Peterborough Players November First Friday Event a Chance to Join the Party and Win Tickets10/22/2019
Peterborough, NH – Whether or not you’re able to be at the Players 31st Gala and Auction on Saturday, November 2nd, November’s First Friday offers you a chance to join in the party, for free! On November 1st, the Peterborough Players brings a glimpse of the annual auction to downtown Peterborough at the Mariposa Museum as part of the First Friday festivities.
The Players’ auction is always a great party, full of opportunities for attendees to have fun, connect with fellow patrons and actors, and do good for the Players, while having the chance to bid and win some fabulous items. This special First Friday event will offer a sneak peek at the auction entertainment (performed by Players’ favorites Kraig Swartz, Bridget Beirne, and Pedro Ka'awaloa), and have an introduction of the Players’ upcoming Winter Season by Managing Director Keith Stevens. You’ll hear more about what the Players has scheduled to warm you during the coldest months of the year. In addition, the Players will offer a few lucky people a chance to win tickets to the show of their choice in the 2019-2020 Winter Season, just for attending! Everyone in the First Friday audience will be automatically entered to win tickets, absolutely free. As November rings in the holiday season, the Players look forward to kicking off the celebrations at their always one-of-a-kind, behind the scenes, First Friday event. Be sure to join in the fun on November 1st at the Mariposa Museum. Admission is free, doors open at 5:30 pm, and the program will begin at 6:00pm. For more information on the Players’ Winter Season shows, the Arts on Screen Season, and more, please visit www.peterboroughplayers.org or call (603) 924-7585. PETERBOROUGH, NH – The Peterborough Players celebrates the return of their on-stage Winter Season with three selections sure to delight audiences during this cold time of year. A boisterous comedy, a return of a country music legend, and an encounter with one of America’s most revered poets come to life in A Tuna Christmas, Always…Patsy Cline, and This Verse Business December 2019 – February 2020.
The season begins with A Tuna Christmas, a comedy by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, running from December 5th-15th. In this hilarious romp, Players’ favorites and masters of comedy Tom Frey (2 Pianos, 4 Hands) and Kraig Swartz (Fully Committed) portray over 20 different characters – everyone in this tiny, tight-knit, irreverent town of Tuna, Texas. As usual, in Tuna, the annual tree decorating contest is underway, with Vera Carp vying for top prize. Jim Bob is trying to salvage the local theatre production of A Christmas Carol from both the town censors and the wrath of the electric company. Didi is arming the good people in town with protection against the Christmas Phantom, who’s wreaking holiday havoc and may or (may not!) be Bertha’s fresh-from-probation son, Stanley. Welcome to Christmas in the Greater Tuna area – a great way to add a laugh to your holidays. A Tuna Christmas will be directed by Artistic Director Gus Kaikkonen. The Players kicks off the New Year with the return of a country music legend in Always… Patsy Cline, from January 16th-26th. Full of down-home laughs and 27 of Patsy’s hit songs (including Crazy, Walking After Midnight, I Fall to Pieces, Sweet Dreams, and more) Always…Patsy Cline was created and originally directed by Ted Swindley. In 1961, Patsy Cline was one of the biggest stars in country music. A chance encounter before a concert began the long-time friendship between Patsy and her great fan, Louise Seger. Over beers and bacon-and-eggs, fan and idol became confidants, supporting each other through letters until Patsy’s untimely death at age 30. Patsy and Louise bring the audience on a honky-tonk journey through one of country music’s greatest real-life friendships. Popular company members Bridget Beirne and Lisa Bostnar return as Patsy Cline and her dear friend, Louise. Tom Frey directs. Rounding out the season is the return of a play that premiered in 2010 at the Players, This Verse Business by A.M. Dolan, from February 6th-16th. The perfect marriage between a treasured American poet and a beloved actor, Emmy-winner (NYPD Blue) and Tony-nominee Gordon Clapp returns for an encore performance as Robert Frost. Following quickly after his performance at Lincoln Center in The Great Society, Clapp will once again breathe life into Frost, poised and waiting for the birth of a new poem. Frost’s endless quest to express life through metaphor – and encourage the reader to find their own meaning of life – is beautifully captured through this intimate moment between actor and audience, featuring timeless Frost classics such as Mending Wall, The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. The Players invites you to come warm your winter months with exceptional professional theatre! Winter Season tickets are on sale now. Subscriptions and Barn Door Flex Passes are also available and are a great way to see more for less! Visit peterboroughplayers.org or call the box office at (603) 924-7585 for tickets. PETERBOROUGH, NH – The first three offerings from the Met: Live in HD in the Peterborough Players Arts on Screen season are an opera lover’s dream. Two Puccini masterworks and a timeless Massenet classic screen at the Players this October and early November. Broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera and shown on the big screen at the Players in stunning HD, the programs also include exclusive, behind-the-scenes material that create a one-of-a-kind viewing experience.
