MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff Writer
Bird-in-Hand Stage will face some logistical challenges as it opens its musical “The Confession” in its temporary digs at the former Revere Tavern in Paradise, while the theater and restaurant building on Old Philadelphia Pike is being repaired after a fire.
The dinner theater is moving to the tavern building while its regular space at the Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant & Smorgasbord on Old Philadelphia Pike, is being rebuilt after a Jan. 30 fire.
But the challenges of the temporary move are nothing the team can’t handle, says Melissa Brown, Bird-in-Hand stage manager.
“At this point, the plan is to be at Revere until at least June,” Brown says. “Everything that’s gone into moving over there, so far, we prefer to see it as a challenge rather than a problem.
“The size will actually be about the same for the theater,” Brown says. “We have the same number of seats (145) and a very similar layout.
“One of the challenges that came with that is that we still have to completely redesign our seating chart,” Brown says. “Usually we have everyone greeted individually and we walk them to their seats,” which won’t be possible at the Revere.
"The Confession," a show produced by Blue Gate Musicals for Bird-in-Hand Stage, will open in April and be presented at least through June in the dinner theater's temporary home, the former Revere Tavern in Paradise.
Plus, there are different levels of seating in the Bird-in-Hand venue. At the Revere, however, “they’re all going to be on the same level, but the stage will be higher. So the audience, instead of looking down on the stage, will be looking up at it.
“The stage is actually carpet rather than a wood floor like most stages,” Brown says. “That’s one of the curve balls we’re working with. It’s a little tricky to move sets around when they’re on wheels and you’re trying to wheel it through carpet.”
In addition, she says, “we’re losing about 4 feet of width on the stage, so it’s a little bit smaller than ours at Bird-in-Hand, and our wing space is significantly smaller. So we’ve had to redesign our set completely. And some of the blocking ... will have to change, as well.”
“The Confession” director Monica DePaul adds that “we don’t have a lot of backstage space at the Revere Tavern,” so that prevents the show’s creative team from using the backdrops and flats they would normally use to suggest the interiors of buildings.
Brown says the menu at the Revere will be the same as that at Bird-in-Hand.
”It’s three separate rooms rather than one large room, but the food will be the same,” Brown says. “We’re keeping a very very similar menu to our traditional menu.”
The Revere Tavern building “has so much history to it, just like ours does,” she says. “We think our guests will really like the historic feel of the tavern, and I think it will help elevate the theme of the show as well, having them sitting in a historic building.”
Brown says the owners of the Revere Tavern building had first offered the building to the Bird-in-Hand staff after an unrelated Dec. 18 explosion that damaged part of the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn.
“They reached out again after (the fire) to offer the space again,” Brown says.
“I’m just grateful that we have that space and people can stay employed,” DePaul says. “It’s a real blessing to find someplace that’s just sitting there, waiting to be inhabited.”
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