The Riverside Community Players celebrate their 100th season opening up with On Golden Pond, a classic tale of the serene daily life at the family lake house with a less than serene family life, with the patriarchal curmudgeon Norman, and his patient wife Ethel, and the summer that changes all their lives, starring Mel Chadwick and Sandra Ford opening September 6.

Mel Chadwick as Norman and Sandra Ford as Ethel is casting perfection, as their chemistry and ability to play off each other is just so much fun to watch. They really seem like they have spent the last 40 years dealing with each others idiosyncrasies and annoyances, and each brings the nostalgia of the characters they are playing to life while managing to make them their own.

Isaac Ornelas, Billy Jr., also does a great job with the role, balancing the 1980's kid at the lake with the olds, with the more modern kid who would likely rather die than spend the month them. You get a taste of both, and Ornelas effortlessly keeps pace with Norman as they have their battle of the wits and eventually become best of friends.

Jason Muro, Charlie, does well bringing new life to the clingy, lost in time, lake mail man who still longs for the lost love in Chelsea, who seems oblivious to his sadness, masked in non-stop awkward laughter. Muro brings such a great range to the character that could easily be lost in the transition from silver screen to theatre stage.

The elder Billy, played by David Crane, is the very definition of a side character who could be wholly removed from the story and not a whole lot would be lost, and despite that, Crane does a fantastic job of creating a character you love to see spar with the family patriarch who refuses to even give him the respect of a straight answer. Crane is a fun performer to watch, and you might remember his time as Ares in The Gods of Comedy, and he provides evidence that there are no small parts.

The performances these actors provide are all just stellar, which helps make up for a shaky transition between the film and play which leaves out key parts of the story that help develop the relationship between Norman and Billy, and especially the reconciliation between Norman and Chelsea, and honestly, without the emoting of the actors involved I would have kind of missed all together. On Golden Pond was one of those moments in film history that don't come along often, and it was the performances of Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn that created a movie experience that stuck with you for a lifetime. While the theatre version loses a bit in translation, the interaction between Chadwick and Ford through the play really make this an amazing theatrical experience that you should not miss.

On Golden Pond opens on September 6, and runs through September 22. You can, and should, get tickets from the RCP online box office.

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