This past weekend I spent nearly all of my time either in a motel room studying for a certifcation exam or in the Smith Opera House in Geneva, New York, home of ESTA Fest 2006. The festival brought together community theater productions from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland (a production from Delaware was a late scratch). Leta directed Perfectly Good Airplanes, a yet-unpubished work by Steve LaRocque, and performed by the very talented Maura and Ted.

I had stage-managed a production of this for Leta last year, but this time my only contribution was as non-union driver. Ira and RJ loaded in our very simple set pieces for the production, a trash can and a park bench (at the moment in Alberta's cargo area).

The Opera House, which opened in 1894 with a production of The Count of Monte Cristo starring Eugene O'Neill's father, is typical of the older buildings to be found in Geneva: masonry-framed, three stories, bay windows on the upper stories with a circular-arched entrance.

Fitting to its role as a place for theater, the building's entrance features high-relief sculptured busts of William Shakespeare and Edwin Booth.

Inside, the auditorium can seat 1400 but is usually configured for many fewer people. A 7-year restoration program commenced at the building's centennial has restored the grandeur of its late Victorian rococo.

Downstairs, some of the space originally dedicated to rest rooms and "lounge" has been converted into a low-ceilinged cocktail bar. But the men's room retains an old-time favorite of mine: tulip-shaped urinals. I've seen this style of porcelain convenience in only two places in D.C.: the Takoma Theater and Silver Spring Stage.

Maura and Ted took home honorable mentions for their acting work, while a fine production by Pennsylvania's Gaslight Theatre Company of Act III of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten won top honors.

posted: 9:45:29 PM