Subtitle: 
Hello Poway Daze
Total Rating: 
**
Opened: 
September 14, 2007
Ended: 
September 23, 2007
Country: 
USA
State: 
California
City: 
Poway
Company/Producers: 
Poway Performing Arts Company
Theater Type: 
Regional; Community
Theater: 
Poway Performing Arts Company
Theater Address: 
13250 Poway Road
Phone: 
(858) 679-8085
Running Time: 
90 min
Genre: 
Comedy-Melodrama
Author: 
Kirk Irvine
Director: 
Shelley Hale
Review: 

Playwright Kirk Irvine follows the 17th through 19th-Century definition of melodrama: a romantic dramatic composition with music interspersed, with his Bye Bye Beeler Canyon, Hello Poway Daze currently at PowPAC in Poway. The show is in a limited two–week run in conjunction with the Poway Days annual celebration. The evening opens with pre-show "Groaners and Knee-Slappers" by Danny Morris and Barbara Seagren. The jokes are old, the questions for the audience real groaners, and the audience is slapping their knees. Then it's on with the show.

Musicians Kirk and Johnny Ray open with a song. Then, Charlie Miller enters as arch-villain Simon Foul and his accomplice, a lovely black cat called Mittens (Roxanne Conowitch). While he slithers about, she crawls from room to room, curls up on her cat blanket or in chairs, always observing and spying on her aging master, Cal Poly, played by Danny Morris.

As with most melodramas, the characters never change. Foul is always evil. The hero, Bill Matus' Squint Westwood, is always a hero—well sort of. His heart-throb Dottie Gale (Celeste Conowitch) is as pure as the driven snow and about as smart. Aunt Wynona (Charmaine Reed) attempts to keep the household in good order but is less than successful.

As the plot thickens, Reverend Fluster (Dan Glenn) and Indian medicine man Doctor Hitchcock (David Cameron) enter to confuse an already obscure plot. This also allows the playwright to advertise many of Alfred Hitchcock's films, from looking out a rear window to . . . well, you get the idea.

You will get ninety minutes of interactive theater complete with "Boo Hiss" and "Yea" signs cuing the audience. Shouts from the audience warning the others of the villain's entrance, Mittens' obvious duplicity, and other signs of evil keep the cast on their worst possible behavior. But, as in classic melodrama, Dottie and Squint are married, Simon Foul gets his just rewards, Mittens repents, and all is well with the world. Oh, I probably shouldn't have given away the ending.

The script even calls for the stage manager, Amanda Dali, to make several appearances, once as just a head. Nice stunt. Even lighting designer Catherine McGuiness becomes a part of the action. Donna Read and Danny Morris obviously had fun dressing the miscreants on stage.

Clues, some actually salient, are abundant. My favorite is a clue about a pie. Leave it to the dim-lighted Dottie to sparkle on that one.

Bye Bye Beeler Canyon, Hello Poway Daze is fun for the whole family. It's a chance to chide the cast, to become one with the action, and to embarrass your date. Give your intellect a holiday and see this silly bit of hilarity.

Cast: 
Charley Miller, Roxanne Conowitch, Danny Morris, Celeste Conowitch, Charmaine Reed, Bill Matus, Dan Glenn, David Cameron; Musicians: Kirk Irvine & Johnny Ray
Technical: 
Choreographer: Amanda Dali; Lighting: Catherine McGuiness; Sound: Lou Alliano; Costumes: Donna Read & Danny Morris; Props: Sabato Fiorello & Enid Munk
Critic: 
Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed: 
September 2007