All that Glitters just Might Be Gold
Sandbox Radio, on Monday night, in the basement of Town Hall, delivered an evening not just of glitter but of sheer 100% golden entertainment with their new show, Gold Rush. Like gold, live radio is difficult to find, difficult to refine, conducts electricity, but also has a softness to it. Sandbox’s new show created an electrifying effect on the audience, as the audience actually participates in creating the show. Hosted by Leslie Law, one of the producers, Gold Rush had several sketches, the best of which were spoofs about the foibles of Seattleites, hilarious PSA’s, music composed by Jose “Juicy” Gonzales and a few monologues.
Starting off with My Cousin Katie, played by Annette Toutonghi, a naïve “country cousin” from Alaska, who comes to Seattle to be introduced to the marijuana shop keepers, who name their “bud” outrageous names just to be hip marketers.
Written by Elizabeth Heffron, Lucy in the Sky, performed by the producers, Leslie Law and Richard Ziman, brought the house down, as it was a spoof of the Seattle real-estate/construction boom, Seattle liberalism, sexual mores as well as Gilbert and Sullivan. Don’t ask me how such a talented playwright managed to synthesize all those things together, just listen to the wacky podcast yourself. And be prepared to laugh. It was brilliantly scripted, performed, and the orchestra more than did justice to the score. Lucy in the Sky could become a huge hit!!!!!!
Another stand-out was Seattle’s own Peggy Platt, a veteran stand-up and Sketch Comedy performer, who delivered a monologue called Plattitudes, ( get it!) a very funny and sad recounting of life as a middle-aged performer, who can no longer stand working as a stand-up in bars because of the noise, the food and the drunks, and the drunks and the drunks, and is forced to find a “day-job” for the first time in her life.
The show ended with Doc and Mercer’s Mostly True History of Seattle: Episode 1-A Rush to Disgruntlement by Wayne Rawley, a Sci-Fi spoof about time-travelling through the history of Seattle. They move back and forth between 1890’s, the 1990’s, 2035 and 2050, grumbling about the usual suspects: development, traffic, getting old and thereby being forced to move on from the Seattle 1990’s grunge scene etc. etc.
All in all, it was a wonderful, wonderful show, and not just because of what was happening on stage, part of the charm was being in the audience and helping to create the show. As M.C., Leslie Law has a warm connection with the audience. There is nothing better in life than sitting and laughing with a lot of strangers, and you can’t beat humor that pokes fun at ourselves.
I heartily recommend the next two shows. To listen to Gold Rush, go to www.SandboxRadio.org and download the podcast. There is also information about live broadcasts on KUOW and other radio shows
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