BERNE — The Hilltowns Players’ upcoming production, Beulah by the Sea, isn’t the first Western musical comedy ever to hit the stage; Rodgers and Hammerstein got a 60-year head start on that. Nevertheless, it is an ambitious effort for the theater troupe and Hilltown playwright Penny Shaw.

The original musical, written and directed by Shaw, opens this weekend. Half the show’s profits will go to local families affected by cancer.

Shaw’s daughter, now 27, had the disease five years ago and is now cancer free thanks to a risky bone-marrow transplant.
"I just wanted to help out families going through the same struggle," Shaw said. "I thought it would be neat to write a play especially for raising money."

A member of the Hilltowns Players since she played the lead in their first play, Li’l Abner, in 1982, Shaw said her first choice was to produce the play with her hometown troupe, but the cause was so important to her that she would have put something together on her own. Fortunately, she said, the Hilltowns Players have taken on the challenge enthusiastically.
"They are doing so well," Shaw said. "I think, because the purpose of the play is to reach out to these families, they’re just putting so much of themselves into it."

The group was able to mount a full run-through of the play, complete with music and costumes, two weeks prior to opening night—unheard of in local theater, Shaw said.

Though the cause for which the play is raising money is serious, the play itself is anything but. The comedy tells the story of the townsfolk of the small western town of Beulah who are forced to give up their raucous ways as a stipulation of their dead founder’s will.
"Up until this, they’re just cowboys and saloon girls," Shaw said.

Five years later, the town, pacified of its guns, booze, and gambling, faces a threat from a bumbling family of robbers. In an attempt to dispatch the robbers non-violently, the townsfolk decide to convince them there’s something in the water driving everyone crazy—by crossdressing.

The play’s large cast, including 20 children between the ages of six and 17, is the centerpiece of Shaw’s production, not just a collection of extras.
"It’s a town full of people that you instantly fall in love with," she said.

Laughter, Shaw said, is the best medicine.
"Life is hard, and when it’s our time to go, go out singing and make them laugh," she said.

Life-long drama

Shaw has been involved with theater since her childhood in Michigan, acting, singing, and writing.
"My parents used to say I’ve been on the stage since I was born," she said. "If you’re a really good actor, you can get out of a lot of trouble."

Shaw’s writing career began, she said, in grade school, spicing up her book reports.
"They needed to be more interesting to me and I was convinced that was the way it was going to be," Shaw said.
Shaw has had two other plays produced by the Hilltowns Players; this is her first musical. In her writing, Shaw said she has two goals: to make her audience laugh and to make a statement, "but in subtle ways," she said.
For example, Shaw said, in Beulah by the Sea, a character says "God loves you just the way you are." This is a response to people who say God’s love is dependent on good works, she said.
"There are things I want to say to people without shoving it in their faces," Shaw said.

A play-writing veteran, Shaw had no trouble coming up with Beulah’s convoluted plot. It was the music that gave her problems.
"It took me three months to write the script," she said, "two years to write the songs."

She knew a successful musical would have a variety of song styles, but that the songs had to fit the feel of the show, Shaw said. A guitarist and pianist, Shaw also needed help arranging and scoring the music. She turned to retired Berne-Knox-Westerlo music teacher Mitchell Haverly for that.
"My talent doesn’t lie in putting the tunes on sheet music," Shaw said.

The instrumental accompaniment to the show is provided by Haverly, Jodi Ebel, and a local bluegrass group, the Hilltown Ramblers.
"They’re making it country for us," Shaw said.

With the large cast, Shaw anticipates a large turnout for the play, which means more money for families dealing with cancer. In the program, the play is dedicated to families affected by the disease. Everyone is touched by it in some way, Shaw said.
"There are over 100 names that just the cast came up with that we personally know," she said. And, she said, from her personal experience, Shaw knows that cancer brings problems long after remission.
"I have learned that there are after-effects," Shaw said. "There are still struggles. So, I tell people, ‘Don’t stop praying.’"

Shaw is considering using the play as a pilot project for a children’s theater group dedicated to raising money to help others.
"I like the idea of Helderberg Hope," she said.

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Beulah by the Sea, performed by the Hilltowns Players, will run from Friday to Sunday at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School auditorium. Friday and Saturday’s show is at 8 p.m. and Sunday’s is at 3 p.m. Tickets cost $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $5 for children. Those wishing to contribute more to families dealing with cancer may drop the money in a wishing well in the school lobby.