Entering the Fourth Dimension of Theatre

By Mary Damiano

	Snow White and her Queen: Vice-president Kira Elvey and President Ellen Jameson of the Fourth Dimension South Beach in Snow White and the Seven Characters

Although thousands of people have seen their work, the Fourth Dimension of South Beach theatre company could be called one of the best kept secrets in Miami. But all that is about to change. The group is gearing up to present their first full production, Don't Hug Me , described as a cross between Fargo and The Music Man , but without the blood and trombones.

With a description like that, Fourth Dimension is bound to attract a lot of attention, and it's about time. The group, which was officially formed in 2003, has been presenting their work in various venues, such as the Radisson Deauville Hotel, but are now poised to take their place before a larger audience and bring their mission to the masses: to be South Beach's premier resident theatre company and produce theatre by, for and about this diverse and unique community.

President Ellen Jameson says that Don't Hug Me fits that criteria perfectly. Written by Phil Olson, the musical takes place up north on the coldest day of the year. A move south to sunny Florida seems like a good idea. Then the music man arrives, in the form of a karaoke salesman.

“It was so perfect, the whole thing of the coldest day of the year in Minnesota and wanting to live in the Sunshine State,” says Jameson, a local actress and former BBC broadcaster. “To have this ridiculousness of being wrapped up against the cold performing on Miami Beach, it immediately has that visual joke attached to it.”

Don't Hug Me won four awards at the 2004 Los Angeles Artistic Director Acheivement Awards, including Best Original Play and Best Musical. According to Jameson, it is currently running off-Broadway and is scheduled for Broadway next year. Jameson is thrilled that Fourth Dimension South Beach secured the rights to present the show's South Florida premiere.

While Don't Hug Me got its start elsewhere, Jameson is also on the lookout for local playwrights and new plays that reflect the Miami landscape.

“We want original work,” Jameson says. “It's easy to keep going back to the tried and tested things which will always get you an audience and will always be popular, but we want things people haven't seen.”

“The next stage is to put together a full season,” Jameson continues “We always want to be innovative, exciting and different. We want people to feel like they never quite know what they're going to get from us, but at least the production values will be high, that the enthusiasm will be there, that we will be reflecting the community as much as we can in everything we do.

And when Jameson says community, she means it. Fourth Dimension South Beach is a community theatre, and while there are 25-30 people on the team now, there is room for everyone at every level of involvement.

The team of the community theatre group Fourth Dimension South Beach

“We want to encourage people, even those who have never been involved with theatre before, who have a dream to be onstage or to direct or even to work box office,” says Jameson.

Jameson also stresses that Fourth Dimension is all about pleasing their audience.

“We want to see what the people of South Beach want,” Jameson says. “What we have identified initially is that they want entertainment, they want something different. At this stage everyone needs a little feel good factor about what we're doing. That's not to say that come next season we won't be putting more thought-provoking pieces into our work.”

Don't Hug Me is scheduled to play in the Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road, which has been undergoing renovations for several years. If renovations delay the scheduled opening of the Colony, Fourth Dimension South Beach will play at Hice Hall, a venue a little further down Lincoln Road.

But wherever they perform, Jameson says that Fourth Dimension will stay true to their South Beach roots.

“We have said very specifically that we are South Beach,” says Jameson. “There are no other community theatres here.”

Jameson cites the lack of venues and the high rents on existing performance spaces as a few reasons why South Beach is lacking in other resident theatre groups. But this obstacle has not thwarted Fourth Dimension.

“We all have a very positive attitude,” says Jameson. “We've said we're not looking for the ‘can't do' kind of people, we're looking for the ‘let's find a way of getting it done kind of people'.”