Main St. 56 Theater

Cast members and leaders of Batavia Players' Summer Youth Theater want you to grab a seat for their production of “Cry Baby, The Musical,” this weekend, and the only question is: just where will that seat be?

Director Patrick Burk has been teasing the community’s curiosity with the debut of this show, via the sign outside of City Centre and an online post about the long-awaited opening of the new Main St. 56 Theater. 

"We have done a great job, thanks to our community, raising needed funds for seating so that we could open the theater for our summer program.  We still have a lot of work to do to complete the overall project.  We are at approximately $41,000 of our $265,000 goal," Burk said Wednesday. "It is our hope that the community will continually support this fundraising effort so that we can complete the project by the New Year."

Even by Burk’s own recounting of the process, it’s been a long, arduous journey of paperwork, grant applications, construction details, COVID delays, increased labor and raw material costs, and, most importantly — fundraising, fundraising, fundraising. 

"Much of the funds we raised paid for rent, interest, insurance and utilities while the project was on hold during Covid.  Now, we have to raise all that funding again to finish the project. We have had a huge outpouring of donated materials and sweat equity from a number of individuals and local companies. More is needed," he said. "It is our hope that the community will look at this beautiful facility and donate to make it happen."

In May, Burk was at best hopeful for a September splash of the new downtown theater at Batavia City Centre. Batavia Players ramped up a “Be My Guest” campaign seeking donations of any amount to help pay for theater amenities, such as that seat you’re going to hunker down in to watch this musical billed as a rebellious teen comedy based on the 1990 film “Cry-Baby.”

"We are very excited to be opening this weekend with the cult classic 'Cry Baby' and present to the community this highly entertaining and fantastic production," Burk said.  "Our cast is amazing."

Based in 1954, when everyone likes Ike, nobody likes communism, and Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker is the coolest boy in Baltimore, this show features a bad boy with a good cause: truth, justice and the pursuit of rock and roll. 

Wade and the square rich girl, Allison, are star-crossed lovers at the center of this world, with plenty of detractors and distractions to get in the way for a fun plot. Or, as the show’s website states: It's Romeo and Juliet meets High School Hellcats.

“Filled with unforgettable songs and a truly unique and fresh story, Cry-Baby is a perfect choice for any theatre looking to add a-rockin' good time to their season,” the site states. “Cry-Baby, Allison and Baltimore's energetic juvenile delinquents will dance their way right into your audience's heart!”

Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday at 56 Main St., Batavia. 

Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for students and seniors. Go HERE to purchase. 

It won’t matter if your back is turned when a loud, boisterous character bounds onto the scene of Batavia Players’ weekend show “The Drowsy Chaperone.” You’ll know who it is each and every time without looking because Adolpho, aka Qasim Huzair, enjoys the spotlight and wants to make sure his audience equally enjoys his enthusiasm.

“I actually feed off of people that are sitting right in front of me. That boosts me as an actor because I can play off of them more because when I'm this close to an audience, I tend to involve the audience so much more. And it doesn't make me uncomfortable like it would with some other actors. I really like it, actually, being able to look directly at audience members and make them feel uncomfortable,” the 19-year-old actor said just before rehearsal Wednesday evening at Batavia City Centre. “I enjoy having an audience.”

Now don’t get all nervous about him staring you down. He means it in the nicest way. After all, comedy’s his thing, not intimidation. And playing the lovable paradoxical character of a dark-haired Latino who believes he can get any woman yet does “really stupid things” is an amusing part of Adolpho’s charm.

Why not see for yourself at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday or at 2 p.m. Sunday on the Batavia City Centre stage in downtown Batavia?

Ever since his first role as Uncle Fester in “The Addams Family,” Huzair — and his high school play director — knew he was headed for comedic acting. In fact, the director encouraged Huzair, a theater arts major at Genesee Community College, to pursue the funnier side of acting, which he has done ever since.

So with those two attributes going for him — a love of the spotlight and comedy — what else could he be pursuing?

“As far as an end goal, it would be really nice to get into maybe a TV show setting or film. Like as a stable job through a TV show,” he said. “Of course, I would also love to be in professional stage casts, I like all sorts of acting, straight play acting, musical acting, film acting, whatever gets my foot through the door. I’ve just got to stick with it.”

After GCC, he’ll be applying to several four-year colleges for a bachelor’s in fine arts and a minor in music education. The minor is for his Plan B to be a music teacher, though with a strategy to go on multiple auditions in New York City a year from now, it kind of sounds as if Plan B has been stored away for a while.

“Of course, when you first start out, you can't get an agent. But I'm hoping with exposure and going to a four-year college, a lot of four years theater schools offer the opportunity to perform and have a showcase in front of an audience of agents,” he said. “I’m hoping that I can get an agent from one of those opportunities.”

To boost his backup plan, he plays the sax.

A newcomer to Batavia Players, Huzair’s debut was for its last show and his first experience with being up close and very personal on stage with the cast and patrons. While such proximity has certainly unnerved actors a time or two, it fits Adolpho’s style and allows him to slide into the audience rather ceremoniously. He’s not one to tip-toe.

“He is very funny. That’s why I auditioned for him,” Huzair said. “He sings this one song, and it’s hilarious. I love making an audience laugh. When I play off an audience, it gives me more energy.”

