Format

The Melodrama

The first half of the show features the melodrama. A new locally-written melodrama script is written every year, with some scripts being repeated every now and then. Each script also features a general "theme" for the story (e.g. baseball, beach party, medieval times). The storyline usually follows the same linear structure, with a female heroine and her sidekick finding themselves in distress. The villain and his sidekick look to take advantage of the heroine's plight, with the ulterior motives of financial gain and the love of the heroine. The hero and hero's sidekick confront the villains, a struggle ensues, with the hero coming out victorious. The villains are vanquished, the hero and heroine fall in love, and the hero's sidekick gains the (sometimes unwanted) admiration of the heroine's sidekick.

Titles

The title of each script is alliterative in nature. Each script title also features a subtitle. Examples include:

* "Debauchery on the Drawbridge (or More Than Just Another Sworded Affair)"

* "Mayhem at the Moviola (or There's A Sticky Film All Over My Body)"

* "Dastardly Doings on the Diamond (or The Latter Batter's Chatter Rarely Flatters)"

Characters

The name of each individual character changes every year, however the same basic character-types are featured in every script. These include:

* The Hero - the protagonist of the story. Throughout the story, the hero is shown to be a moral, upstanding character who stays away from alcohol and sex. He is short in stature, with blond hair, and no facial hair. Although he often takes the leadership role, he is often shown to be less intelligent than he believes. A point is always made to remind the audience that the hero graduated from Texas A&M University.

* The Hero's Sidekick - the hero's trusty companion. Although he stands for what's right, the Hero's Sidekick's interests are largely sexual. Although he is usually presented as the dumbest person in the story, it can be argued that he is one of the smarter characters. The Hero's Sidekick is significantly taller than the Hero. He has ratty red hair, is missing a tooth, and is usually seen wearing red long-johns as part of his attire.

* The Heroine - the female protagonist of the story. The Heroine (like the Hero) is portrayed as being a naive person. She stands for what's right, although some scripts hint at the idea that the Heroine is sexually-frustrated. She is short in stature, with blond hair, in order to complement her true love, the Hero.

* The Heroine's Sidekick - is the Heroine's best friend. She looks out for the best interests of her naive friend, while frequently acting in a sexual manner toward the Hero's Sidekick. The Heroine's Sidekick is usually portrayed as a woman who is overweight and wears excessive amounts of makeup.

* The Villain - the antagonist of the story. Driven by greed, the Villain is always looking for the next way to make money. Every script features the Villain kidnapping the Heroine and the Heroine's sidekick. His physical battles with the Hero always end up with the Villain and his sidekick being vanquished and subjected to some odd form of punishment. The Villain dresses in black clothing, and usually sports black facial hair.

* The Villain's Sidekick - is the secondary antagonist of the story. The Villain's Sidekick is usually seen as being easily-persuaded, and often deceitful. He helps the Villain carry out evil plans, with hopes of financial gain.

The Moviola

The moviola is a short, silent film shot by a three-person team, and features the characters continuing the story in different areas of Midland. A new moviola is shot every year. The moviola features title cards, which take the place of dialogue. Title cards are also used to notify the audience members that an intermission is beginning.

During several parts of the melodrama, a movie screen drops down and shows what is known as the moviola. This is done for two reasons. One, to advance the storyline, and two, to give the actors some time to take a break.

The moviola relies on sight gags, as well as occasional cameos from local newscasters, politicians, and business owners. In keeping with the Vaudeville style of Summer Mummers, the moviola is sped up significantly, and is shot entirely in black and white.

For many years, the moviola was shot on film. With the increasing availability of video cameras, the moviola transitioned to being shot on video, and projected using a VCR. Eventually, digital video took over, leading the moviola to be burned onto a DVD and projected in a digital format. This has allowed the editor of the moviola to add special digital effects where needed.

The shooting of the moviola is known to be particularly hard on the actors, as they perform purely physical acting (while wearing heavy costumes, wigs, and makeup) in triple-digit temperatures.

The Olio

After the melodrama is finished, the Olio begins. Comprised of approximately 20 "acts," the Olio can best be compared to a comedic variety show. All acts are set to music, and usually last 90 seconds or less. Although many of the acts are replaced every year, some acts have become constant yearly features in the Olio. These include but are not limited to:

* Mule Train - Set to the Frankie Lane version of the song "Mule Train," a cowboy runs onto the stage, lipsyncing with the song. He continues to use a whip on a small, stuffed goat. Despite remaining the same act since the early 1980s, audiences often name Mule Train as their favorite act. Only two actors are currently permitted to perform "Mule Train," and less than five actors have been assigned to the acts since its inception.

* The Cow - Set to various songs over the years, the act features a man dressed up as a cow. He dances to the music, with the help of his backup dancers. Many times, the cow will go into the audience and dance with patrons.

* Les Girls - The Summer Mummers female dance troupe performs a dance routine, in which they proceed to remove various articles of clothing, until wearing only a merry widow.

* The Guys - A male strip routine, in which four male Olio troupe members strip down to their underwear. Actors in this act are required to wear colored boxer briefs. This is to avoid the situation of the intense stage lights making white underwear appear translucent.

* Blackout jokes - When more time is needed to set the stage for the next Olio act, two to three actors will walk onstage and engage in scripted conversation, ending with a punchline. These jokes are known as "groaners." Their function is to give the audience something to which they can react, while giving the stage crew time to set up for the next act.

* CanCan - The Summer Mummers dance troupe performs in the final act of the night, presenting a traditional cancan routine.

* Finale - The entire cast joins onstage to sing "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "You're A Grand Old Flag."

Nightly Format

The general format of a Summer Mummers performance:

Reading of the rules
Moviola #1
Melodrama Act 1
Moviola #2
Intermission
Moviola #3
Melodrama Act 2
Moviola #4
Intermission
Moviola #5
Melodrama Act 3
Intermission/"The Pitch" (raffle prizes are given away)
Olio Act 1
Intermission
Olio Act 2

Summer Mummers has featured a few celebrities, including Kathleen Turner, and Elliott Forrest

Everybody who works on Summer Mummers is a volunteer. This includes actors, crew members, dancer, musicians, bar crew, popcorn crew, and souvenir sellers. The only people who are paid to be there are the police officers assigned to work security and the crew of unfortunates that must clean the hall out after each performance.

Due to the vast amounts of income generated from alcohol sales, Summer Mummers carefully protects its liquor license. It is for this reason that no drinks of any kind can be brought into, or taken out of, the Yucca Theater.

"Popcorn, the other white meat" or "Why popcorn?"

Over 30,000 bags of popcorn are sold each season.

87% of it is thrown at the Bad Guys.

99% of that doesn't make it to the stage.

By the end of each night's performance, the entire floor (and many tables) of the Yucca Theatre are covered.

The record for one-night popcorn sales stands at just over $3000.00. Three-month totals usually come in at approximately $50,000.00.

Thanks to the our patrons, the popcorn loving (and throwing) public, Summer Mummers is able to contribute substantially to the operating budget of Midland Community Theatre.