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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels August 21, 2004 Seeing the light on 'dark' Mondays For visiting theatergoers, the moniker "Dark Monday" sounds ominous. But relax, dramatic escape is to be found in Ashland. According to telecommunications surveys and general wisdom, Monday is the least popular day of the week, often reserved for mundane. Many fine-dining restaurants don't bother to open, and most theaters such as The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland's main tourist draw, traditionally use Monday as a day off for employees. But while the three OSF theater's may, in fact, be dark, their are plenty of other theater companies taking the stage. Smaller theaters in town include Monday in their weekend run, hoping to catch tourists, residents and overworked OSF employees in the mood for a play. "When OSF is closed, a lot of tourists are looking for something to do," said Nicole Spectators watch preparations at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, when regular performances and the Green Show are suspended for "Dark Monday's." Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Isaacson-Hill, artistic co-director of Artattack, which started Monday night runs about six months ago, "It turned out to be remarkably successful." The musical dinner theater Oregon Cabaret reports that often Monday is a sell-out night. "A lot of people don't realize we are open then," said staff member Nichole Whippel, but when a show is a hit like their current "4 Guys Named Jose," Monday night demand can outpace availability. In truth, Monday night theater is nothing new; in 1736 an advertisement ran in the Virginia Gazette announcing a Monday night play at the William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Va. "Up into the 1900s even, theaters were dark on Sundays, when it was thought that such revelries weren't allowed on the Sabbath," said Donn B. Murphy, president and executive director of the National Theater in Washington, D.C. In Murphy's experience, theaters can sell any number of tickets for a weekend night, but weekdays are more challenging. Thus, matinees on weekends, which can sometimes add up to five shows in three nights for the actors, and the show will only go on if the actors get a night off. For the smaller venues, Monday is just another night at the theater, contends Peter Alzado, artistic director of the non-profit professional theater Oregon Stage Works, currently showing "Lobby Hero." Former artistic-director or Actors' Theatre, now Camelot Theatre, Alzado said he offered Monday night theater there for five years with success. "It is a summer schedule giving locals and tourists options when the (Oregon Shakespeare) Festival is closed," Alzado said. Camelot's "Zorba," which has packed the Talent theater even on Monday nights during its wildly successful run, ends this weekend. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams