Children's theater, open mic, improv comedy and concerts are planned at Majestic.
Danny Eaton, producing director at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield.
West Springfield’s Majestic Theater has another busy summer season planned, with a variety of theatrical and musical performances scheduled for both children and adults.
Originally a movie house, the Majestic has offered local professional theater for 16 years. Over the past several years, several new forms of entertainment have been added, with summer being jam packed with activities.
“Summer is our busiest time of year,” said Producing Director Danny Eaton. “We have something going on seven days a week.”
One popular offering is the children’s theater program. Children’s theater performances take place Sunday through Wednesday, with morning, early afternoon and early evening performances to meet various schedules. This year, performances include “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and “Tiny Thumbelina.” The shows will have performances for one week, and then will repeat themselves for a second week after all three shows have had their runs.
“We put together a company of high school and some first-year college actors and there’s a core group of six or seven of them that perform in all of the shows,” Eaton said. “It’s great training and discipline for them.”
The plays are geared towards younger children, about ages 6 to10.
“We pick plays that have pretty identifiable titles and find adaptations of them,” Eaton said. “In some of the performances, the audience gets involved, and we’ll get some of them up on the stage.”
At the end of each performance, the actors all dash out of the theater into the café in front and the kids line up for autographs and photos of the actors.
The kids truly get into the performances, Eaton said.
“We’re doing ‘Alice in Wonderland’ this year, so there will probably be some kids that come in a costume related to Alice in Wonderland,” he said. “We did ‘The Princess and the Pea,’ and we had a lot of princesses at those performances!”
Eaton said the children’s theater program has grown in popularity.
“There was a demand for it,” he said. “People were asking us to produce plays for kids and we’re sort of always looking to the future; we’re trying to build future audiences down the road.”
In addition to children’s theater, the Majestic has an “Open Mic” night on Tuesdays in the summer. Ten performers compete for cash. It’s not just poetry reading or comedy acts, either.
“We’ve had songwriters, we’ve had dancers, we’ve had poets, we’ve had magicians,” Eaton said. “We had a kid who’s a nationally recognized yo-yo champion. Pretty much anything goes. Sometimes it’s really bad and sometimes it’s really good.”
The audience votes, and there are secret judges as well. The top three places walk away with cash.
Eaton said it’s fun for both the performers and the audience.
“A ticket is $5 to come to Open Mic night, so it’s a great night out and incredibly affordable,” he said.
On Wednesday nights, a company troupe called the Majesters performs improvisational comedy. The group takes suggestions from the audience for various scenarios and acts them out.
“It’s a lot of fun, with a lot of audience participation,” Eaton said.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights are reserved for concerts at the Majestic. Typically rock concerts or tribute shows, they include acts such as Johnny Cash, Elvis, Neil Diamond and Elvis songs. Many are repeat acts who ask to come back.
“They’re in a real theater environment, as opposed to a bar or a club, so it’s a little different experience altogether for them,” Eaton said. “And it’s a different experience for the audience.”
Concert tickets typically range from $16 to $25.
For a complete schedule or ticket information, visit www.majestictheater.com or call 413-747-7797.