The Met: Live in HD screenings begin on October 12th with the dazzling Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini’s Turandot. The performance is under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and features renowned dramatic soprano, Christine Goerke as the princess. Massenet’s Manon, about the irresistible and tragically beautiful title character who yearns for life’s finer things, is on-screen on October 26th. Soprano Lisette Oropesa stars and Maurizio Benini conducts. Then, on November 9th, Puccini’s glorious Madama Butterfly comes to the Players’ screen, featuring soprano Hui He as the heartbreaking Butterfly and Paulo Szot as Sharpless. All operas start at 1pm. Audiences for the Met: Live in HD series also have the opportunity to enjoy Opera Bites - delicious treats like hot soups, quiche, sandwiches, wraps and more from Sunflowers Restaurant. Opera Bites are sold before the screening and during intermissions and are a great topper to the opera experience! Items served cost between $4.50 and $10. Arts on Screen subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now. Tickets for the Special Screening series and the National Theatre Live are $20; the Met: Live in HD is $25. Subscriptions are always a great way to see more for less! Find information about the full 2019-2020 Arts on Screen series on the Players’ website, peterboroughplayers.org, or by calling (603) 924-7585. Ladies and gentlemen, and children of all ages, the Peterborough Players invites you to go to the center ring of the Big Top with the first showing in their new Special Screenings series, The Flight Fantastic. This high-flying documentary will be on-screen at the Players on October 5th at 1pm. Audiences will also have the very special opportunity to participate in a talkback with the filmmaker – former Artistic Director of the Peterborough Players, Emmy- and Tony-nominee Tom Moore.
This fascinating look at the world of the flying trapeze centers on one of the greatest acts in circus history, The Flying Gaonas. First performing on a trampoline, the Gaonas went on to become a star attraction for the best circuses in the world, including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The Gaonas fill the screen with their dazzling skills and charisma, qualities that are undiminished in their “second act.” Having left the center ring, we see them pass the torch through teaching and coaching to new generations. Longtime Broadway, film, and TV director Tom Moore, a trapeze flyer in his own right, brings their story to life through interviews with family members and colorful archival material. “Serving as Artistic Director of the Peterborough Players, coming as it did shortly after I graduated from Yale School of Drama but right before being offered the original Grease, was a very special landmark in my directing career,” says Moore. “Sally Brown took a chance on a very young director and the rest became my theatrical history. The Players have held a special place in my heart ever since… And it is a special joy to be able to share my documentary, The Flight Fantastic, at the Players, as the world of the aerial arts has been another great passion in my life.” While Moore is perhaps best known in the theatre as the director of the original Broadway production of Grease, he also directed the original production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play ‘night Mother. In addition, he directed the film version of ‘night Mother with Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft. His work garnered Emmy nominations for episodes of hit TV shows like ER, Mad About You, and L.A. Law. He was a fellow at the American Film Institute, and he holds a B.A. from Purdue University and an M.F.A. from the Yale University School of Drama. The Players is thrilled to offer this unique opportunity to be mesmerized by the story of The Flying Gaonas and to learn more about the film from Tom Moore. Tickets to The Flight Fantastic are only $20 and are available now through the Players website, peterboroughplayers.org, or by calling (603) 924-7585. The Flight Fantastic is appropriate for audiences of all ages! Peterborough Players Unveils 2019-2020 Arts on Screen Season with New Special Screenings Series9/13/2019
Peterborough Players invites you to travel to the Metropolitan Opera, the National Theatre of London, the flying trapeze of the Ringling Brothers circus and more in their 2019-2020 Arts on Screen series. In addition to the return of their offerings from the Met: Live in HD and the National Theatre Live, the Players adds a series of three Special Screenings, bringing a unique, curated lineup of on-screen events.
