Melodrama Hits Town Hall Boards

The Floozies Photo courtesy of Julian Chamber of Commerce

By Bobbi Zane

The Old Time Melodrama, a Julian tradition for nearly a half-century, hits the boards in October in Town Hall.

The hiss-the-villain, cheer-the-hero play, presented each fall by members of the Triangle Club, will be staged on weekends throughout the month in conjunction with Julian’s observance of the apple harvest.

This year’s production, “The Banner Bandit or Double Trouble was her Plight,” written by Iola Barbee and directed by Bobbi Green, is set in Julian. The plot centers on an orphan heroine traveling to Julian to join her generous uncle, who has agreed to take her in so she won’t have to work at Goldie’s Saloon. Along the way, just outside Julian, a bandit robs the stagecoach in which she is riding, setting up an intervention by the long arm of the law.

Before each performance, costumed members of the cast, known locally as the Floozies, warm up the audience with a community singalong or Oleos, old-time songs everybody knows.

The melodrama is a community effort that raises money for Triangle Club charities, including scholarships, support for community sports, drama and music programs, 4H activities and scouting programs. All participants are members of the community, including the writer and director, who each have been at it for more than three decades. The volunteer cast comes from all walks of life; several members of this year’s cast, as well as many of the singing Floozies, are still rebuilding after losing their homes in the Cedar fire in fall 2003.

As entertainment, the melodrama dates back to the mid-1800s, when argonauts worked in the mines of Northern California. It was a hard life, when several men shared 10-foot by 10-foot cabins for six or more months at a time. Their only entertainment was in the saloons, playing cards with a ratty old deck and over a shot of whiskey, lying to one another about past adventures. The big day came when a show came to town, a melodrama with a villain, a hero, and (rarest of all) women. The interactive fun involved singing, cheering, booing and hissing.

The Triangle Club began presenting a melodrama in Julian in 1956. Through the years, the Floozies have sported some pretty interesting costumes, starting with the black skirts, white Victorian blouses, lace-up boots and wide-brimmed hats they wear for the opening temperance number. By the end of the show, they are wearing saloon dresses with boas around their shoulders and feathers in their hair. But it’s their middle number that’s always a surprise. In the past, these respectable middle-aged mostly Reubenesque-figured ladies have dressed as fairies, chickens, cats, bees, little kids, teenagers and in bathing costumes of the period.

The melodrama is presented in Julian Town Hall every weekend in October, starting at 7:15 on Friday and Saturday nights, with 1:15 matinees on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Tickets are $8 for adults and $2 for children and are available at the Chamber of Commerce in Town Hall. For information, call (760) 765-1857.