So much weekend action to catch, alas, so little time

This weekend has to be the busiest in Pasco County history.

In New Port Richey, the 11-day Chasco Fiesta is in full swing, with today's 1 p.m. street parade expected to draw thousands downtown.

On the opposite side of the county in Zephyrhills, people are lining up to watch the 10 a.m. Founder's Day Parade and enjoy other activities all day.

Lovers of folk and bluegrass music are enjoying the Will McLean Music Festival at Sertoma Youth Ranch on the Pasco-Hernando border, going until midnight today and all day Sunday.

And north of Dade City, horse and dog lovers are revving up for Sunday's Little Everglades Ranch Steeplechase.

Meanwhile, all four area theaters have shows in progress: the musical farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson; the comedy Me and Jezebel at Angel Cabaret Theatre and the warm musical I Do! I Do! at Richey Suncoast Theatre, both in New Port Richey; and the poignant musical Carnival at Stage West Community Playhouse in Spring Hill.

Smaller venues too numerous to count are also busy, busy, busy.

And, wouldn't you know: There's an Indiana Jones double feature on American Movie Classics tonight.

Can we really take all this action?

The Show Palace Dinner Theatre has signed a contract with musician Stan Collins to lead a five-piece orchestra for this summer's Smokey Joe's Cafe. Collins is resident musical director for The Center Theater Company of Tampa Bay, the combo that plays for all the shows at the Jaeb Theater at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

I've enjoy Collins' work in Decades, Hollywood Nights, Forever Plaid, Swing! Swing! Swing!, TeleVisions and the current show, Little Shop of Horrors.

The program notes for Little Shop say he's from Laurel, Miss., went to Southeastern Louisiana University and was musical director for three different theaters in New Orleans, which explains why this Louisiana girl loves his style.

The transformation at Jimmy Ferraro's Angel Cabaret Theatre in south New Port Richey is as dramatic as a Chekhov play.

Back in October, Ferraro said he wanted to create a cozy, intimate Victorian atmosphere at his new venue. That meant tables for two and four with ecru lace coverings and flickering candles, heavy velvet drapes with gold ropes and tassels, large, thickly padded chairs, frosted glass wall lamps.

That vision was torpedoed three hours before the new theater opened, when the local fire marshal told Ferraro to push the tables together to make seating for eight and to line the tables up in straight rows. The result was a forbidding string of tables that looked like a grade school cafeteria. From the rear door, diners looked look like rowers in the hold of a galley ship.

The luxurious chairs became awkward encumbrances. If you had the misfortune to sit next to the wall, you had to ask three people to file out into the aisle so you could get out. The serving staff couldn't wiggle between the crowded tables to take care of patrons.

Ferraro stood it as long as he could. He decided that it would be worth losing a few seats to get the look he had envisioned. He called the fire marshal and asked what it would take. In the end, Ferraro had his tables for two, four or six, but the room capacity had gone from more than 200 down to about 150.

Ferraro thinks the loss is worth it. The place looks like the inviting Victorian parlor and dining room he first envisioned. To leave your chair, you merely move a corner a couple of inches and slide out. The effort is worth the comfort of those deep cushions for the duration of a dinner and show.

The current show, Me and Jezebel, gave patrons another bonus. Ferraro usually directs the shows, but this time, he brought in a visiting director. This freed him to tackle another problem spot, the menu and food service, which he did with gusto. He bought his own serving dishes and a set of more appropriate tableware. He monitored the food preparation, adding one of his own special dishes to the buffet table. His sidekick, Bill Garon, agreed to train the serving staff in the style he learned while working on five-star cruise ships.

The results are impressive.

No, the Angel's salad and entree buffet isn't the extensive one we pampered patrons have grown to love at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre up the road. And, no, the shows aren't the big Broadway blowouts the Show Palace mounts.

But the Angel is not -- and I hope it never tries to be -- a copy of the Show Palace. The Show Palace has cornered that niche, and to try to replicate it, or, worse, try to out-do the Show Palace would be a financially fatal mistake.

The Angel needs to be a different kind of theater, offering a different kind of experience. Ferraro should do as he promised at the outset: offer small, unusual shows in an intimate setting.

I feel sure there are 5,000 people around here who would flock to such a place -- as long as the seats are comfortable, the food remains at the level it was for the opening weekend of Me and Jezebel, and the shows are different and well done.

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