Hence, the looking into people’s eyes up on stage thing. He’s unabashedly fearless to make that human connection. So what’s this young actor — who got so carried away as a kid that the director warned him to tone it down because he wasn’t supposed to be drawing all the attention away from the lead  — like off stage?

“When people get to know me, I’m very obnoxious. I’m always practicing my comedy on my family,” he said. “As a person, I’m always trying to make people laugh.”

Adolpho is the stereotypical Latin lover, he said, holding a "rose in his teeth very pompous" type of guy, yet is also very oblivious in that “he doesn’t get basic concepts.” Adolpho is convinced that he could get any woman that he wants, his alter-ego said.

“He's very confident,” Huzair said. “But what's the ironic part about it is his character is very stupid.”

Well-spoken and articulate, Huzair doesn’t exactly mirror that description. He described the show, which neither he nor fellow actor Jeriko Nemeth sitting nearby had ever seen before. 

A comical farce based in a man’s living room, the premise puts the audience in the room with the character aptly titled “man in chair.” He listens to a recording of a fictional 1928 comedy, and the characters begin to appear in his sad, dingy apartment, bringing to life his meager existence into an impressive Broadway performance.

Intriguing set-up, yes? Add to it glitzy costumes, sparkly furniture, painted backdrops, lively personalities — Broadway producer Feldzieg, flapper Kitty, aging hostess Mrs. Tottendale, two gangsters-in-hiding as pastry chefs, and Nemeth’s Amelia Earhart-like pilot character, to name just some of the living room troupe.

Equipment failures starts and stops that freeze the action, a plane trip, wedding plans for four couples, Janet, the alcoholic chaperone who talks of being drowsy (there’s your title), and a line-up of musical numbers that will move this production happily along to “Love is Always Lovely in the End.”

Nemeth, another GCC theater student who is pursuing a creative arts degree, auditioned for Trix the Aviatrix. She was drawn to the characteristics of Trix.

“She is the big black female role,” Nemeth, 18, said. “She always has a smile on her face. It’s definitely an acting job, I can’t relate to, being a pilot ... being in the sky and being in Rio. I’ve never been on a plane before.”

Nemeth has enjoyed being part of the show and a creative environment. Ever since she was a child, painting and drawing were her favorite activities, she said. Then came a fondness for acting, with her first role in “Mama Mia.”

“I ended up having this love for stepping out of my real life and going into something that I can at least forget about everything else for a good couple hours,” she said. “As my character of Trix, since she's a pilot, she has very heavy clothing. I do wear a leather jacket on stage as well as like a heavy cab, and it’s just so sweaty. But that's honestly, my only struggle with the character is just the heat. But you learn to get through it.”

While describing the show, Huzair paused to question why he or many others haven’t seen it before. It’s pretty darned funny.

“This show is short and sweet, not too long. It’s a short little time of fun,” he said. “Chock full of jokes and laughter, acting and singing, all those aspects are put together, it’s a very entertaining show. I don’t know why it’s not more well-known.”

Tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for students and seniors, and may be purchased at showtix4u.com.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Batavia Players premier A Cabaret Showcase: Opposites Attract at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Main St. 56 Theater in City Centre, Batavia.

The show is a smorgasbord of songs showcasing true opposites -- love and hate, dead and alive, in and out, big and small, and more.  All of the songs come from popular Broadway shows.

The show goes on again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. 

Tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for seniors and students.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Angelina Bubel, 12, from Caledonia, visits Santa at the "Our Hometown Christmas at Main St. 56 Theater" in Batavia City Centre on Friday evening.

The craft and vendor show continues today until 4 p.m.

Press release:

We're busy gearing up for our 2nd weekend of Our Hometown Christmas at Main St. 56 Theater in Batavia City Centre both Friday, December 10 from 4 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, December 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.! We'll have even MORE great crafters and vendors for your last-minute Christmas shopping: Crafts by Kellie, Tastefully Simple by Rebecca, Whimsy Christine Marie, Crazy Quilts, Chantel's Fun, and Fashionable $5 Jewelry, Build A Buddy, Wells Creations, EverPresent Church Raffle, Autumn's Dream, Cindy's Treasures, Carol's Custom Wreaths, Morning Mist Farms, Color Street by Sarah Wessel, Past, Present & Future Treasures, Laurie Chamberlain, Marlana's Chunky Corner, Serena's Crafts and From the Heart Crafts and Gift Shop, just to name a few!!! Santa will be here for more visits and photos from 5 to 8 p.m. on Dec 10, and Mrs. Claus will visit with us Saturday morning for Storytime from 10 a.m. to12:30 p.m.! Lots of great local entertainment both days as well. See you there!

From Main St. 56 Theater:

Main St. 56 Theater, home of the Batavia Players, will hold Summer Theater Camp 2021 in two sessions next month.

Workshops will include: theater background -- monologues; pantomime -- improvisation; dancing, singing, skits.

• For campers ages 5 to 8 (5-year-olds must have completed kindergarten), camp will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 19 to 23.
• For campers age 9 to 12, camp will run 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 26 to 30.

Tuition is $175 per camper.

Campers must provide their own lunches, snacks and beverages.

All COVID-19 regulations and guidelines will be followed.

Arrangements may be made ahead of time for early drop off and late pick up with an additional charge.

For more information or to register your camper, contact Kathy White at:   kathywhite5@verizon.net