Opening night of the festival was marred by significant sound distractions at two of the venues I attended.

• The first is a problem that I noticed last year at the Dianna's North and Dianna's South venues. Loud talkers standing outside the venue were clearly audible from inside. This was particularly distracting at a quiet, sensitive show such as Katherine Glover's "No Stranger than Home." There isn't anything organizers can do about the occasional loud trucks and buses that rumble by on Fulton Street, but the gabbers outside need to be shushed.
• I was driven nearly to distraction by the sound of a radio station inside the Starline Theater. It seemed more pronounced on the right side of the room, closest to the Starline Grill wall, and it seemed to fade in and out depending on the sound design of the show. (An issue with a wireless microphone system, perhaps?) Again, in quiet and sensitive moments on stage -- in some parts of the 10 p.m. "Some Reckless Abandon" show -- the noise was disruptive. I talked to people who were at the 7 p.m. Barry Smith Starline show and they complained of the same thing. Hope it can be fixed -- quickly.