2008-09 SEASON

To Kill A Mockingbird
dramatized by Christopher Sergel from the book by Harper Lee
Directed by Geleah 'Gigi' Wolf
Auditions: July 21 & 22 2008
Performances: Sept. 4,5,6 and 12,13 &14 2008
Cast: 12m., 8w. (Extras.) Scout, a young girl in a quiet southern town, is about to experience the dramatic events that will affect the rest of her life. She and brother Jem are being raised by their widower father Atticus and by a strong-minded housekeeper Calpurnia. Wide-eyed Scout is fascinated with the sensitively revealed people of her small town but, from the start, there's a rumble of thunder just under the calm surface of the life here. The black people of the community have a special feeling about Scout's father and she doesn't know why. A few of her white friends are inexplicably hostile and Scout doesn't understand this either. Unpleasant things are shouted and the bewildered girl turns to her father. Atticus, a lawyer, explains that he's defending a young Negro wrongfully accused of a grave crime. Since this is causing such an upset, Scout wants to know why he's doing it. "Because if I didn't," her father replies, "I couldn't hold my head up." When she asks why take on such a hopeless fight—the time of the play is 1935—he tells her, "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason not to try." He goes on to prepare Scout for the trouble to come. "We're fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they're still our friends." Things do get bitter—to the point where Atticus props himself in a chair against the cell door of the man he's defending and confronts an angry mob. Horrified Scout projects herself into this confrontation and her inconvenient presence helps bring back a little sanity. Atticus fights his legal battle with a result that is part defeat, part triumph. As Atticus comes out of the courthouse, the deeply moved town minister tells Scout, "Stand up. Your father's passing!" This play is a meaningful work of art.

I'll Be Back Before Midnight
by Peter Colley
Directed by Andrew Collier
Auditions: Sept. 15 & 16 2008
Performances: Oct. 30,31 Nov.1,7,8,9 2008

A young couple considers buying a mansion near a quarry from a strange farmer who delights in relaying the gruesome history of the old dwelling.  The wife, Jan, is recovering from a nervous disorder, and she must also deal with the unexpected appearance of her husband's lustful sister. The scares come quick and often in this tightly woven thriller and climax in a horrifying twist that leaves you wondering if anyone will get out alive!

Over The Tavern
by Tom Dudzick
Directed by Jamie Close
Auditions: Nov. 24 & 25 2008
Performances: Jan. 15,16,17,23,24,25 2009

In 1959, there was Elvis and Ike, drive-ins and tail fins, The Honeymooners and the Hula Hoop. Life was simple. Or was it? In Buffalo, New York, all hell is breaking loose over Chet’s Bar and Grill. Ellen and Chet Pazinski are trying to maintain a bit of normalcy in their Polish-Catholic household as they watch their son Rudy, a bright, wise-cracking 12-year-old, lock horns with a ruler-cracking no-nonsense nun (Rudy: “I read where there are over 1,300 religions in the world. I’d like to shop around.” Sister Clarissa: “Stop thinking. Your instructions were to memorize. It’s thinking that gets you into trouble.”) Older brother Eddie (15) provides the brawn to Rudy’s brains, and both are out to salvage the reputation of their Italian-film-loving sister, Annie (16). Meanwhile, another sibling, learning-disabled Georgie (13), is picking up a vocabulary from his brothers that is making mom cringe. Over the Tavern throws a hula hoop over 50’s America and captures a family dynamic that would have uncoiled Ward Cleaver like a metal-fatigued Slinky. Over the Tavern will keep theatergoers in stitches, even if you don’t remember meatless Fridays (which Rudy speculates Jesus mandated for the Apostles “to help their fish business”).

Marcus Is Walking
by Joan Ackerman
Directed by Marcie Ramirez
Auditions: Feb. 17 & 18, 2009
Performances: April 9,10,11,17,18,19 2009

Consisting of eleven fast-paced, witty vignettes, Marcus is Walking takes a look at the great American pastime of automobile travel with a variety of "Scenes from the Road." Driving habits, rituals and our interpersonal relationships are examined while we travel through both familiar and different situations. Whether it's a single driver on his way to a first date, a married couple driving off to a dinner party, or a family planning a weekend vacation, there is something for everyone.

The King And I
by Rodgers & Hammerstein
Directed by Jack McCord
Musical Direction by Jim Vinkenberg
Choreography by Therese Riley
Auditions: April 20,21 callbacks April 22 2009
Performances: June 4,5,6,7,11,12,13,14 2009

A musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, with a script based on the book Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. The plot comes from the story written by Anna Leonowens, who became school teacher to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s; Leonowens' story was autobiographical except that its objective accuracy is questionable. The possession of anything relating to "Anna and the King of Siam" or "The King and I" is illegal in Thailand, where the story is set.

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