Trio of Terror CANCELLED

Jeff said:
Did it ever occur to anyone that they couldn't book the talent? I wouldn't be surprised if it was a budget issue, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions either.

That seems unlikely, given current levels of unemployment. Unless the theater industry is booming or whatever.

That is unfortunate... I always enjoy catching a show or two to take a break from riding throughout the day. I can't imagine that this would solely be based on the talent not being available.... With the economy as bas as it is I would think that you could find some actors looking to pad their paychecks that would be willing if last year's talent couldn't do it.

Also - do we have any confirmation that the show at the Red Garter will not have a live band for Halloweekends?

^Its "unofficially official" at this point ie given the fact that Got Country is canned music and certain "insiders" have stated that the Halloween show will be too its highly probable. Of course nothing is official until after its announced.

djDaemon said:
That seems unlikely, given current levels of unemployment. Unless the theater industry is booming or whatever.

It was my understanding that those guys are working stiffs with regular day jobs who happen to enjoy the acting. I don't think theater has anything to do with it.

That doesn't explain why they haven't returned, or why CP hasn't found replacements. Are they now... more employed than they were last year? Is the booming economy reducing the incentive for the extra money? Just curious why casting would be an issue - common sense leads me to think its budget-related.

Or they can't afford to take time away from their jobs to go to CP. Its a reason my friend only took a week off when his daughter was born last week. He survived a round of layoffs and doesn't want to look bad by now taking 6 weeks off.

It could be that things are tight, and rather than putting themselves at the top of the list for the next round of layoffs they are doing what they can to stay employed.

That may well be, but it seems awful early in the game to say "Oh well... those three guys can't come back. There's no way we could find replacement actors in the next two months, so we might as well bag it..."

JuggaLotus said:
Or they can't afford to take time away from their jobs to go to CP.

OK, I'll give you that -they're not returning. But I find it impossible to believe, in this economy, that there is suddenly a lack of other work-hungry actors. I simply don't buy that.

^ - now that I'll agree with.

Which is why this move screams "budget cuts", and requires only minimal (and totally reasonable) conclusion-jumping.

Regarding the Garter...at the beginning of the summer it was understood that the summer show would be tracked and the Halloweekend show would have been live but Live E later found out that the Halloweekends band was being pulled out from underneath them. So it is 100% for sure going to be a tracked Garter show for Halloweekends. Also...the guy who normally writes the shows (same guy who wrote the music for the Monster Midway parade) is NOT going to be writing the Garter show for Halloweekends. As for budget cuts in regards for Band/No Band...I honestly don't see how that saves any money. Last year's Garter summer show had 6 people total (Drummer, bass, Guitar, Keys, Guy vocalist, Girl vocalist). This year's Garter show has a total of 6 people who are all paid exactly the same as last year's performers. Payroll doesn't change and you're still costuming 6 people...just like last year.

Its early enough, but a freaking ad up at Guitar Center.

"LF 80's-90's Coverband. Must be available weekends from September to October. Free Coaster Riding incl."

Shouldn't be too hard to find someone who can do it.

That's really too bad to hear about the Red Garter shows YerMom... as a general rule (and as a former drummer) vocalists singing along to tracks don't have anything on a live band.

Uh, I don't understand what's so hard to believe. Sandusky is not Broadway. It does not have a theater industry. If those guys were local, they're probably the same people who do local community theater, for free. Those are people with day jobs, and if they're blue collar workers, they're going to take whatever shift they can get, especially in this economy.

And the previous band in the Garter had a drummer from Cincinnati, a guitar player from northwestern Indiana, and a former vocalist that was performing in a major NYC Broadway theater. Cedar Point can easily find and get some of the best theater and musical talent in the nation, let alone the Cleveland/Northern Ohio area. I have some slight firsthand experience having been a part of a Live E audition/interview.

I would find it almost impossible to believe that they couldn't get three competent actors to read these well-known short narratives knowing that they could easily attract some of the best talent in the nation. The logical conclusion is cutting the show because of the budget, just like what more than likely happened with the Garter band.

