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Musical patrons clamored for a follow-up to the Iberia Performing Arts League’s original “Remember When,” so a sequel, featuring an updated score and familiar characters pit against authority, is what they get.
IPAL presents “Remember When Again,” written by James Wyche and featuring 23 60s-era songs, this month.
The original 2010 IPAL performance was set in mythical “New Berry,” where Gary, owner of a soda shop called “Ye Olde Malt Shoppe,” is reunited with his long-lost high-school love Molly, with whom he plans to live happily ever after.
“It was a total smash hit,” Director Donald “Doc” Voorhies says. “All of the performances were sold out. The cast said that they had so much fun, we should do it again. So this time, instead of 50s music, we are doing 60s.”
Michael Parich leads a nine-member live band called The Berry Classics, which performs the 23 songs in the sequel, including familiar tunes like “Blue Moon,” “Stop in the Name of Love,” “Love Me Tender,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Sounds of Silence,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Think,” “Sugar Shack” and “Do You Wanna Dance.”
Familiar characters reprising their roles include the playwright James Wyche as Gary, Shelley Hebert as Molly, Lynn Derouen as Dave, Donna Berard as Samantha, Lanie Marcantel as Connie and several others.
“Remember When Again” picks up in the same soda shop in the late 60’s, as the group of patrons reminisces about the good ol’ days.
“Gary is facing extreme conflict in this one, and Molly, who is now his wife, is trying to calm him down,” Voorhies says. “Then there’s Samantha and Dave, the comic pair with a really relaxed husband who doesn’t care about much and a wife who is very prissy and proper.”
Samantha, played by Donna Berard, is the neat freak, exactly opposite of Dave, which creates a bi-polar dynamic for the loveable odd couple.
“Samantha is just always put together,” Berard says. “She and Dave have been married for a very long time, so they can tell each other anything and laugh about it.”
The patrons decide to hold a “Hootenanny,” but when the mayor arrives, he announces that the soda shop and old courthouse will be torn down to put up a parking lot. This event and setting are part of New Iberia’s history.
The Hootenanny proceeds, but at the end of it the mayor returns, and after a confrontation, has Gary and several others arrested.
With Gary, Molly and a few others in jail, the group decides to organize a street protest. The protest includes a group of hippies, and when the mayor learns about it the entire group is arrested.
The characters are then forced to strike a compromise in order to prevent their paradise from becoming a parking lot. With the right cooperation, perhaps a new romance can blossom.
Voorhies explains that seeing the original show come alive through the actors has been the most exciting part.
“When you get a license for a Broadway show, you have to do it as written,” Voorhies explains. “When it is an original show, people in the cast can come up with their own ideas. The show is alive and growing. The most exciting thing is what the cast members come up with and the audience can sense the commitment and involvement of the cast.”
“James left a lot open in the characters which left a lot for us to be able to create,” Berard says. “As we worked together on our characters, they were able to grow.”
There are 51 cast members whose ages range from 15 to 75, along with 20 technical and crew workers.
“Remember When” was James Wyche’s first original play. The show was well-received, and patrons began requesting a sequel.
“I am just one minor talent in a large group of major talents,” Wyche says. “I have enjoyed writing the show a great deal, and I’ve enjoyed putting myself into the words. Watching this thing come to life is kind of like giving birth, but not quite as painful.”
The play runs from Aug. 16-26 at Essannee Theater, 126 Iberia St., New Iberia. Tickets cost $20 and can be reserved through email at ipal@cox.net or over the phone at (337) 364-6114.
The cast of Iberia Performing Arts League’s “Remember When Again,” a sequel to the popular original musical “Remember When Again,” rehearses in anticipation of the show’s Aug. 16 premiere. James Wyche penned the sequel and original.
