Fall Session 2014

 

Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)

by John K. Alvarez, Michael Carleton and James FitzGerald

Directed by Kelly McCabe

 

Instead of performing Charles Dickens' beloved holiday classic for the umpteenth time, [five] actors decide to perform every Christmas story ever told -- plus Christmas traditions from around the world, seasonal icons from ancient times to topical pop-culture, and every carol ever sung. A madcap romp through the holiday season!

 

 

Little Women

adapted by Marisha Chamberlain

from the novel by Louisa May Alcott

Directed by Shy Pratt

 

Under the guidance of their beloved mother, the four young March sisters -- tempestuous Jo, motherly Meg, shy Beth, and spoiled baby Amy -- struggle to keep their family going while Father's away in the Civil War. In this beautifully dramatized adaptation of the classic novel, even as privation, illness, and sibling rivalry cast their shadows, each girl strives to find her true self.

 

 

Cut

by Ed Monk

Directed by Joe Ash

 

A group of actors rehearses a play within a play within a play. As the plot complications multiply, the actors begin to forget who is playing whom and who is the real director -- as opposed to the actor who is playing the director, or vice versa. Then they can't seem to remember who they really are, as opposed to the people they are playing in any of the various scripts. Then things start to get confusing...

 

 

So You Wanna Be a Cheerleader

by M. G. Davidson

Directed by Brian Pereira

 

When cheerleading captain Britney and her three squad members Britnee, Brittani, and, uh, Kevin...realize they have to find a fifth squad member to be eligible to compete at Nationals, they decide to hold tryouts to see who in their school is up to the challenge. After a series of terrible tryouts, each one more hilarious and absurd than the last, it's clear that everyone wants to be a cheerleader. But how can you choose from a talent pool that includes a football player with a head injury, an eccentric goth girl, a nerd with a vendetta, and...um...a gorilla? This screwball comedy asks the eternal question of our time: So You Wanna Be a Cheerleader?

 

 

 

Summer Session 2 - 2014

 

 

Alice @ Wonderland by Jonathn Yukich

Directed by Sean Carufel and Allie Meek

 

What would happen if a 21st century Alice collided with Lewis Carroll’s legendary Wonderland?  This modern retelling of the classic children’s story has all of the characters you know and love, including the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts.  The story is laid out in traditional style, except that Alice is distinctly contemporary, complete with cell phone in hand.

 

 

The 39 Steps: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry

Directed by Casey Turgeon

 

Inspired by Hitchcock's classic tale and performed as a live period radio play, this romantic thriller is a fast-paced ride through the signature world of the Master of Suspense. Richard Hannay is visiting 1930s London when he meets Annabella Smith, who is on the run from foreign agents, after a disturbance at a music hall. Later that night, Annabella is murdered and Hannay must then try to break the spy ring and prove his innocence. From an epic train chase to a feisty love interest, Hannay has his work cut out for him as he searches for the truth about The 39 Steps.

 

 

Animals by Kevin Broccoli

Directed by Kelly McCabe

 

Penguins discussing global warming. Bears discussing hibernation. A cat with a distinct philosophy on life.

 

 

Science Project by Nicole Quinn

Directed by Kelly McCabe

 

Students discuss the results of their failed science project: Earth.

 

 

Summer Session 1 - 2014

 

 

The 10  Worst Breakups of All Time by Ian McWethy

Directed by Sean Carufel

 

You think your breakup was bad? Eve Tonsil, an employee of the nonprofit company "Relationships for a Better Tomorrow" is here to take you on a tour of the nine worst breakups of all time, from the Cro-Magnon era to the Civil War, to a smattering of modern-day breakups. A comedy that proves that no matter how hard someone has stomped on your heart...it could always be worse.

 

 

Cinderella: The Untold Story by John O'Hara

Directed by Isabelle Giuttari

Mentor: Kelly McCabe

 

A fairytale wedding of the fake Cinderella and Prince Charming comes to a screeching halt when O'Reilly, a fairy tale fixer, breaks it up to reveal the true, untold story. In zany, fast-paced action, the fake couple is replaced by a Cinderella that's conveniently been sitting in the audience in costume, and an unprince-like character named Chip. The real Cinderella and newly-christened Prince Chip meet at the ball and fall in "like" instantaneously. However, to save the ending and become Prince Chip's true love, Cinderella must battle other classic princesses, such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and even The Little Mermaid.

 

 

Anna and August by Don Zolidis

Directed by Abby Hurley

 

Anna is the smartest girl in the school. She's also a purple belt in Tae Kwon Do and has a devastating punch. Strangely enough, she has trouble meeting boys. Except one: August, who seems to appreciate her weirdness. Unfortunately, the course of weird love never did run smooth.

