Spy Theater Review: Ghosts haunt the Avalon by Steve Parks

Described as an “immersive theater experience,” the show is a largely fictional Halloween glimpse into the building’s history, beginning with a fire that destroyed the Avalon Hotel. Rebuilt in 1922, what was then called The New Theatre became known as “The showplace of the Eastern Shore,” renamed the Avalon Theatre in 1934.

The “Stage Fright” musical, written by Casey Rauch, who also plays the lead villain, and directed by Cecile Storm, who portrays his accomplice with a visceral demeanor, is no standard Halloween entertainment. It’s not recommended for anyone under age 16.  Musical direction by Ray Nissen accompanies frequent film montages as well as live action on and off-stage. Actors lead the way for the audience to explore every public space of the Avalon Foundation building.

What was formerly known as Banning’s Tavern has been transformed into what you might call a mad physician’s brain laboratory with alcohol serving mostly, it seems, as a preservative for neural tissue no longer occupying a skull. Main-stage scenes fill in the Avalon back story. Lou Baker is about to be released from 30 years in a psychiatric institution at age 95. Murder and ghostly reappearances have haunted the Avalon ever since the “apparent suicide” of Marguerite Gardot shortly after she gave up her child Charlotte to a church to further her career as a showgirl and Beauthy Shop Quartet headliner managed by her lover, Lou Baker. Having not seen Charlotte since she was a baby, Baker implores her to read Marguerite’s diary.

There is an intermission in there somewhere, but I saw “Stage Fright” on its final dress rehearsal, when my wife and I were the only audience. Presumably, drinks, refreshments and light fare were available once the show opened officially on Wednesday evening. We settled into our front-row seats in the lovely Stoltz Listening Room where the stage was lined with VHS videos from the failed business model of Blockbuster, which never anticipated the inevitability of streaming services. A film screened over the stage before us added more to the back story of Bob – Lou’s Girl Friday and former bare-knuckles boxer who doubles as bouncer while cleaning up her boss’s messes. Including murder? We’re left with a cryptic message: “All you do is watch.”

A trip to the third floor, not often open to mere Avalon ticket-holders, is a revelation. A grand space for a relatively small room dominated by an 18-foot leaded-glass ceiling dome and a chance to step outside on a narrow deck to take in the best view of downtown Easton that was once available to patrons of a restaurant called The Chambers. It’s now mostly reserved for Avalon Foundation board meetings and special (expensive) events.

So here’s your chance to tour the architectural beauty of the Avalon as you’ve probably never seen it. That was enough to distract me from the video at hand, except for the haunting message at the end: “All you do is watch.” As if we’re accessories to crimes we know nothing about. Not yet.

Taking the elevator down to the ground floor, our actor-guides led us out onto Harrison Street and the alleyway between the Avalon and Troika Gallery to return to the main stage. No spoiler alerts here. But I’m guessing you’ve figured out this is no musical comedy.

But a bit more evaluation of the performances is in order. Casey Rauch as Lou Baker is sufficiently addled and edgy to make us think he’s capable of all that has tormented him for decades. Katie Cox as his daughter, Charlotte, who is a stranger to him, seems to have avoided the mental trauma of her parents. She’s almost inspired by reading passages from her mom’s diary, as if she was talking directly to her, as the staging by Cecile Storm suggests. As Marguerite, Jenny Madino projects a spectral presence, appropriate for someone who’s been dead by suicide or murder for what? – almost a century?  Her Beauty Shop Quartet survivors – if anyone is not already a ghost by this time – Maddie Megahan (Vivian), Jeri Alexander (Minnie), and Grace Vorosmarti (Shirley) are just wildly vulnerable enough to be susceptible to crazy Lou.

While the film and video montages added here and there to the ghost story at hand, a few seemed entirely superfluous. Among the most revealing to any character were the excerpts from MTV back when the cable network made its splash as presenter of highly professional music videos – some of which made or resurrected the careers of feature film directors. It was, I suppose, the pinnacle of Lou Baker’s checkered career, that he wins an MTV best video-of-the-year award. OK, so there’s my spoiler. Aside from that, my best advice to you is to wear comfortable shoes and Halloween costumes that won’t get in the way of your getting around all the space that the Avalon offers in its centennial-plus glory.

‘STAGE FRIGHT’