2011-2012 Season
The 33rd Season of YOUR Community Theatre
This show contains adult themes/activity.
Parents are cautioned that there are scenes that are very sensual and sexual in nature.
Directed by Leslie Stock
Performances:
September 29-Oct 2; October 6-9; October 13-16, 2011 Curtain for Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows is at 7:30pm. Sunday matinees are at 2:00pm Season Tickets now available or Make a reservation.
Dracula by Don Black & Christopher Hampton, music by Frank Wildhorn (2004) This is a riveting tale of vampires and young love. Jonathan Harker, a young man engaged to be married to the ravishing Mina, arranges housing for Count Dracula in England. Dracula is in search of fresh blood. He plans to drain London dry and create a troop of vampires. He kills Mina’s friend Lucy. Mina and her friends marshal their forces, but Dracula has supernatural powers.
By Missouri Playwright Lanford Wilson
Directed by Kirsten Malinee
A community theatre in a small Missouri town is rehearsing George Bernard Shaws's Joan of Arc. Ruth plays the lead, is the bookkeeper for a cheese factory and a member of the local fundamentalist church. Her boss, the owner of the cheese plant, is killed one stormy night and everyone in town accepts that it is a hunting accident. But Ruth has doubts. As rehearsals continue, the influence of the fearless Joan of Arc drives Ruth to seek the truth at any cost. This is a murder mystery, a comedy, an exploration of human nature and a portrait of a woman discovering unsuspected strengths and depths in her own nature. This is an excellelnt story by a Missourian who is one of our best playwrights.
A CEC Stage II Production:
By Steven Dietz
Directed by Molly Dodge
This comedy stars Becky, a happily married woman in her forties working at a car dealership. She soon meets Walter Flood, a wealthy widower. As the relationship develops between them, Becky is increasingly reluctant to tell Walter that her husband Joe is alive and well. To add complexity to madness, Walter’s daughter becomes engaged to Becky’s son. Becky decides to take a long drive.
Description from the playwright:
"Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? Becky Foster is caught in middle age, middle management and in a middling marriage-- with no prospects for change on the horizon. Then one night a socially inept and grief-struck millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works. Becky is offered nothing short of a new life...and the audience is offered a chance to ride shotgun in a way that most plays wouldn't dare. BECKY'S NEW CAR is a thoroughly original comedy with serious overtones, a devious and delightful romp down the road not taken."
by Fred Alley w/ music by James Valco (2001)
Directed by Dana Naylor
Based on the award-winning film by Lee David Zlotoff, this musical depicts the journey of a young woman just released from prison who decides to start her life anew in a rural Wisconsin town. She precipitates a journey within the town itself toward its own tenuous reawakening. The folk and bluegrass tinged score is unlike that for any other musical.
Throughout the story, friendships are made, tested, and strengthened. If you've seen the movie, the musical ends slightly differently - on a very happy note.
Visit www.thespitfiregrill.com for song samples and more information.
A CEC Stage II Production:
By Martin Sherman
Directed by Meg Phillips
Bent, by Martin Sherman, was first staged off-Broadway in 1978 and portrays the experiences of homosexuals in the Holocaust. The main character, Max, is forced from his hedonistic lifestyle in 1934 Berlin and into the brutality and horror of a Nazi camp as a result of Hitler’s persecution of homosexuals. In the camp Max learns that homosexuals, identified by a pink triangle, are considered the lowest of those held in captivity and he does whatever he must to survive. Max meets Horst, another gay prisoner, and a relationship begins between them in stark contrast to the violence of the work camp.
This groundbreaking play addresses an element of the Holocaust that had been virtually ignored prior to 1978 and forces it into the light in a way that is “shattering, hypnotic , and gripping”. (Rex Reed)
“The open sound of dismay that washed across the auditorium on the night I saw Bent was one I have never quite heard before – belief, disbelief, shock and half-understanding all mixed together.” Walter Kerr, The New York Times
This is three-person comedy set in the present stars Arlene Miller and her lover, the flashy bachelor dentist Mitchell Lovell. The plot centers around a plan to kill Arlene’s dull, gray-suited husband.
CEC's murder mysteries have been well received by our patrons. This promises to be another good one!
by Bob Martin & Don McKellar. Music by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison
Directed by Leslie Stock
The Drowsy Chaperone is a family-friendly musical comedy with tons of laughs and winner of the most 2006 Tony Awards of any musical on Broadway! A hilarious, zany and yet poignant tale of a celebrity bride and her uproarious wedding day, The Drowsy Chaperone is full of thrills and surprises that take the cast and audience soaring to the rafters.
