Overdoing It

The play that was performed on the stage of Hutchinson over the weekend could accurately be accused of overacting, cheesy dialogue, slapstick humor, and two-dimensional characters. But then that was the whole point.

For the second year in a row, the Tampa Bay FC Booster Club recruited Florida College alumni, faculty, and staff members to put on a classic melodrama as a fundraiser. The response last year was so positive that it became apparent to club leaders that they had a good thing on their hands.

“Curse You, Otis Crummy! (Or A Rip in Old Calico)” told the story of Otis Crummy, a nasty criminal preying upon the inhabitants of an old California town, using a house full of thieves masquerading as homeless orphans. An undercover newspaper man outs Crummy, falls in love with a pathetic orphan girl, and restores justice to the town.

The title character was played to hand-wringing perfection by music professor Benjamin Payne ’99. Big Slim, the hero, was handled with all the appropriate bravado by Marty Findley ’00, while his slightly vacuous leading lady was played by the always entertaining Miranda (Wilemon) Nerland ’00.

“Melodrama provides an opportunity to add our own sense of humor,” Payne said. “It’s two-dimensional enough to flesh out with things we think are funny.” The genre is typically clean, with straightforward good versus evil morality. Payne also attributes their popularity to the humor in seeing familiar faces–especially faculty members–in completely new roles.

“And I like to wear a cape,” Payne added. “A really cool cape.”