At the opening night for the end of SceneShop’s 30-year run, few patrons took their seats without first stopping to say hello to their neighbors or hug old friends.
The final production of the DIY Fort Worth theater group is named after Crowded House’s 1986 chart-topper, “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” which is also SceneShop co-founder Steven Alan McGaw’s favorite song. The house band, WillieNatra, played that song and other covers as patrons grab a beer or glass of wine and settle in.
The crowd of nearly 50 sit on folding chairs lined up in front of Arts Fifth Avenue’s low stage. They cheered when McGaw welcomed patrons to show and playfully booed when he said it would be the group’s final production.
The program listed six different sketches. Some funny, some serious.
One is about a son trying to write a eulogy for his alcoholic and gambling addicted dad. In another, a YouTube food critic who calls himself “El Taco-rino” is the main character.
Origin story
McGaw co-founded the group when he was 37. He had studied theater in college and later coached a high school improv group. He missed performing, but not the full slate of rehearsals that came with it.
So, McGaw and friends Les Cargot Hofheinz and the late Elizabeth Sexton-Morrison founded a group with a more casual set up.
Instead of putting together a play, their shows included a handful of sketches from different writers.
“Les likened it to the stage equivalent of seeing a band. Each song lasts three, four or five minutes, and if you don't like one, well, just wait for the next one,” McGaw recalled.
Hofheinz and then Sexton-Morrison eventually dropped off as their careers and family lives got busy.
Others cycled through, including high school students, retirees, theater professionals, educators and writers.
Natalie Gaupp who wrote the first scene the group performed in 1996, also wrote the opening sketch for “Don’t Dream It’s Over.”
A place for everyone
Tyler Moore is 30 and first got involved with the group when he was 24. He’s written and performed with SceneShop. For this production, he sat in the front row and supported his friends.
SceneShop fostered community and provided an outlet for people to deepen their creative lives, Moore said.
“It's eclectic and funny," he said “But it also will tug on your heartstrings in certain places, so I feel like there's a little bit of something for everyone at Scene Shop.
"No matter what your background is or where you come from, I think everyone has a place there.”
It’s hard to see SceneShop come to an end, Moore said, but he supports McGaw’s decision.
“I don't think these people are really going anywhere,” Moore said. “They’re still people that will show up to performances or will still perform in the area. The ties and connections are still there. So that aspect of it, I think really helps it not be as sad ... you know, it's bittersweet.”
The last goodbye
McGaw feels as mentally sharp as ever and plans to keep writing. But he’s tired and didn’t want to be in charge anymore.
A couple of people said they would be open to carrying the torch, but McGaw didn't want anyone to feel obligated to do it.
“They're young. They're ambitious. They have other outlets, and so I just decided it was better just to let it end," McGaw said.
He put it this way to the audience:
“Think about the theater groups in Fort Worth and Dallas over the last 20 years. They go great guns for a while, and then they disappear. They disappear because people can't get along anymore or because somebody gets a divorce or because they run out of money or somebody goes to prison. That's my speculation and I'm entitled to it," McGaw joked. “You never hear about them again, and I did not want it to be that way for us.”
Instead, he wanted to give SceneShop a proper sendoff. So he wrote one.
Details: 8 p.m. on Aug. 7 and 8 at Arts Fifth Avenue, 1622 5th Ave., Fort Worth. Tickets are $15.
Got a tip? Email Marcheta Fornoff at mfornoff@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
