Paul Szmal: We're on Zoom with Tina Botter, Co-Founder and Director of the Between the Lakes Community Service Players. Good morning.
Tina Bauder: Good morning. How are you?
Paul Szmal: I'm well. It's always good to talk with you.
Before we talk about your upcoming performance, are you finished with your South Seneca season yet?
Tina Bauder: Yes, we are. We had a great end to our season. We were awarded 10 tennis awards this year for the Wizard of Oz with our musical. So yeah, it was a great season.
Paul Szmal: Congratulations on that. I just saw an article that ran last year in the Finger Lakes Times talking about the formation of the Between Lakes Players. You were one of the co-founders. Take us back to the beginning and this idea of community theater that gives back.
Tina Bauder: Yeah, well, last year was our 20th anniversary. That's why there was probably that spread in the paper there. But we started this organization 21 years ago, and there were four of us at the time that said we don't have any community theater in the south end of Seneca County. You know, the community theater flourishes throughout the Finger Lakes, but sometimes people don't want to drive too far, you know, when it comes to being in a show. And of course, you know, the four of us that sat down really loved theater and we wanted to be able to access it in our own community.
So we started this community theater group, but with a twist. Our twist was that is that all of our profits from the show are donated to a worthy partner organization. So over these 20 years, we've had partnerships from reading and library programs to raising money for school band uniforms and the school band, for example, uniforms at South Seneca and kids going to New York City with Waterloo. And we've done lots of different things, daycare centers and you name it, we probably have helped raise money for it. And we're in that we've raised in those 20 years close to $50,000 with the support, the support of the community.
People really do come out to for a show, first of all, and that's the you know, the first part of it. But the other half of it is that it's it's a mission to help and support. So actually, this year, we're really excited. We all always are excited. But this year, we're excited to partner with the Ovid Fire Department following the fire in Ovid. And they had a loss of several pieces of equipment and just the overall, you know, realization with a big fire like that, what the needs are in a small community. And we're really excited to be able to help support them.
Paul Szmal: You mentioned that people come out for community theater and the cause is great. But one of the reasons is it's so good. I mean, your organization and the high school theaters and the other I've talked to just about every theater organization around the Finger Lakes. And they're just all so good. Are you know, I'm excited to go see shows around, not just in the summer throughout the whole year, right?
Tina Bauder: So I mean, my our theater program majorly focuses in the summer, but not always. But yeah, there's some really talented people in the Finger Lakes. And it's great to be able to showcase them through our theater programs.
Paul Szmal: So we're in the audition phase. We have auditions for some Shakespeare, Shakespeare musical, Something Rotten, May 12th and 14th. So tell us about Something Rotten.
Tina Bauder: Yeah, Something Rotten is actually, you know, it's not Shakespeare. It's not written by Shakespeare, obviously. But it's a really raucous kind of comedy that is based on Shakespearean time. It takes place in 1590. And it's a lot of fun. Shakespeare, of course, is the big guy of the age, right? At that time, everybody loved Shakespeare and what he was writing and producing. But what about the little guys that are trying to make their own way in the world of theater in the 1590s in Elizabethan England? They kind of get left and pushed off to the side.
So this is a story about two brothers who are theater writers, directors and in competition with Shakespeare. And it's fun because the writers of the production have written a lot of it. Not the dialogue, but the music certainly written in couplet in the style of Shakespeare in that whole Elizabethan period. And these two brothers want to come out on top. They want to be the big dogs.
So one brother hires a soothsayer to find out what in the future is going to be the big thing. And the kind of wonky soothsayer tells him it's a musical. And so there's a whole great number with that. And Shakespeare is part of it. He's sort of like, I like to akin him to the Elvis Presley kind of role. He's a really big deal in the show. And he's got a couple of great numbers. And he's a little full of himself as you might imagine. You know, that might be.
And so it's just a lot of fun with this theater troupe that's, you know, these two brothers mostly. But running this theater troupe and in competition with Shakespeare. Just trying to figure out life and trying to move forward and do great things. And having a lot of fun along the way. That's for sure.
Paul Szmal: So remind us the dates, times and place again for these auditions.
Tina Bauder: So we're going to be auditioning May 12th. That's a Monday. And May 14th, that's the Wednesday. At 630 at South Seneca High School Auditorium. That is where we have mostly hosted our productions and our rehearsal process over the years. We've been very lucky. The school district is wonderful about the community overall. And helping people and certainly giving us a home for our productions.
