February 11, 2004
Dramatic dinning
OTP Crockpot Theater features food and frivolity
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
What do swing dancing, puppets and baking soda have in common?
Well, nothing really, unless you were one of nearly 100 attendees at the Crockpot Theater. Held Saturday night in the Old Town Playhouse's Studio Theater, Crockpot Theater featured food, entertainment and an oversize helping of creativity.
Attendees munched rich, hearty winter soups cooked up by volunteers and bread donated by area bakeries, sitting at tables arranged in an intimate bistro style.
Twenty acts participated in the show, showcasing talents ranging from poetry and a cappella singing to storytelling and comedy. Hedges Macdonald started off the evening with a one-man variety show, his songs riffing popular movies and classical themes.
"Tonight, tonight, my head will roll tonight," he sang during his mutation merging the movie "The Man who Knew Too Much" with Shakespeare's "Macbeth."
Veteran storyteller Jill Bert spun a lengthy tale of Appalachian life and baking soda, or sody saleratus, as it is called in that region. Local author and speaker Nancy Vogel read from her new children's book called, "Am I a Color, Too?" Two local swing dancers gave a rousing demo of the style followed by singing trio Tone Soup.
"It was wonderful, the variety was wonderful," said Ann Norris, the organizer of the event. "The thing that I added was the swing dance, we didn't have that before."
Stephanie Mills, an author, speaker and activist from Maple City, emceed the show, lending her dry wit and keen insight to the show.
"What a great idea this is, I want to see what this great community produces in the way of talent," said Mills to start the show.
Matt Engel of Gaylord has been a fixture at Crockpot Theater for the past six years. His understated delivery of a Saturday Night Live style news show - modeled after the show's Weekend Update segment - kept the audience in stitches through most of his gags. Even the few that fell flat, Engel's droll delivery or self-effacing comment saved the moment.
Touching on topics such as the War on Terror, the Superbowl halftime debacle (he dubbed it a 'Tempest in a D-Cup') and the upcoming presidential election, Engel prepares meticulously for his annual performance.
"I've had a bunch of theater experience but there's no place to use it over there [in Gaylord,] so I come here," said Engel, who has been writing SNL-style news skits since high school. "Comedy is really subjective, and what I think is a laugh riot on Wednesday, may bomb on Saturday."
Engel would not miss his annual sojourn to Traverse City, appreciating how the audience for Crockpot Theater has grown from 15-20 the first year he performed to Saturday night's full house.
"I love the Old Town Playhouse, I'm a big supporter of it and it's really nice that after I drive 70 miles to be here, people know me and say, 'Hi,'" he added. "The audiences at Crockpot Theater are getting better and better."
The intimate setting and open stage policy, inviting professionals and amateurs to perform, is a draw throughout the community.
"The main focus of it is to give people a chance to get together and have some fun," said George Beeby, executive director of the Old Town Playhouse. "You just don't know what to expect. It's nice because people get an opportunity to perform something or read something with a stage and a microphone and an audience you might not get somewhere else."
Tim Burke, a member of the trio Tone Soup, relished the warm welcome of the audience and the bistro-like atmosphere.
"The venue is different because in this case, even though there's food involved, there's not the goings on of a bookstore," said Burke, noting that the band has been playing together for eight years. "It was nice to do acoustic, that's our forte; we're not a bar band and there's not as many opportunities as we'd like."