Santa is Coming to Main Street

Kathy Wenerick-Bell, Grace La Count, Joseph Mariano
Photo by Larry Simmons

 

 

Laurel Mill Playhouse opens its annual holiday show this Saturday night with the classic, “Miracle on 34^th Street,” adapted from the novel by Valentine Davies; George Seaton wrote the 1947 movie starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, and a very young (6-year-old) Natalie Wood.

Set in New York City, the story centers on a Macy’s Department store Santa, a seemingly eccentric old gentleman named Kris Kringle, who claims to be the real McCoy. When Kringle ends up in court defending his sanity, the innocence of childhood goes on trial.

Veteran Laurel Mill Playhouse Director Michael Hartsfield has assembled the following cast:

 Craig Allen - Johnny’s Parent/Al

Derek A. Cooper - Mr. Halloran

Sarah Criscuolo - 3^rd Pedestrian/Lou

Morgan Delk - Sylvia/1^st Pedestrian

Katie Estep - Sharon

Mike Galizia - Kris Kringle

Sharon Gilbertz - Elf Q

Henry Green - Mr. Bloomingdale/Mr. Finley

Shirley Greenwald - Dr. Pierce

Ed Higgins - Mr. Sawyer

Deborah Hokanson - Megan

Stacy Hokanson - Bag Lady/Megan’s Parent/Newscaster

Anne Hull - Ms. Shellhammer

Malcolm Humes - Mr. Macy

Lillie Jewell-Dean  - Dutch Girl/Janet Mara

Ashley Kelley - Rich Person/2^nd Pedestrian

Grace La Count - Susan Walker

Joseph Mariano  - Fred Gayley

Kendra Maurer - Ms. Mara

Raquel McRae  - Dutch Girl’s Foster Mother

Grant Myers - Sharon’s Parent/Mr. Duncan

Sophia Riazi-Sekowski - Johnny

Amanda Smith - Elf Z

Amy Vecheck  - Elf R

Kathy Wenerick-Bell - Doris Walker

Tim Wolf  - Judge Harper

Nicole Woody - Elf J

Kayleen Yermal  - Elf W

Shaelyn Yermal - Child #1/Child #2

 Miracle on 34th Street" runs from Dec. 3 to 18 at Laurel Mill Playhouse at 508 Main Street in Laurel. Friday and Saturday night curtains rise at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees Dec. 4, 11 and 18 at 2 p.m., along with a special matinee Dec. 17 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $13 for general admission. Students (18 and under), active duty military and seniors (65 and over) pay $10. For further information visit www.laurelmillplayhouse.org or contact Producer Maureen Rogers at maureencrogers@gmail.com.

Look for my review in the Dec. 8th Laurel Leader.

Christopher Dong Vocal Recital

Christopher Dong

   Laurel Mill Playhouse audiences have seen Christopher Dong perform in "Company" and "Rent" (see my review) over the past couple of seasons. A competent performer, Dong – who’s also a gymnast and known for performing unexpected, signature “flips” on stage – gave very respectable performances in both musicals.

            An aerospace engineer by day, Dong co-founded the APL Drama Club a couple of years ago. Recently he’s been doing some film work and taking voice lessons from Mary Wierick. Some of his lucky friends, peers, and acquaintances were invited to attend “I Am I!” – a private vocal recital that Dong presented Nov. 14^th at the Parsons Auditorium after hours at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel.

            Accompanied by Wierick on piano, Dong sang an eclectic score of songs that showed off his improved vocal range, beginning with the traditional folk song, Shenandoah arranged by Frank Ponzio, and ending with I Don Quixote from “Man of La Mancha.”

            And it was quite an ending.

 Joking at the reception afterward that Dong’s natural range of expression usually tends to range from 1-3 (Dong said he was surprised they estimated it so high), pleased audience members complimented his wonderfully expressive presentation and the excellent quality of the recital overall.

In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) at Laurel Mill Playhouse

     Sara Ruhl's "In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)" continues its run at the Laurel Mill Playhouse at 508 Main Street in Laurel through Nov. 20th. The show debuted on Broadway a couple of years ago.