The stunning, ultra-high resolution cinematography of the Players Arts on Screen series allows audiences to see every detail and feel as if they have been transported to New York, London, or beyond while remaining in the comfort of the Players’ warm and welcoming theatre. In addition, Dolby® sound is custom designed for the theatre and gives breathtaking realism. It is an exclusive ticket to some of the greatest companies in the world! The new Special Screening series is an opportunity for audiences to see films and performances that they might never get to see, beyond those from the Metropolitan Opera and the National Theatre Live. The first in the series is a very special event with a deep connection to the Players. On October 5th, former Players’ Artistic Director Tom Moore will be onsite to screen his high-flying documentary The Flight Fantastic, about one of the first families of trapeze arts, the Flying Gaonas. Emmy and Tony award-nominated Moore, director of the original Broadway production of Grease and the Sissy Spacek film ‘night Mother, will be on-hand at the Players for a talkback post-screening. The Special Screenings series will also include two thrilling musicals from London, the tap dance classic 42nd Street (December 14th) and the Cindi Lauper-scored Kinky Boots (February 15th). For opera lovers, the Met: Live in HD features ten extraordinary pieces, from classic and contemporary. Highlights include Puccini’s perennial audience favorite Madama Butterfly (November 9th) featuring the great Plácido Domingo as Sharpless; Philip Glass’ hypnotic and virtuosic Akhnaten, with a company of acrobats and jugglers (November 23rd); and the return to the Met of one of America’s favorite operas, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, in a vibrant, all-star production which has garnered rave reviews (February 1st). Rounding out the series are six productions from the National Theatre in London. The Lehman Trilogy (November 16th) tells the story of the financial family behind Lehman Brothers, from arrival in America in the 1800s to present day collapse, featuring Simon Russell Beale. Arthur Miller’s classic All My Sons (January 25th) boasts Sally Field and Bill Pullman as Joe and Kate Keller, while Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (March 7th) sees Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones fame as Titania. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now. Tickets for the Special Screening series and the National Theatre Live are $20; the Met: Live in HD is $25. Subscriptions are always a great way to see more for less! Find information about the full 2019-2020 Arts on Screen series on the Players’ website, peterboroughplayers.org. Tickets are available through the site or by calling (603) 924-7585. “I’m eighty years old. I find that unforgivable and suddenly it’s a millennium and I stink of the past century, but what can I do?” So asks the title character in the final show of the Peterborough Players 2019 Summer Season, Rose. Written by Martin Sherman, the celebrated American author of Bent, the play features Players’ favorite Carolyn Michel as Rose. This one woman, tour-de-force performance will run from September 11th-15th at the Players. Howard Millman returns to the Players to direct the piece. Rose is a survivor. Her remarkable life began in a tiny Russian village, took her to Warsaw’s ghettos and a ship called The Exodus, and finally to the boardwalks of Atlantic City, the Arizona canyons and salsa-flavored nights in Miami Beach. The play is both a sharply drawn portrait of a feisty Jewish woman and a moving reminder of some of the events that shaped the 20th century. Rose premiered at the Royal National Theatre in London where it was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Play, and was produced on Broadway by Lincoln Center Theater. Carolyn Michel has delighted Players' audiences in two one-woman-plays before: The Lady with All the Answers and Family Secrets. Rose promises to do the same. Carolyn was most recently at the Players in their production of Driving Miss Daisy with Taurean Blacque and Kraig Swartz. She has appeared on Broadway with Sid Caesar in Sid Caesar & Company, and has performed across the country. She was a resident company member of the Asolo Repertory Theatre for 24 seasons. The work of director Howard Millman has been seen at the Players many times before, in such popular productions as Driving Miss Daisy, Nobody Don’t Like Yogi, and Visiting Mr. Green. Most recently, he directed the Players’ production of The Whipping Man. He was the Producing Artistic Director of both the Asolo Repertory Theatre and Geva Theatre, and has received multiple awards including the Richard G. Fallon Award for Excellence in Professional Theatre. Rose will have a very limited run — from September 11th-15th ONLY. The show is exclusively sponsored by People’s United Bank. Showtimes are Wednesday, Thursdays, and Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 4pm. Tickets and more information can be found at www.peterboroughplayers.org, or by calling the Box Office at (603) 924-7585. As the summer season comes to a close, make