Desperate Housewares Debuts to a full house

Last night was the debut of the brand new sketch comedy show "Desperate Housewares, or the Dish ran away with the Spoon" presented by none other than the Cellar Dwellers. The show is the follow-up to our acclaimed "Prostate of the Union" show that debuted earlier this year.

The first performance of our show was up north in Franklin, PA. Franklin is a small, beautiful town just past Grove City but not quite in Erie. It's filled with Victorian buildings small shops, untouched by the massive shopping centers dotting America's landscapes. And in this town in the Barrow-Civic Theater, a massive, restored movie theater-turned performance space. Well we performed in the Barrow-Little Theater, the small cabaret next door. We had been to this theater just once before, almost a year earlier, to perform "Sam Spade or Neutered" and haven't been back since. But much to our surprise, word spread around the town, and we opened the show tonight to a full house.

The Barrow-Little Theater, chock-full of theater-goers!

I had never been to Franklin before (I was on vacation during that show) and honestly wasn't expecting that big of a turnout. I mean, it's not often that you book a show 90 minutes away, in a town that's never heard of you before, and you almost sell out the entire venue. But a week earlier Joe and Larry had traveled up north to hang flyers and talk to the locals. When we got up there, I was happy to see our flyers in almost every window of every business in town.

Joe leads the pack in ordering some Subway sandwiches.

Unlike performing in Beaver County, where we struggle at times to convince people we are more rewarding than a high school football game, the people of Franklin were happy to have us. I was taken aback when the majority of our audience showed up at 7:30, a whole half hour before the show starts! Back home the majority of our audience doesn't walk in until five after eight!

The show itself was most excellent. This crowd was really into it, which really helped us up the energy level even more than normal. The best part of the night for me was mingling afterwards. As everyone was exiting the theater, they were thanking me for coming. Of course all I could do was in turn thank them for coming. We were all very grateful for each other showing up. The owner of the theater told us afterwards how much people expressed their enjoyment of the show. We are scheduled to return to Franklin for our next new sketch show (which debuts at the end of July).

Now for those of you at home wondering when you can see "Desperate Housewares," fear not. This Franklin show is only the beginning of a string of four grande performances. The next two being back to back in Beaver County (Friday, May 27 at CCBC and Saturday, May 28th at Geneva College). More info is on the way.