Michael Hartsfield, Eric Henry, Ann Turiano, Dana Medford, Brian Binney, 
Nikki Smallwood, Paula Rich, George Tamerlani

      Pelvic massage really was used to treat hysteria in women (and sometimes men) in Victorian times. Based on documented medical history of the electromechanical vibrator, "In the Next Room" takes place in the late 1800s in the home of a well to do gynecologist. 

     Dr. and Mrs. Givings have just installed electricity in their parlor and the room next to it, which Dr. Givings calls his "operating theater." He treats patients for hysteria in this operating theater as Mrs. Givings listens, befuddled by the sounds, through a locked door. One evening she breaks into the room with a hat pin while the good doctor is out and discovers the mysterious instrument, which she says "looks like a farming tool."

     But when Mrs. Givings figures out that the device has recreational as well as therapeutic value, a series of hysterical developments result. Director Michael Hartsfield handles the intellectual comedy with his usual finness and the Victorian trappings lend a demure quality to the production.

George Tamerlani, Paul Rich, Dana Medford, 
Nikki Smallwood

     But don't take your kids. Although there is no nudity or offensive language (in fact, Ruhl's formal English adds much to the play's charm), patients appear to be masturbated onstage in full view (underneath the sheets of course). And the medical procedures are discussed in graphic detail.

George Tamerlani, Paula Rich

     


Be prepared to laugh, to cry, and squirm a bit through this one. Unraveling Ruhl's ambitious themes in the second act may prove a challenge, but it's worth it.

     See my review in the Laurel Leader.

"In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)" continues Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through Nov. 20, with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. on Nov. 13 and 20. Tickets are $13 for general admission; and $10 for students (18 and younger) and seniors (65 and older). For reservations, call 301-617-9906 and press 2. For more information, visit www.laurelmillplayhouse.org. 

Starry Night Fundraiser at 2nd Star Productions

     Folks who like to attend musical theater mostly for the show-stopping numbers have an opportunity to enjoy the best of a decade of 2nd Star Productions musicals in one evening. For 50 tax deductible dollars, patrons can reserve a seat at the little theater in the woods, a.k.a. the Bowie Playhouse, on Sunday, November 13th.

     The evening starts at 8 pm with music direction by Donald K. Smith, and performances by local artists reprising their favorite performances from 2nd Star musicals, as follows:

Damn Yankees -  Dean Davis, Wendell Holland

The Sound of Music  - Barbara Hartzell

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum -  Brian Douglas
Something's Afoot - Duncan Hood and Shannon Benil

My Fair Lady - Pamela Day    

A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - Nathan Bowen

Anything Goes - Drea Elward    

Oliver  - Tiffany Shannon

Oliver - Zac Fadler , Michael Mathes, Brian Jolly, Stevie Mangum

Annie - Vivian Wingard, Tabi Thornhill, Leela Dawson, Angeleza Anderson, Kashamere Maria
Pirates of Penzance - Tania Rosa Bindhoff Frieswyck

The Secret Garden - Samantha Feikema, John Day, Eddie Chell,  Vivian Wingard, Zac Fadler

King and I - Wendell Holland

Cinderella - Malarie Novotny, Lisa Gregg, Pam Shilling

Brigadoon -  Barbara Hartzell, John Day

Damn Yankees - Hannah Thornhill

Into the Woods - Christine Asero, Pamela Day, Brian Douglas

The Music Man - Julie Kurzava
The Man of LaMancha - Michael Galizia

     Light refreshments and a silent auction will be served at the intermission. 

     Seating is limited and prepaid reservations should be made very soon. Call 410-757-5700  or 301-832-4819. For more information and directions, go to the 2nd Star home page.

