At first glance, a show performed over the Halloween weekend with a title of The Best Haunted House Ever, you could be forgiven if you thought the show would be scary and inappropriate for children. The Best Haunted House Ever is actually more a comedy than a thriller, although there were quite a few surprises scattered throughout the show.

The Best Haunted House Ever features a spooky old house where a former teacher did experiments on students, two different groups of high school students who each think the house is a great place for a haunted house fundraiser, and enough other surprises to make you wonder if the house really is haunted.

The set was designed by Michael C. Null, and featured several doors, a window, and a hidden entrance. As seems to happen at this theater, the stage was far too large. The only set pieces were a sofa and a chair, so the cast had to do a lot of walking as they tried to figure out what was happening in the house. That also affected the energy and timing of the show, as frequently one group was sneaking out a doorway at the same moment some other group was sneaking in. There was a very funny bit involving a skeleton in the room, including a very well done surprise special effect.

The student roles themselves were fine, with most of the funniest lines being given to the boys. The adult roles (the policeman and the professor) were handled by students, and other than some crazy overacting to the fear, they were believable. A running gag involved someone seeing something that no one else could, and the ones who couldn’t see the “ghost” did very well in not letting their eyes follow the “ghost” around the room.

There were a few surprises that might scare the very young, but overall this is much more a comedy than a thriller. Go and enjoy yourself.

Program Notes

Welcome to a new season with Encore Stage & Studio! Thank you for choosing to spend an afternoon or evening with our Encore’s young actors and backstage Crew. The Best Haunted House Ever is a great comic showcase for these talented local kids, and we invite you to get into the “spirit” and scream along if you like!

Speaking of houses, Encore stage and studio has anew business address: the Artsphere, Arlington’s exciting new cultural center in Rosslyn. Our new Executive Director Sara Strehle Duke has a desk there on the upper level, along with five or six other art organizations. Stop by and say hello the next time you’re walking through: it is an inspiring , beautiful space for arts of all kinds. Encore’s performances will continue to be in the Thomas Jefferson Theatre, though: TJ remains our theatrical home.

We want to give a shout-out to the students of two of Encore’s summer programs, Stage Door and Teens & Tweens, who are having a reunion at The Best Haunted House Ever on November 6. And our heartiest applause goes to the T-shirt Award Winners, a group of Encore participants who helped raise money during Encore’s second annual fundraiser last spring. These kids created web pages and asked their friends and relatives for donations. THANK YOU for all your help in making Encore’s programs stronger.

Thanks for your patience as we upgraded to our brand new ticketing system! Now you can purchase your tickets online, select your own seats, print your own tickets, and make exchanges, all with the convenience of a credit card! With our new system, both online and at the box office, we hope to provide you and your family with the outstanding customer service you’ve come to expect from Encore Stage & Studio. Visit our website, www.encorestage.org, and give it a try!

Photo Gallery

Bobby Trono and Sean Gilley	Thomas Kelty and Harrison Curtis

Photos by Larry McClemons.

Disclaimer: Encore Stage (The Children’s Theatre) provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review. Also, for only the second time in over 500 shows reviewed, we arrived late to the theater. We spoke with the director (Frank Pasqualino) afterwards, and he said that it was fine with him if we still published our thoughts about the show.

This is the Show Biz Radio Review of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, performed by The Children’s Theatre, a division of Encore Stage and Studio, in Arlington, Virginia. We saw the performance on Saturday afternoon, November 15, 2008.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a play with book by Vera Morris. Adapted from Washington Irving’s spooky story, this show is alive with hilarious action and fun. It begins when schoolmaster Ichabod Crane moves to the farming community of Sleepy Hollow, and ends with the question of what happened to Ichabod?

This could have been a scary show. Yet there was enough levity from the script and the actors that the audience of all ages really seemed to enjoy it. There was only one wail of protest heard at the beginning of the second act, but there was a lot of laughing throughout most of the show. Some scenes were dwarfed by the size of the stage. In the town scene, the townspeople all seemed to be on one side of the stage. When Farmer Stuyvesant went to see if Ichabod Crane had arrived he had a lot of walking to do to exit the stage. The schoolroom scene also seemed like there was a lot of unused space.

This was a large cast of twenty four. Ichabod Crane gave a fine performance. He had those quirky mannerisms of always being hungry and flaunting his education, but there was also a darker side to him. As the evening wore on you felt that he was after power and money and would use anything to get it. The object of his affection was the fair Katrina. She was a good match for Ichabod as she, too had a darker side. She was a bit of a flirt and seemed to enjoy leading on both Ichabod and Brom Bones. Brom Bones was an expressive ruffian who loved Katrina and was insanely jealous of Schoolmaster Crane.

The supporting cast also kept in character well and seemed intent on thestory. The ghostly visitors did just as well in keeping their zombie like voices and characteristics believable throughout the performance. The audience appreciated the efforts of the ghosts as they taunted Ichabod.

The sets for the production were well done. The wall of the household during the dinner party was very creative, but we don’t want to spoil the surprise for you. At several points throughout the show the ghosts emerged and gathered around the actors. The actors did a great job of ignoring the spirits and went right on with their lines. The Set Designer was also the show’s director Susan Alison Keady. This is a family friendly show that everyone will like. It is more spooky than scary, but definitely has plenty of lighter moments.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ran about an hour and 45 minutes with one intermission. It is playing for one more weekend. Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 3 and 7:30 and Sunday matinee at 3:00 pm at the Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.

Once you’ve seen the show, please feel free to leave a comment here on our website at Show Biz Radio.net. We’d also like to invite you to join our free mailing list so you can stay informed with theater events in the DC Region.

And now, on with the show.