plans now to join the Players for Arts on Screen beginning in October including dazzling opera from The Met: Live in HD, exceptional plays from National Theatre Live, and new this year, three special screenings including a documentary and two musical theatre productions. There’s always something exciting happening at the Players – in every season. Peterborough Players is proud to bring the recent Broadway hit play, A Doll’s House, Part 2, to Players audiences from August 28th-September 8th. The play received 8 nominations for the 2017 Tony Awards, including one for Peterborough Players’ alumnus Jayne Houdyshell, and became the most produced play in America in the 2018-2019 season. Lucas Hnath’s audacious comedy picks up the story of Ibsen’s classic A Doll’s House, in a witty, sharp, and modern play about conflict, commitment, and consequences. It’s been 15 years since Nora slammed the door on her marriage and children in the revolutionary final scene and set off to blaze a new trail for herself and for women everywhere. Now a successful yet scandalous writer, she’s being blackmailed by a judge and needs her former husband’s help. But her family has a few grievances they need to air first. While the play relates to Ibsen’s classic, it’s not necessary to be familiar with the original piece to enjoy A Doll’s House, Part 2. The play echoes present day issues of women’s rights, familial responsibilities, and more. Though set as a period piece, Hnath has written the play in modern language, driving home the question, “How far have we come in present time – if we’ve progressed at all?” Players’ favorites Lisa Bostnar (Annapurna, The Voysey Inheritance at the Players, The Madras House and others at the Mint Theatre) and Carolyn Michel (Driving Miss Daisy at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and the Peterborough Players) take on the roles played on Broadway by Tony winners Laurie Metcalf and Players alum Jayne Houdyshell. Artistic Director Gus Kaikkonen plays Nora’s husband, Torvald, and Second Company member Katie Shults appears as Nora’s Daughter, Emmy. Players’ Managing Director Keith Stevens directs this exciting production. A Doll’s House, Part 2 runs from August 28th-September 8th and is co-sponsored by NBT Bank. Showtimes are Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 4pm. In addition, there is a 2pm matinee on September 3rd. Tickets and more information can be found at www.peterboroughplayers.org, or by calling the Box Office at (603) 924-7585. Rated PG-13. September First Friday Event an Examination of Design and Production from Peterborough Players8/19/2019
Peterborough, NH – Join us for our September Peterborough Players First Friday event in downtown Peterborough on September 6th from 6:00-7:00pm. The Mariposa Museum will once again host this event, this time a discussion with costume designer Bethany Mullins and Managing Director Keith Stevens on theatrical design process, from inception through production.
This event offers another rare “look behind the curtain” at what our audiences don’t see – the process, inspiration, collaboration, and finally creation that goes behind design elements that come together on a given show. What an audience experiences at a performance is the culmination of countless hours of design and direction work that result in an overall cohesive look, feel, sound, or flow of a production. Bethany Mullins is both the Costume Shop Manager and Resident Costume Designer at the Players. She is a New York City based costume designer and technician. This summer, her deisgn work was featured in our productions of Mahida’s Extra Key to Heaven and Gertrude Stein and a Companion, and will be seen in A Doll’s House, Part 2, and Rose. She has worked at theatres in New York and around the country as a designer, wardrobe supervisor, or stitcher. She has contributed her talents to touring productions like The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables. She attended the University of North Alabama as well as Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, where she graduated from their Wardrobe Technician and Costume Design Specialist programs in 2018. This year, Keith Stevens marks his twenty-fourth summer season as Managing Director of the Peterborough Players. Under his leadership, the Players has greatly expanded its season, increased its budget, established a cash reserve, successfully completed two major capital campaigns, and renovated its facilities. Prior to coming to Peterborough, Keith worked for five years as the General Manager of the Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, MA. He has served on negotiating committees for the Council of Resident Stock Theatres and the League of Resident Theatres, and he holds an MFA in Arts Administration with a concentration in Directing from Virginia Tech and a BA in Theatre with a Capstone in Business/Marketing from Ohio State. He currently teaches as a lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Keene State College, serves as an adviser to the drama program at ConVal High School. This season, he directs A Doll’s House, Part 2 at the Players. Be sure to bring your questions and thoughts to this unique event. Admission is free, doors open at 5:30 pm, and the program will begin at 6:00pm at the Mariposa Museum, 26 Main St, Peterborough, NH 03458. Peterborough Players Performs Modern Musical Version of the Cinderella Story, CINDY REILLY8/15/2019
