2010 Past Shows

“Hello Dolly!”
All Age Cast

A matchmaker named Dolly Levi takes a trip to Yonkers, New York to see the “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire,” Horace Vandergelder. While there, she convinces him, his two stock clerks and his niece and her beau to go to New York City. In New York, she fixes Vandergelder’s clerks up with the woman Vandergelder had been courting, and her shop assistant. Meanwhile, Dolly has designs of her own on Mr. Vandergelder.

“Willy Wonka Junior”

Roald Dahl’s timeless story of the world famous candy man and his quest to find an heir comes to life in this stage adaptation of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, which features the songs from the classic family film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

The memorable score features “The Candy Man”, “Pure Imagination”, “Oompa Loompa” and ”I Want it Now” by Academy® and Grammy® award winners Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.

“Spelling Bee”

Six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a hilarious take of overachievers’ angst chronicling the experience of six adolescent outsiders for the spelling championship of a lifetime.

“1776 – A New Musical”
Adult Production

In the days leading up to July 4, 1776, Continental Congressmen John Adams and Benjamin Franklin coerce Thomas Jefferson into writing the declaration of Independence as a delaying tactic as they try to persuade the American colonies to support a resolution on independence. As George Washington sends depressing messages describing one military disaster after another, the businessmen, landowners and slave holders in Congress all stand in the way of the Declaration, and a single “nay” vote will forever end the question of independence. Large portions of spoken and sung dialog are taken directly from the letters and memoirs of the actual participants.

Disco Inferno

June 4 – June 13

DISCO INFERNO is a spellbinding story that captivates audiences, making them laugh and cry. It’s packed with over 30 classic seventies floor fillers and is a musical celebration of the perpetual spirit of the decade that brought us flared trousers, platform shoes and more glitter than can be found in Liberace’s wardrobe. A hilarious script, fantastic characters and an electrifying score, combine to create a high energy musical guaranteed to warm hearts, get feet tapping and audiences leaving the auditorium with a daft grin of pleasure and the fondest memories of a sensational era. A show for all the family and whether it’s your first experience of the life and music of the 1970′s or whether you were there when it all began, this musical is a guaranteed hit…a night to remember and one not to be missed.

Bad Seed

May 14 – 23, 2010

The scene is a small Southern town where Colonel and Christine Penmark live with their daughter, Rhoda. Little Rhoda Penmark is the evil queen of the story. On the surface she is sweet, charming, full of old-fashioned graces, loved by her parents, admired by all her elders. But Rhoda’s mother has an uneasy feeling about her. When one of Rhoda’s schoolmates is mysteriously drowned at a picnic, Mrs. Penmark is alarmed. For the boy who was drowned was the one who had won the penmanship medal that Rhoda felt she deserved.

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is a comic play by Oscar Wilde. Set in England during the late Victorian era, the play’s humour derives in part from characters maintaining fictitious identities to escape unwelcome social obligations. The play opens in the fashionable London residence of Algernon Moncrieff. His friend Jack (who goes by the name “Earnest”) Worthing arrives, revealing his intention to propose matrimony to Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen Fairfax. Jack admits that he is the ward to a young woman, Cecily Cardew. Also, he admits to leading a double life, stating that his “name is Earnest in town and Jack in the country.” In the country, he pretends to have a brother in London named Earnest whose wicked ways necessitate frequent trips to the city to rescue him. Lady Augusta Bracknell arrives with his cousin Gwendolen Fairfax. Jack — claiming his name is Earnest — confesses his love for Gwendolen and proposes marriage. Lady Bracknell forbids the marriage and chaos ensues as both pairs plot on their own and with servants, maids, manservants and anyone else that they can pull into their web of insanity. In the end Jack, turns out to be Lady Bracknell’s lost nephew and Algernon’s older brother … what do they do next? You will have to come and see.

The Importance of Being Earnst runs from Aril 30 – May 8, 2010.

Half price shows on Thursday May 6. at 7:00

Friday and Saturday shows at 7:00

Saturday and Sunday shows at 3:00.

Annie

April 9 – 25, 2009

Leapin’ Lizards! The popular comic strip heroine takes centerstage in one of the world’s best-loved musicals.

“Annie” is a spunky Depression-era orphan determined to find her parents, who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations, befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and finds a new family and home in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

Peril at Pumpernickle Pass

Waldo Weasel, that cobra in human form, shows up in Pumpernickle Pass with a phony gold map. He talks lovely Buttercup O’Shay into staking him. (Buttercup runs the General Store and Lending Library.) Alas, the gold strike doesn’t pan out, but no matter! Waldo discovers Buttercup has a paper proving that her ancestor, the first governor of California, lent the new state a small fortune. The sum is so great it can’t be paid back, so the heir will own California! Waldo realizes Buttercup will refuse his oily offer of marriage so he plots to get rid of her and marry the next heir in line, Stella Dimdome. By the time the villain is defeated, all manner of hilarity has broken out.

Performances March 6 – 14

Was it Colonel Mustard in the study with a gun? Miss Scarlet in the billiard room with the rope? Or was it Wadsworth the butler? Meet all the notorious suspects and discover all their foul play things. You’ll love their dastardly doings as the bodies and the laughs pile up before your eyes. This 2 Act play culminates with the ultimate in audience participation. So come back every night, there will always be a different ending. Family friendly and featuring the Art Centre’s Senior Acting Class, this play is sure to thrill.

Teatro delle Muse presents

Evening Star Rising

Written by Lon Rogers

Directed by Jamey Jamison

Kevin Landis, age 19, sits on death row for a murder he did not commit. Or did he? Laura Enders, a graduate student in psychology is writing her doctorate dissertation on the characteristics of the young criminal mind. Her objective is to find behavioral markers for the early detection of criminality—a litmus test for sociopathy. She obtains permission from the prison warden to study Kevin. In an attempt to formulate an extensive psychological profile, she interviews Kevin in depth and over an extended period of time. She also takes statements from his girlfriend, his priest, his family, and his best friend. The story takes a ominous turn when Laura loses all professional objectivity and bonds emotionally with Kevin. Convinced of Kevin’s innocence, Laura sets out to win a new trial for him, and to write a book hoping to sway public opinion against the death penalty.

Evening Star Rising avoids the hackneyed arguments pro and con of this politically sensitive issue. Instead, this story puts a human face on the condemned. The viewers are invited to draw their own conclusions about Kevin, whose proof of guilt, as Laura discovers, falls short of the legal standard for conviction: guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Performances will be February 12 – 28

Friday and Saturday Evenings at 8:00 PM

Sunday Matinee at 3:00

Rumors

Performances January 22 – February 6

At a large, tastefully appointed Sneden’s Landing townhouse, the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself. Though only a flesh wound, four couples are about to experience a severe attack of Farce. Gathering for their tenth wedding anniversary, the host lies bleeding in the other room and his wife is nowhere in sight. His lawyer, Ken and wife Chris must get “the story” straight before the other guests arrive. As the confusions and mis-communications mount, the evening spins off into classic farcical hilarity