DEBORA SHAULIS | On the Scene Top Hat revives 'Swing'

Dinner theater is just the beginning of what Top Hat Productions wants to accomplish.
Top Hat is reviving its musical review of 2003, "Irresistibly Swing," which will be performed Friday and Saturday and again Nov. 19 and 20 at the new Fairview Arts and Outreach Center, 4220 Youngstown-Poland Road, Poland (formerly Fairview Emmanuel Baptist Church). Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.
The waiters and waitresses also are the performers in this Big Band-era show. As the story goes, when musician Benny Goodman doesn't arrive as scheduled, it's up to the wait staff to fill in.
Top Hat Productions is a not-for-profit corporation. Its founder, Brian Palumbo, also owns Selah, a cafe with shops on South Main Street in the village.
Top Hat is working with Trumbull Baptist Association and Neighborhood Ministries to provide "complete dinner theater," Palumbo said. To further that goal, they are developing a technical theater program for youths, so that they can learn about lighting, sound, audio and video recording, set design and construction.
The groups also intend to start an educational program for young adults to learn the basics of food preparation and catering.
Top Hat is "the only dinner theater that's set up for dinner theater," Palumbo said. Other groups rent halls or hire caterers for their shows.
Christian slant
Another difference is that there is "definitely a Christian slant on all of our programming," Palumbo said. That doesn't mean Top Hat won't offer secular shows; it's already produced a version of the musical "Smokey Joe's Cafe."
"As far as the educational process and our underlying beliefs, it's a Christian-based facility," he said.
So far, Top Hat is relying on collaboration to get the job done.
The former church was turned into a theater with the help of volunteers and private donations. Walls were knocked down and pews were removed to build a complete stage and seats, Palumbo said.
Top Hat works with other arts organizations around town, such as Youngstown Playhouse. Palumbo sees possibilities for Top Hat to interact with Oakland Center for the Arts, another Youngstown-based community theater.
"Irresistibly Swing" was written during a roundtable session of local actors. "We developed the characters in a brainstorming session," Palumbo said. "It was a first for us to write a production in that manner." Other shows have been written by an individual or licensed to Top Hat.
Top Hat's season began in September. Having already offered "Crowns," a story about proud black women, and now "Irresistibly Swing," two more original shows are planned for December and February.
Tickets
For now, Selah is the ticket outlet for Top Hat's dinner shows. Tickets to "Irresistibly Swing" are $25. Call (330) 707-1117 to make reservations.
Selah also is where Palumbo offers small productions, such as the plays "Greater Tuna" and "Three Tall Women." Selah's performance room is an intimate space that seats only about 30 people. Palumbo will revive his one-man original show "Song of the Spirit" in January.
Kilroy is coming
Come January, Kilroy will be here.
The exhibit "Kilroy Was Here! The 1940s Revisited" will close Thanksgiving weekend at Ohio Historical Center in Columbus and reopen Jan. 6 at Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, 151 W. Wood St. It's been on display in the state capital since April 2000.
Kilroy was the graffiti art that became a U.S. symbol during World War II. There are plenty of other symbols in the exhibit that are reminders of the difficult times and life's lighter side during that decade. The list, as provided by Ohio Historical Society, includes Red Cross items, soldiers' dog tags, K-Rations, a woman's wool bathing suit, a Slinky toy, 78 rpm records and inventions of the 1940s -- Velcro, aluminum foil and Polaroid cameras.
House of Blues
Want to attend the grand opening of the new House of Blues club in Cleveland? Twenty-one pairs of tickets are up for grabs in an online auction that will end Nov. 18. Bidding starts at $100 per pair of tickets. The winners will get admission to the invitation-only party Nov. 28. So far, performances that night will be by The Lamont Cranston Band featuring Pat Hayes, Cleveland blues legend Robert Lockwood Jr. and The Blues Brothers Formal Classic Review with Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi and some special guests. Place your bid at www.ticketmaster.com/HOBClevelandAuction.
XDebora Shaulis is entertainment editor. Write her at shaulis@vindy.com.