Dude, who cares about the band? That's not what I'm talking about. The dudes were locals. I'm not even suggesting that it was absolutely because they weren't available. I'm only addressing that it's far from "impossible" that they just couldn't do it. Perhaps it is a budget thing. Who knows.

It's not as easy as you think! Finding talent during the summer shows where you're working 6 days a week for 12 weeks (or however long some of the contracts run) is one thing. You move away from school or home and temporarily transplant yourself to Sandusky for a set amount of time. You can't necessarily do that during Halloweekends due to school schedules or other jobs that will carry you through the winter months. You also have to be somewhat close to make it worthwhile. Anything more than 2 hours away gets really tiresome driving to and from Sandusky every weekend...not to mention you're only getting 3 days worth of pay and you have to cover gas for the roundtrips. ALSO...any current student who is a performance major is required by their school to audition for school musicals/performances and those performances and rehearsals take place during Halloweekends...so that takes out a good chunk of the summer performers.
Jeff made some good points...it's the Midway, not Broadway!

The band example was to show they can find talent from anywhere they want to. I know they can't just go out on a recruiting tour right now, but I also doubt they don't have the ability to draw in at least halfway decent actors to pull it off. I'm well aware of the limitations of working just during Halloweekends. That's exactly why both seasons I pretty much flat out refused to work Halloweekends the last two years because the three+ hour drive each way wasn't going to be worth it to me (not to mention I would be busy with the music dept. stuff at college anyway).

I just find it hard to believe they would cancel it just because these specific actors weren't available this year, knowing they have the ability to attract some really top-notch talent. Especially considering the reply I got from you, Jeff, when I mentioned my personal views on the outstanding nature of last season's Garter band and them not returning.

I guess we'll never know for sure what the real reason is, but I have a strong feeling that its a pretty strong relation to budget cuts.

Also, I personally thought moving it to the Palace killed the atmosphere of the readings/shows. There was way too much ambient noise, and people didn't treat it as much of a theater performance with the atmosphere of the Palace.

If that's the case, why bother having shows in the first place?

There have been plenty of days that I have been to the park, and it has been slammed. So I always go and check out the shows instead of waiting in a 3 hour line. I have always enjoyed doing that because they always have had great shows. Well, that has changed this year.

I am not saying the shows need to be "broadway" caliber shows, just decent. Imo, they can keep all the canned music shows. It's just like watching kareoke. The show in the garter was horrid from the 10 min of it that I watched last month. I watched a lot of people walking in, and walking right back out. Why don't they just hire mili vanili(sp) to do the show?

The live band always brought in a good crowd and had a "party" feeling. Have you ever been in the red garter durring a halloweekends show? The place was standing room only if you were able to even do that. Remember the golden tickets that they have won or were nominated for in the past?

There are so many unimployed drummers, bass players, guitar players, and singers out there right now. Don't believe me? Go check out your local metro times type papers. I know without a doubt that it is them cutting the budget and not a "can't find people" excuse.

I don't know what the situation is with the tri of terror, but the people that did that show were great and could not be replaced very easy. I did not like the new venue it was held in last year, and I missed the one guy that did the "tell tail heart" in the past.

That is truly a shame! The opportunity to hear and "see" classic literature at an amusement part was quite unique. The number of kids that came to me and told me they had passed a test or were reading more now was impressive to me. One little girl told me that she could not read the stories without thinking of the same performance. "You brought the words to life for me!" Education was as integral to the performance as was the entertainment. It truly was "art in the park".

Hard to put a price on that!

The "Trio of Terror" had a good run and I met a lot of good people year after year. I worked with 3 of the finest talents in this area and if it becomes possible, I will do it again!

To all the Edgar Allan Poe fans that supported us year after year...thank you!!! It was fun! I had a blast!

"Villians". I shrieked. "Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks......" "The Tell-Tale Heart"

David

*thank you Crazy Horse....nice compliment!