The Peterborough Players has another great musical coming up for our young audiences - and the young at heart! Bring the family to see Cindy Reilly, a modern, musical retelling of the beloved Cinderella story performed by the Players’ Second Company, running from August 17th-24th. Anyone familiar with the tale of Cinderella will recognize Cindy Reilly’s journey - Cindy is a hard-working, bespectacled CPA, in her family-run luxury hotel, surrounded by her chic stepsisters, a rockstar “formerly known as Prince Charming,” and her Leona Helmsley-ish “Queen of Mean” stepmother. With the help of some of her furry (and not-so-furry) friends, will Cindy be able to live the life of her dreams? The 10 members of the very gifted Second Company – young artists from around the country – bring Cindy and her family and friends to life. Written by Players’ Artistic Director Gus Kaikkonen and Players’ favorites Kraig Swartz and composer Ellen Mandel, Cindy Reilly is tailor-made for young audiences, but filled with plenty of laughs for adults. A runtime of under an hour makes it the perfect activity for summer! Please note that Cindy Reilly is a VERY limited run, so be sure to reserve your tickets! Performances are Saturday, August 17th at 2pm, Monday August 19th at 7pm, Tuesday, August 20th at 10:30am, Friday, August 23rd at 2pm, and Saturday, August 24th at 2pm. Visit www.peterboroughplayers.org for tickets, or call the box office at (603) 924-7585. Join the Peterborough Players at the Mariposa Museum for First Friday in August. Playwright and Director, Charles Morey, will give a peek behind the curtain at the process of writing, and then directing his upcoming play Dumas’ Camille. Mr. Morey is the author of eleven produced plays. Figaro was commissioned and produced Off-Broadway by the Pearl Theatre Company in 2012 and was named a NY Times “Critic’s Pick.” The Granite State was premiered by the Peterborough Players in the summer of 2014. In addition he has written Laughing Stock – a hilarious romp, loosely based on his time as Artistic Director of the Players in the 70s -- which has received close to 200 hundred productions around the world, The Yellow Leaf, The Ladies Man (an adaptation from Feydeau with over 70 productions to date) as well as adaptations of the 19th century classic novels, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Tale of Two Cities, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dracula and The Three Muskateer. His plays have been produced at numerous professional theatres around the country, and Laughing Stock has been in continuous production in Russia since 2013. His current projects include a commission to write the Libretto for a Music-Theatre piece about Walter Reuther and the American Labor Movement with composer Greg Pliska, tentatively titled A Most Dangerous Man. He is also working on the first draft of a new play, Monadnock, the third of the ‘New Hampshire Plays’ including The Granite State and The Third Sky. Mr. Morey was the Artistic Director of the Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City from 1984 to 2012 where he directed more than 90 productions including world premieres of Find and Sign by Wendy MacLeod, Bess Wohl's Touch(ed) and In as well as first regional theatre productions of Les Misérables, The Producers, and The Vertical Hour. While serving as Artistic Director of the Peterborough Players from 1977 to 1988, he directed some 35 productions including significant world premieres by Percy Granger (Eminent Domain and Unheard Songs) and Poet Laureate of the United States Donald Hall’s Ragged Mountain Elegies. Charles Morey splits his time between Peterborough and NYC. He received a BA from Dartmouth College and a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the MacDowell Colony. He will direct Dumas’ Camille at the Players August 14th -25th. This will be the east coast premiere for this moving play filled with some of the most beautiful music ever written. It is a deeply romantic love-story about the relationship of reality to memory and art, set at a rehearsal for Verdi’s La Traviata. “I am delighted to be part of the Players First Friday presentations and look forward to talking about the rich and fascinating history behind Dumas' Camille” says Playwright–Director, Charles Morey. “I enjoy being a part of this incredibly creative community in the Monadnock Region.” Don’t miss the August edition of Peterborough Players First Friday downtown at the Mariposa Museum on Friday, August 2nd. Admission is free, doors open at 5:30 pm, and the program will begin at 6:00pm. Tickets for summer season shows are on sale and can be purchased at Peterborough Players, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, or by calling (603) 924-7585. For more information, please visit www.peterboroughplayers.org. |
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