Modern melodramas are more about having fun, booing and hissing the villain, frequent asides by the characters to the audience, lots of great music and some serious overacting. More than ever ... audiences love to hate the villain, cheer the hero, and watch good triumph over evil. It is great family entertainment. HeroAndVillain.com is all about preserving this great American art form for a new generation and the next one. Stay Melodramatic!
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John S.
on:Noticed that the theater in town stopped including melodramas in their season. I've been in San Juan Capistrano for over 20 years. So how come they got so high and mighty in San Juan to eliminate melodramas from the last two seasons? I thought the Camino Real was built on melodramas. So don't they care about the community anymore?
Professor Mack says
:I don't have a good answer for you. The Playhouse is under new management and they, let us say, have different priorities. Yes I have had to move my Melodramas to different venues. But I do have a story to tell. A few weeks ago I was supporting local arts in San Juan Capistrano at the local music club called the Coachhouse when a beautiful server approached me and said ... "may I ask you a question?" Of course I said yes. And she said ... "Aren't you the villain from the Camino Real Playhouse in San Juan?" ... I nodded and she said ... "In good times and bad times ... my Mother would always take me to the Playhouse to see your Melodrama ... every year. I want to to thank you ... for my childhood. Because of your plays ... it was a good one."
Victor T.
on:That is why melodramas are important. The town is changing too much. Let me know where you are performing next - we'll be there!!
When they made everything in town paid parking - that kind of told me that things were changing - and I guess the new management is doing the same thing - chasing the almighty dollar. I miss the good old days when kids could come with their parents and be a kid. Let me kow where you end up too. Glad I found your website.
Professor Mack says
:Thanks so much for your comments. I understand your concern. We have been performing short 15-minute Melodramas in the San Juan Los Rios Park on Summer weekends with an actors group I co-founded called The Round-About-Players roundaboutplayers.com. But plays in "the public square" are not the same thing as a well-produced play in a theatre or performance venue. That will happen again and I will be the first announce where and when. They say that for every one comment made .. there were 100 more that meant to say something but never got around to it. That means I have my work cut out for me getting Melodramas out there again to make a lot more childhoods into brighter ones. I remember fondly the row of little children in the front of the Playhouse patiently waiting their oppoutunity to pelt me with those foam rocks I hand-crafted to be non-aerodynamic.
The old saying is that "even if you are the best tasting juciest plumpist freshesest peach ... there are still people who just don't like peaches" ... but for every one person that hates peaches there are 100 that love peaches. Thanks for loving Melodrama.