlines season

Artistic Director Evans Haile drove up from NYC for the reception and introduced the upcoming season of four musicals and two comedies that run from June 23 through Sept. 13. "Tired of the political debates and want to experience joy with friends?" he asked. "Music is the way to escape from politics. Why should you come to the theatre? Because it's something you can't see at home. It is live right in front of you. You see it as it happens."

Then, Mr. Haile introduced the man from the opening show, "Marc Salem's Mind Games." Salem entertained the reception group with a sample of his mind games: memory, money, consonants and vowels, espionage, and watches. Amazement and applause for his magical and humorous tricks from a trained psychologist. It promises to be a different and entertaining kick-off to the theatrical season.  The playhouse website.