‘Vaudeville’ returns to Scranton - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader

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‘Vaudeville’ returns to Scranton - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader Posted: 22 Aug 2019 07:26 PM PDT Professional performers Rudy Caporaso, Marilyn McIntyre and Lorenza Bernasconi will appear in the 'Scranton Vaudeville' show on Sunday afternoon, along with active seniors and young people who have been working with REV Theatre Co. at the United Neigborhood Centers of Scranton. - Submitted photo 'Vaudeville Scranton' is designed to make audiences feel as if they've stepped back in time to the heyday of vaudeville. - Submitted photo Once upon a time theater folks called Scranton a "dog city." That didn't mean it was overrun with Great Danes, beagles or mutts; just that it was an ideal place to try out your act. "If you put meat in front of the dog and the dog won't eat it, nobody else should eat it. So if a play or musical event didn't work in Scranton, it probably wouldn't work in New York or anywhere else," said Ro Hume, a new American citizen — she was naturalized in February after moving here from her native Australia — who recently wrote the narrative for a REV Theatre Co. production called "Scranton Vaudeville." You can take in the free performance 2 p.m. Sunday at the United Neighborhood Centers' Oppenheim Center for the Arts, 1004 Jackson St., in West Scranton, where you can admire the talents of some professional performers as well as local young people and older adults who have been working with REV Theatre's artistic directors Rosemary Hay and Rudy Caporaso. The production will showcase some Scranton theatrical history as well as songs from hearken back to vaudeville's heyday. Do these lyrics sound familiar? "Pack up all my care and woe. Here I go, singing low. Bye, Bye, Blackbird …" "If you knew Suzie, like I know Suzie, oh, oh, oh, what a gal …" "Toot, toot, Tootsie, good-bye. Toot, toot, Tootsie, don't cry. The choo-choo train that takes me away from you, no words can tell how sad it makes me …" You're probably not old enough to have heard the songs in the 1920s, when they first came out, but you might have heard them on Mitch Miller records. That was Caporaso's introduction, when he was a kid. Enthusiastic about the catchy tunes, he recalled, "I would force my sister to put on a show with me, and my parents were mortified when we performed for their friends. I'd bribe them to watch with cheese and crackers … I was about 8." Nowadays, Caporaso and Hay don't have to bribe anyone to attend their shows — or to participate. Earlier this week United Neighborhood Centers regulars Betty Griffiths, 82, and Cindy DeSarno, 66, practiced harmonizing on a "You Are My Sunshine" duet. They're looking forward to singing in the show, as is Chuck Weber, 85, who remembers seeing live performances of "magicians, singers, dancers and comedians" at places like the Capitol Theater when he was growing up in Scranton. "There were 10 legitimate (vaudeville) houses in Scranton," Caporaso said. "People like Buster Keaton, Ray Bolger and Fanny Brice came here." Will Rogers, John Phillip Sousa, Buffalo Bill Cody and Lillie Langtry also came to Northeastern Pennsylvania, Hume said, noting she based her narrative on history she found in Nancy McDonald's book "If You Can Play Scranton: A Theatrical History." 'You knew where you stood in Scranton," Caporaso said. "If they liked you, you were embraced. If they didn't like you, you'd be booed off the stage. 'Get the hook' was a real thing." Professional performers Rudy Caporaso, Marilyn McIntyre and Lorenza Bernasconi will appear in the 'Scranton Vaudeville' show on Sunday afternoon, along with active seniors and young people who have been working with REV Theatre Co. at the United Neigborhood Centers of Scranton. 'Vaudeville Scranton' is designed to make audiences feel as if they've stepped back in time to the heyday of vaudeville.

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