Never Before

Today the First Stage Theatre Company does something that, as far as I know, it has never done before.

Right in the middle of the run of "Cats," for Saturday only, they’re going "dark" (which in theatre talk, means they’re not doing a show tonight). It’s unusual because Saturday night is traditionally a big audience night. So why are they shutting down tonight's show?

Well, it goes back to the fact that First Stage is a children’s theatre, and it was originally started 17 years ago because there were so few opportunities for local kids to get on stage. These days, that’s not the case - schools have show choirs, band competitions, lots of sports events, all-county competitions, dance classes, acting classes, and on and on.

When a show is scheduled, the directors try to take all that into consideration and try to work around the schedules of their actors as much as possible, though invariably there will be conflicts.

When you put on a show you have to choose your performance dates well in advance, and when “Cats” was put on the schedule at Huntington’s City Hall, the directors didn’t realize that the first Saturday performance conflicted with a big Show Choir competition. Because many of the show’s leads are also in show choirs, something had to give.

With the children’s theatre, the rule is simple: School is more important. After all, if a student skips a school event, it can hurt their grade - and First Stage’s goal is to help the young performers, not hurt them.

So the directors of “Cats” did the only thing they could do - cancel Saturday’s performance.

I ran into a similar problem when I directed “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” several years ago. We didn’t realize that the second night of our tech rehearsal, just a couple of days before the first performance, was at the same time as All-County Chorus rehearsal - and once again, virtually all our leads were in All-County. So we did the rehearsal without them (although they arrived later), and the directors - including me - got on stage and served as “stand-ins” so the rest of the cast could prepare. Just one of the hazards of children’s theatre.

At any rate, don’t worry - “Cats” will be back tomorrow (Sunday) and all through next weekend at the Huntington City Hall auditorium. Sunday’s show is at 2:30 p.m., and there are shows next Thursday (March 22), Friday (March 23) and Saturday (March 24) at 8:00 p.m., and the last show is Sunday (March 25) at 2:30 p.m. So you still have lots of chances to see the show.

But if you were planning to go tonight, be warned - your plans are going to change.