Another winner.

This one at the Lemon Bay Playhouse. About an hour south of Sarasota on the west coast of Florida.

There were ten rows of seats, some with 8 and some with 9 seats in a row.

The ceiling in the theater was low, probably about 10 feet above the floor. That made each riser just 2 inches higher than the one in front of it. The stage was about one foot above the floor which didn’t give them much room for lights over the stage. The stage was a few feet narrower than ours and the layout was the same: A box with permanent walls on the left and right with a door in each and a screened entry way up left.

Lesson learned: There was a sink with a window above it just right of center. There was a tree just outside the window so you don’t have to worry about the scene out the window. They lit the tree with sun during the day and a dark blue at night. A lot easier than trying to build a back drop.

Now about the play: It’s by Neil Simon and written in the late 80’s to mid 90’s. It’s still on my shelf at home in the someday stack. It moved a lot higher in the stack after tonight. Three people in the cast: Herb (around 50) is a divorced father living in California trying to make a living writing screenplays. Herb has an off and on girlfriend (40). His daughter (19) shows up unexpectedly to see her father after 16 years.

It’s a Rom-Com with the trademark sharp snappy dialog. The humor is not the usual belly laugh but sweet humor that makes you smile and laugh quietly. At the end there were several women wiping tears away.

The direction was great and so was the acting – just a couple false notes.

Tomorrow I head towards Tallahassee to see a play I haven’t read “Lucky Me”. I think I’ve heard good things about it so I am looking forward to seeing it Saturday. Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow – it’s my last empty night – don’t know whether to leave it empty or see if I can find a play.

Back on Orcas on Tuesday.