LIVE THEATER AND MUSICAL
PRODUCTIONS AROUND EASTERN OREGON
3
CURTAIN CALL
AUGUST 25�SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
‘The Ballad of Black Bart’
Catch the comedy Saturdays in Pendleton
By Jennifer Colton
Go! Magazine
P
ENDLETON — The masked
bandit Black Bart has been
terrorizing downtown Pendleton
all summer, and there are only
a few weeks left to see how the
Clarence Knob Traveling The-
ater Company brings him down
in “The Ballad of Black Bart (or
Ladies Get the Last Word).”
The free comedy Wild West
Show almost didn’t happen
this year, and it would not have
happened if Margaret Mayer, de-
partment director for fi ne arts at
Blue Mountain Community Col-
lege, hadn’t planned, written the
script and had a cast on board in
less than a week.
When Mayer was contacted
about a 15-minute show for
Pendleton’s Wild West Week-
ends, organizers were only days
away from the fi rst Saturday
Western
Feed,
LLC
Pendleton, OR 97801
(503) 317-3145
Jennifer Colton/Go! Magazine
The narrator (Chris Dennett, right) introduces Sheriff Buck (Terry Hale, left)
while Margaret Mayer plays the accordion in this summer’s Western comedy
“The Ballad of Black Bart” in downtown Pendleton.
event. Even with the tight dead-
line, she agreed to try.
“It had been too long since
we’d done anything with live the-
ater,” she said. “I called Doreen
(Matteson), and she was crazy
enough to agree to it. I called
Terry (Hale), and he was in. We
put the cast together, and we
wrote it.”
The cast agreed on Thursday.
Mayer worked with her longtime
collaborator Marcia Brown on
the plot and wrote the script on
Saturday. She sent the script
to Hale on Sunday, and the
fi rst rehearsal was on Monday.
Wednesday morning, the cast
presented it to the Pendleton
Chamber, and Black Bart was a
go.
The fi nal show brings togeth-
er a small but talented cast, in-
cluding Hale, Elgin Opera House
artistic director, as Buck, the
local sheriff , and Matteson, the
treasurer of College Community
Theater, as Loretta, the owner of
the local saloon. Mayer handles
musical accompaniment as the
accordion player, and actor Chris
Dennett serves as both the
narrator and Black Bart himself.
To fi nd out who plays the new
singer at Loretta’s saloon, Miss
Fancy, you’d have to see the play
in person.
The family-friendly show is
part comedy, part musical and
part spaghetti Western.
“Everything has been so
down and dark that I just wanted
to do something funny — some-
thing that was uplifting and
would make everyone laugh
and forget about their troubles,”
Mayer said.
Judging from the response
of audiences so far, Mayer has
met that goal — even with the
tribulations of street theater. The
actors have had to improvise
around loud traffi c, trains, wind
and people walking through the
set in the middle of the show.
Hale said when they agreed, they
weren’t sure what to expect.
“THE BALLAD OF
BLACK BART (OR
LADIES GET THE
LAST WORD)”
4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturdays
through Sept. 4
Main Street, Pendleton
Free
“We were rehearsing and
imagining us being out and
performing with no audience or
having one person walk by and
sit down,” he said. “It’s been a
pleasant surprise to have so
many people. We’ve had some
great audiences.”
The cast said audiences
should plan to laugh and be part
of the show — from their seats.
“When people come out, they
should know they’re invited to
be a part of the show, and that
it will bring a smile to their face,”
Matteson said. “After months
and months of isolation, it is so
nice to see everyone out enjoy-
ing themselves.”
“The Ballad of Black Bart (or
Ladies Get the Last Word)” goes
on at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Satur-
days on Main Street in Pendle-
ton. The show will run through
Sept. 4.
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