There is a creative musical theatre team in our midst! L and M Productions collaborative artists are Patrice LeBlanc and Ed Schoenradt. This team has brought another wonderful production to our Gilpin County community. The musical Prohibition was presented on Saturday evening, June 12, 2021, at the Teller House Gardens to a full audience. The evening’s weather was spectacular and the performers matched every moment with sparkling, singing and acting.

Prohibition proved to be another wonderful event. Having refreshments with host JKQ BBQ is always a delight.

Prohibition has been in the works for over two years. Actually, the seeds of the show started being developed on the couples first date a number of years ago. The interruption of Covid shut down the original opening date for over a year.

You might know the creative team’s first offering in our community. Their Call Me Ned production has been mounted over three times. It originally appeared a couple of summers back in Nederland as a featured event for Frozen Dead Guy Days.

This production is a work in progress. Set in the late 1920s in a Colorado town the action centers on the local “Liquorish Parlor” and the attempts to serve alcohol during the 1920s American prohibition.

The 18 member cast, accompanied by a four-member orchestra was energetic, and the electronic amplification allowed everyone in the audience to be able to listen to the drama unfold.

The two-act musical flowed smoothly from scene to scene.

The cast was headed by Michael Amory who sang the role of Jax. He is a gifted singer and actor. Complementing him was Doug Fisichella, who has become a local favorite singer, actor, and musician, as J.T., the Liquorish parlor owner, and Isabella Stockham, an excellent young talent, the young local who wants to become a star.

Enjoying musical theater in nature Above; Court scene with the song That’s What the Law Says. Right; Musical Director, Patrice Leblanc, leading the music for the performance.[/caption]

They are supported by a wide variety of other town characters, and the complement of young girls provided excellent singing, dance numbers, and visual delights.

Patrice is a superb musician and her wonderful melodies are tuneful, crowd pleasing, and effective. The lyrics flow and the drama is well crafted.

The opening second half “Hard Times Are Here”, a result of the stock market crash of 1929, was truly effective. Led by Doug’s tenor voice soaring above the ensemble, it was one of the many highlights of the evening.

This evening’s musical, as I mentioned, is a work in progress. This was a workshop presentation and the creators passed out a feedback survey to the audience. As with many large original musicals, it is important to comment on simply what was effective, what didn’t seem to work, and thoughts about your overall experience.

This feedback, and the audience reactions, are very important in taking the dialogue to the next level.

I look forward to more performances of Prohibition as it develops and becomes fine tuned.

Please support this creative team.

Visit the website at https://www.patreon.com/LMproductions for more information.