Dr. Charles Smith, Patrice LaBlanc. Nederland. The Premiere of “Call Me Ned” took place at the Backdoor Theater located in the Nederland Community Center at 11 a.m. on March 9, 2019.

The one-act musical is part of Nederland’s Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival. Trygve Bauge, grandson of Bredo’s Morstoel (The Dead Guy), calls the festival “Cryonic’s Mardi Gras”.

In the spirit of the festival, and following a remark made by Peak to Peak Player’s Board Member Jacquelyn O’Brien, “Wouldn’t it be fun to do a musical for FDGD! Ed Schoenradt and Patrice LaBlanc came up with a crazy premise for a musical. What would happen if the frozen dead guy was accidentally thawed out and came back to life during the festival? What resulted is a comedic production where Grandpa has a tough time convincing any of the citizens of Nederland that he is the real Grandpa Bredo. Once the music was birthed, it took a week to complete the project. The cast was selected, rehearsals began, and the production ran for three performances.

The nine-member ensemble cast entertained the full house at the 11 a.m. premiere. The 45-minute script and music flowed smoothly, lines were crisp and clear, and the players were accompanied by an excellent three-member band. The toe tapping musical score was infectious with the audience applauding with enthusiasm at the conclusion of each number. A visual highlight of the show was the entrance of Bredo - portrayed by Chuck Roberts, appearing from the Tuff Shed. The audience participation was set up just before the curtain by Director Ed Schoenradt with instructions and participation cues. The wonderful interaction that followed every time Grandpa and Tuff Shed were spoken, kept the pace moving forward and added to the overall comedy of the production. The script was very witty and the music melodic and high spirited. Bredo’s last ballad was lovely and empathetic. This production was excellent! Those who choose to attend (avoiding the wind was great motivation) witnessed something unique and special. Unique and special certainly describes the entire FDGD weekend. The good news is that the production did not interfere with the Icy Turkey Bowling!

The characters in the script are fictitious but the history of FDGD is well documented. The songs are fun and memorable, including The Legend of Grandpa Bredo, Frozen Dead Guy Days, I Have One Job, I am Not from Here, and What Now. many of the mainstay businesses are highlighted in the play and glory was given to Tuff Shed, who donated a shed for the production.

The audience was also part of the action. As in melodrama, the audience reacted every time a certain line was spoken and joined in with the response. For example, every time the name Grandpa was spoken, the audience asked, “Grandpa Who?” and every time the name Tuff Shed was pronounced, a music chord signaled the audience to sing “Tuff Shed.” The interaction became more hilarious as a running gag as the play went along.

Ed and Patrice are no strangers to writing musicals together. They started writing their first musical, Prohibition, on their very first date. They created L and M Productions for their original works. They collaborated on the songs for the published musical Princess in My Head and have begun a new project of creating mini-melodramas titled Legends of Central City about historic figures from the past. Ed is the mastermind of the works and comes up with the vision of the play and drafts the plot and scenes. He also writes the lyrics for most of the songs. Patrice writes the dialogue in the script and composes the music. Each brings their expertise and creative insight.

Peak to Peak Players is fast developing into the type of community theatre that not only grants area talent a venue to perform but is developing into a strong regional performance company as well. Peak to Peak will open Shakespeare’s masterpiece Romeo and Juliet at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder on May 23-25, and May 31 - June 2, 2019. Following that initial run in Boulder, the production will move to the Gilpin County School on June 8 and the Backdoor Theatre on June 9, 2019. Shrek the Musical is slated for the end of July and the summer theatre camp will present Alice In Wonderland and The Greek Mythology Olympiaganz in July.

Come join the company as a volunteer, actor and more. Information can be found at peaktopeakplayers.com.

(Originally published in the March 14, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)