That One Time, When I Played Satan.

Carleton Bainbridge

To be honest, I wasn't actually playing Satan... His name was Carleton Bainbridge, the villain of a spooftastic melodrama. The year was 2009. The show was the "Little Nell" dinner theatre. It followed the Dudley Dooright/Snidely Whiplash model, and I clearly wasn't the good guy.

The show spoofed melodramas liberally. The script called for the women's wigs to come askew, my fake mustache to fall off periodically, the doors to stick, the characters to forget lines and be prompted by offstage voices, the punches in the fist fight to swing a foot wide, and so on and so on. Along with being a melodrama, the show was themed around the showboats which used to ply the Mississippi, which featured musical numbers, comedians, and various other talents between the acts of the main show.

There was a large family involved in the 'Tween Acts. The father was our "River Boat Captain." The mother, their four daughters and two sons were all invloved in the songs and joke telling. The kids were great, especially the two young boys. They were exactly what you would expect of a pair of farmer's sons, talking about dirt bikes and tractors and running around the dining room/audience with entirely too much energy, except when the time came for me to do my makeup. They would just sit and watch. Chatter sure, but they sat still and watched. Their mom wasn't complaining. I was baffled, but complimented.
For one portion of the 'Tween Acts," I sang "In the Merry Month of May." For those unfamiliar with the song, it's a cheesy little love song about spotting a lovely lady in the park and starting up a flirtation. Despite my character makeup, I sang as sweetly as I could. After going through the song once, I pulled a reluctant volunteer from the audience, gave her a rose, and commanded (back in character for a moment) that she and the rest of the audience should sing along for a second rendition of the song while I twirled her around the stage.

The show was very silly and very fun. Just what we needed in the middle of a long Western New York winter.

I did mention I was evil, right?