Paul Szmal: Yes, so we will be at the South Seneca Auditorium for auditions. May 12th and May 14th at 630. And people coming to auditions. We just like to give them a heads up and let them know. They should come with a song prepared. Like 16 to 32 measures of a Broadway kind of tune. Probably a comedic piece. Because most of the numbers in the show are comedic. The show itself is a comedy.
And then be able to, we will have a piano player. And be able to perform that for us as part of their audition. Then we put them through their courses a little bit. With some dance and group dance. A couple of dance pieces, segments. See how they move. And then we'll probably do some cold reading from the show as well. Just to kind of play around.
I always like to talk about the behind the scenes part of a show. And obviously Shakespeare and Elizabethan England. The set and costuming possibilities are terrific here.
Tina Bauder: Exciting, I will tell you. That's, I saw the show on Broadway in 2015. And the group of us that went were like, oh my gosh. Someday when this is out, we've got to do this show. Because it's just beautiful to look at. And it's a different style. I mean, yes, we've seen Renaissance costumes. I'm sure at the Ren Fair and stuff. But it's fun to be able to dig into building some of our own. And creating those characters with their costumes. You know, in the production. So yeah, that Renaissance piece is pretty exciting. In terms of costuming.
Also in terms of, you know, just the period. Giving the look of the period. The challenge for us is we have a huge theater stage. And to bring that in a little bit. And make it, you know, show the almost grand nature of this time period. But also this very personal nature of this story. That takes place mostly between these two brothers. And one of the brother's wives. And then, you know, it kind of expands. But, and of course it deals with the politics of the time a little bit. And it deals with, you know, who can be in theater and who can't.
Paul Szmal: And you know, it's interesting. It speaks volumes. It's one of those shows that people might call a little bit of a mash-up. It came out, you know, in the wake of things like Hamilton. Where you take a period show and you give it a modern twist. And so that's really what we're looking at. Some fun comedy and, you know, juxtapositions of Shakespearean England and modern day America.
I'm not any kind of a Shakespeare expert at all. I mean, I'm familiar with the major works. But what is it about Shakespeare, of all the playwrights, of all the eras, that he just stands so head and shoulders above the rest?
Tina Bauder: I think he's probably more of the first of his kind. I think it was that the era was ripe for what he was doing, you know. And that whole something new, something different. He certainly caught the eye and ear of the people who were supporting as patrons of the arts. At the time, there was money there to back him and support him. Of course, according to Nick Bottom, who's the lead character in the show, it's one of his best songs in the show, is, God, I hate Shakespeare. And he just goes on about, how does this ordinary guy pull this off? Everybody loves him, but he's a jerk.
Paul Szmal: Well, I think part of it, to me, is just the basic timeless themes of love and betrayal and good and evil. I mean, the themes of his shows, you could take one of his shows, put it completely in a modern setting, and it still works.
Tina Bauder: Yep, it absolutely works. And we've done it throughout the ages. That's what people have done. So many stories are based on the same thing, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet. This one really picks up the Hamlet theme because the soothsayer tells Nick Bottom that he sees this show called, he can't quite see it clearly, but he thinks it's called Omelette. So they go through this process of writing this whole show about eggs. Oh man, this is going to be fun. And they struggle.
Paul Szmal: It is fun. It is fun, for sure. And at the end, one of the final numbers, the theme of the song is, to thine own self, be true. There's this whole, you have to stay true to what you believe and who you are, even though the modern world, whatever that modern world is that you're in, could take hold of you and make you be somebody you're not, just to get famous or to make money or all those kinds of things. So they really are themes that ring really true to us today as well.
So mark down the dates for the show. Oh, go ahead.
Tina Bauder: Yeah, there's something rotten in Denmark, but there's also something rotten right here in Ovid to take care of. We like to think now, our production team, let's help with that something rotten that happened in Ovid, that fire, and we're going to work to help the people who need the help the most in terms of if fires happen in the future, we're ready for them. And our fire department is supported for all the efforts they have done, but also what's potential in the future. That's where we're going, Something Rotten.
Paul Szmal: What a great choice. Mark your dates down for the performances, July 24th, 25th, 26th at South Seneca High. And again, the Something Rotten auditions, May 12th and 14th, 630 at South Seneca. Bring a Broadway style piece, be prepared to do a little dance and do a little bit of reading and maybe you'll be part of the cast. Tina, great to get back together with you again and best of luck.
Tina Bauder: You too. Thanks, Ted. Have a great day.