     Watch for Vivian Wingard's and Zac Fadler's performance from The Secret Garden.  Vivian Wingard is the teen granddaughter of Janie Wingard, owner and founder of the theater, and Janie described their performance of "Wick" as one of her proudest moments in the theater's history when we talked last spring. (See  The Force Behind 2nd Star Productions)

"Our Town" at the Cheapeake Shakespeare Company

Fall seems to be the season to revisit classic American Theater – The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is currently staging Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at the outdoor ruins of the Patuxent Female Institute Park behind the courthouse in Ellicott City.  Most theater fans have seen the show more than once, and it really takes that to appreciate the depth of the show’s central themes. Artistic Founding Director Ian Gallanar, who directed this production, said it best for Tony Sclafani’s preview article in the Howard County Times.

Gallanar's memory of "Our Town," he says, was that, "It was a sweet little play about a young couple" and the inherent sweetness of the townsfolk. But this time out, he found it was nothing of the sort.

"I found it to be a very powerful play about how fast time moves through our lives and how our lives go from one place to another without us taking any time to look at what's around us."

Patuxent Female Institute Park
Ellicott City, MD

Staging the show in the park where the ruins of the old girls’ school serve as a stand-in for the town requires audiences to physically go from one place to another and creates a visually exciting presentation.  I found no “old hats” in sight here – just particularly beautiful period costumes designed by Marilyn Johnson and orange glow stick necklaces handed out at the admissions gate that made audience members visible in the dark.

Walking up the hill from the parking lot was a great warm-up to following the story around all evening. The House Mangers gathered everyone at the starting point of the show, Gallanar gave a casual welcome spiel and invited audience members to “eavesdrop,” and the show began.

During the two intermissions on opening night, hot chocolate, hot cider and snacks were served by vendors in woodsy animal costumes (we were, after all, in the woods).

For more about how Gallanar adapted “Our Town” to the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s fall “moveable” production and the excellent quality of the direction and acting, see my review article in the Howard County Times.

The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s “moveable” productions accommodate smaller audiences than traditional stage settings and sell out quickly. For more information, go to www.chesapeakeshakespeare.com.

"I Never Sang for My Father" at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Ed Higgins, Hillary Mazer

After finishing the summer one-act festival (see feature article) with an interesting crop of unknown works, the Laurel Mill Playhouse is revisiting classic American Theater for one more weekend with “I Never Sang for My Father” by Robert Anderson. Baby boomers may remember Gene Hackman’s Oscar-nominated movie performance as Gene Garrison, the son caught in a life-long web of father-son conflict who can’t turn his back on filial duty.

         The show is very well played by Donald Neal, Ed Higgins, Maureen Rogers, Hillary Mazer, Rob Allen, Shenna Ross, and Henry Green. 

          The following is a quote from my review that came out in the Laurel Leader, which doesn’t appear to be available online, but is likely hanging on the bulletin board at the theater.

Ed Higgins, Henry Green, Shenna Ross, Maureen Rogers, Donald Neal

          “Edgy and earnest, “I Never Sang for My Father” doesn’t really have a resolution, just an end to Gene’s mental snapshots but not to his yearning for paternal love. It does raise provocative questions about filial duty, while providing a showcase for some fine acting, and the folks at Laurel Mill Playhouse are up to it.”

          The final performances are Friday, and Saturday, at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. (Oct. 14-16). For more information, go to www.laurelmillplayhouse.org.

2nd Star Productions

Last month, 2nd Star Productions reprised Larry Shue's "The Foreigner" at the charming little theater in the woods, Bowie Playhouse. After performing there for Director Jane Wingard fifteen years ago in the same play and with the same lead (Steve English), I had to check out the final performance.

This show was excellent! A high compliment from an audience member predisposed to hope that the production wouldn't be quite as good as ours had been. But it was, and even better as an ensemble. There's no point in writing a review, now, but suffice it to say that the review of opening night that came out in Bay Weekly is right on the mark.

Bay Weekly Review of The Foreigner
The final performance blew the audience away.

Bowie Playhouse, White Marsh Recreational Park, Bowie, MD

Last spring, Wingard graciously spent some time answering questions and discussing the history of 2nd Star Productions. See The Force Behind 2nd Star Productions.