Gallery show goes on with lights out
The musical “darkly comic rock fable” will play at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays in the theater at Second and Ford streets, downtown McMinnville. Admission is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $16 for students.
“Fly by Night,” written by Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly and Michael Mitnick, takes place between Nov.9, 1964, and the day of the blackout. It’s not chronological, though; rather, it is a series of flashbacks as well as present day, during the time period.
“It looks at the way characters are connected on a cosmic level over the year, some deeply, some very little,” said Seth Renne, who is directing the show.
He saw “Fly by Night” in its first and only, thus far, production in 2016. He was moved by the way it shows how lives are intertwined and influenced by major events.
“Blips in the matrix, parallel timelines, shifts …” he said. “How all of us are on a path until an event, then the path is split.”
Renne, who has directed more than 16 shows and acted in numerous others at Gallery, suggested the show to the community theater’s play committee several years ago. It wasn’t chosen then.
But last year, Vicky Ragsdale suggested it again, and the committee asked Renne to direct the seven-member cast.
“I love the show,” he said. “It’s not linear. You see the same event multiple times from different perspectives and a narrator guides us through.”
The opening scene, for instance, involves main character Harold (Nehemiah Creel) and his father, Mr. McClam (Walt Haight) at Harold’s mother’s funeral. Then the play skips back in time five months.
Another set of scenes shows Harold playing music, and the action becomes more clear to the audience the second time around, Renne said.
The director said it’s not necessary to know all about “Fly by Night” before seeing it. In fact, just as he did himself, it may be better to “just let it flow over you” without preconceptions.
In addition to Creel and Haight, the cast includes Sean Soren Brady as the narrator; Betsy Joan LeClair as Daphne; Beth Sobo Turk as Miriam; Sawyer Buyagawan as Joey Storms and Sean Keller as Crabble.
“The cast has really done just a beautiful job,” Renne said.
He noted the music may be the most challenging part of the production. “Fly by Night” doesn’t contain any big hits or show stopping numbers, but the music is thoughtful, lovely and often catchy, he said.
The messages are clear and moving, he added.
“There’s a lot in this show people can take away. Everyone will find something to connect to,” he said, recalling a line he remembers from the first time he saw the show eight years ago that talks about “it’s not the things we do, but who we do them with.”
“This is just the kind of show that touches you,” Renne said.
He said he recommends the show for those 13 and older, not because it’s inappropriate for children, but because it takes some maturity to understand it.
Barbara Curtis and Emily Matsuda are assistant directors.
Members of the live band, which will be visible on stage, are Christie Smith, keyboard; Jacob Terp, guitar; Zak Zundel, bass; and Yuya Matsuda, drums.
Smith also is the music director for the show. The assistant music director is Travis Morgan.
Next, Renne will direct “Fiddler on the Roof” for Gallery’s 2025 season. Auditions start Nov. 4, right after “Fly by Night” closes.
For more information about either show or for reservations for “Fly by Night,” call the theater box office at 503-472-2227 or go to gallerytheater.org.
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