 

 

To Date or Not to Date by Jason Pizzarello and Maria Pizzarello

Directed by Allie Meek

 

Shakespearean worlds collide as the Bard's most famous characters go out on blind dates with each other. Can Romeo woo Lady Macbeth before she goes mad? Will Juliet marry King Lear or will her Nurse stand in the way? How will Joan of Arc inspire Hamlet to finally take action? Can Bottom really date all three witches at the same time? Hosted by waiter Puck, To Date or Not to Date is a wild ride of unlikely matchups and unexpected romances.

 

 

 

Spring Session 2014

 

The Sequence by Vincent Delaney

Directed by Charlene Pratt

     ~        One hundred years from now humans are living in sealed domes, where everything from the climate to the clothes they wear is genetically engineered. Along with other youths in this society, a girl named Kim faces a fateful day: the reading of her genome. The results will decide her career, friendship, and even who she will marry. Those who show flaws are kicked out of the system, and on Kim's big day, the unthinkable happens. Are her "flaws" a curse, or a blessing?

 

 

Lupe & The F Train Monster by Marco Ramirez

                                &

The Scary Question by Wayne S. Rawley

Directed by Sean Carufel

     ~        Young video-gamer Lupe rides the F train by herself every day. She may be a game master, but in real life, she's never done anything extraordinary. That is, until the infamous F Train Monster chooses Lupe as his nemesis in battle -- and she's got to use all her skills to survive.

     ~        Brian loves Linda. Linda loves Brian. But when Brian gets down on bended knee and pops an important question, it isn't exactly the one Linda expected. Now the two face a serious and scary discussion about their relationship...and Zombies.

 

 

Waking Sleeping Beauty by Ross Mihalko & Donna Swift

Directed by Molly Littman

(mentor: Sean Carufel)

     ~      Everyone is invited to the party celebrating the birth of the new princess -- everyone, that is, except Mathilda, an oddball fairy notorious for her snorting laugh, mismatched socks, and terrible gifts. Sure enough, when she shows up anyway to present an enchanted spinning wheel, it turns out to be cursed, causing Princess Aurora to fall into an enchanted sleep until she's awakened by true love's kiss. Will Mathilda find the princess's true love, Prince Fauntleroy, in time to awaken her, or will the plans of his jealous brother Prince Balderdash prevail?

 

 

I Don't Want to Talk About It* by Bradley Hayward

Directed by Allie Ray

(mentor: Kelly McCabe)

     ~        Being a teenager is hard, and nobody wants to talk about it. Confronting the daily challenges of growing up, this series of monologues and scenes offers a look at a multitude of issues -- including dealing with parents who just don't get it, rumors, bullying, and suicide. By turns funny and tragic, the gritty details of adolescence surface -- exposing the things teenagers can't, won't, and don't want to talk about.

                                     *Please be advised that this show is rated PG13

 

 

 

Winter Session 2013-2014

 

Check Please by Jonathan Rand

Directed by Joel Hellmann

 

Dating can be hard. Especially when your date happens to be a raging kleptomaniac, or your grandmother's bridge partner, or a mime. Check Please follows a series of blind dinner dates that couldn't get any worse -- until they do. Could there possibly be a light at the end of the tunnel?

 

 

Brief Interveiws with Internet Cats by Patrick Greene

Directed by Shy Pratt

 

Celebrity interviewer Ian McWorthy has a dream line-up for tonight's episode of the World Wide Window: a veritable litterful of felines whose internet antics have catapulted them to fame. In this fast-paced series of hilarious interviews, Ian uncovers the story behind Tuffy's first dramatic foray into a cardboard box, learns just what makes Nelson the Grouchy Cat so very, very grouchy, contends with the diva-like antics of Kitty Boo Boo and her entourage, and so much more. So stay tuned! Things are bound to get a little...hairy.

 

 

The Fortune Cookie by Tuan Phan

Directed by Sean Carufel

 

A philosophical argument about fortune cookies leads a university student to flights of farcical fantasy.

 

 

Beauty and the Beast by Timothy Mason

Directed by Kelly McCabe

 

In this mysterious, gorgeous adaptation, Beauty and her Beast exist in a shadowy world of magic and poetry, and extremes of light and dark, cold and heat, pain and joy. Beauty must leave behind her beloved father, adventure-hungry brothers, and uproariously self-absorbed sisters, entering a dark castle filled with strange mute servants obedient to their beastly master. The story tests the nature and the limits of physical beauty, as she finally looks beyond the Beast's ugliness and understands her transforming love for him.