March 2008

IOLANTHE UPDATE

Three times a week since mid-January, Oakes Center has been ringing with W.S. Gilbert’s timeless wit and Arthur Sullivan’s glorious strains of Iolanthe. Rehearsals will intensify through the rest of February and all of March until the April 4 opening.

Iolanthe (pronounced “I-o-LAN-thee,” with a hard “th” as in “therapy”) was the seventh operetta in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon. Though somewhat lesser known in the U.S. than, say, The Pirates of Penzance or The Mikado, Iolanthe is representative of their very best work.

Labeled as a “fairy opera,” (i.e., opera as fairy tale), Iolanthe pits the realm of the fairies against The House of Lords.

We’re pleased to welcome many new cast members and welcome back friends who have performed with us in the past. We’re particularly tickled to have with us Greg Parvin, our director for HMS Pinafore and Mikado, as well as David and Karen Cantor, two of the leading G&S interpreters in our area.

The full cast is as follows (in order of appearance):

Fairies . . . . . . . . . Kelsey Evenson, Lois Hageman, Kyra Morling, Jayne Myers, Susan Rosenthal, Sandra                        Schilling, Dorothy Schotz, Loretta Smith, Jeslyn Wheeless

Celia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jayne Myers

Leila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Diantha Clark

Fleta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kyra Morling

Queen of the Fairies . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Federici

   Susan Glanzberg

Iolanthe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarah O’Sullivan

Strephon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Christian

Phyllis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karen Cantor

Catherine Spadora

Dukes, Marquises, Viscounts and Barons . . . . . .

                            Jim Andrews, Anthony East, Henry Ogden, Randy Parker, Rick Roberts, Frank                                   Skokan, Tim Stone, Ted Tolles

The Lord Chancellor . . . . . . . . . . . David Cantor

Lord Tolloller . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Dembaugh

Lord Mountararat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Randy Parker

      Frank Skokan

Private Willis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jim Andrews

There will be six performances, all at Oakes Center , 120 Morris Avenue in Summit :

Friday, April 4 and 11, 8pm

Saturday, April 5 and 12, 8pm

Sunday April 6 and 13, 3pm

Tickets are $25, $10 under 18. Reservations

908-665-1376 or stonyhillplayers@yahoo.com.

TARTUFFE AUDITIONS

Auditions for Tartuffe, the hilarious classic by Molière will be held at Oakes Center , 120 Morris Avenue in Summit , on Monday and Wednesday, March 17 and 19 at 7-9pm. “Helming” Tartuffe is Ron Mulligan, who directed last season’s highly successful A Man for All Seasons. Open roles are as follows:

For further information call 908-277-1732 or email stonyhillplayers@yahoo.com

NEXT YEAR’S EXECUTIVE BOARD

Among Rick Roberts’s many contributions to SHP over the past several years has been chair of the Nominating Committee. Since 2004 the job has been relatively simple as there has been no more than one vacancy to be filled per term. However, this year there will be five vacancies for the 2008-2009 term. If you have been an Active Member for at least one year and are interested in serving on the Executive Board, contact Rick at 908-577-2850.

SHELLS HELPING SHP

Seton Hall University ’s Center for Community Research and Development offers to a service learning program local nonprofit agencies. Through the Seton Hall Experiential Learning and Leadership through Service (SHELLS) program, undergraduate students work on projects as part of their coursework. SHP’s application of June 2007 was accepted for the Spring 2008 semester.

In late January, Paula Gray and I had a kickoff meeting with the team assigned to us. We have asked for their expertise and assistance in developing a branding and marketing plan for SHP. More to come in the next issue.

NJACT

Now that SHP has returned to Oakes, the Executive Board is considering renewal of SHP’s prior membership with the NJ Association of Community Theaters. NJACT consists of over 140 community theaters throughout the state and annually dispenses the Perry awards -- think of them as the “Tony’s” for NJ community theater.

Each member theater volunteers two members to serve as reviewers for other member theater productions. These reviewers are trained to review a performance and complete a questionnaire covering over 65 categories. The awards are presented at a dinner at hotel in Bridgewater in September.

Further information can be found at njact.org and njtheater.com/NJACT/default.asp. Our membership could benefit SHP for recruiting performers and technical staff. We might also learn a thing or two about how other community theaters work. It might be a lot of fun to be part of the larger NJ theater community. If you’re interested in being a reviewer, please email stonyhillplayers@yahoo.com or call 908-277-1732.

TRICOUNTY CTA

Looking for another local production (that is, of course, when SHP is dark)? Check out the calendar at www.TriCountyCTA.org. The TriCounty Community Theatre Association consists of representatives from eight community theatres in Essex , Union , and Morris counties. Its mission is to share resources and access to information for our members and audiences. It maintains a website which includes a common calendar for auditions and performance dates. All members and subscribers to member groups are entitled to a $2 discount to all member group productions. For further information please visit www.TriCountyCTA.org.

Randy Parker

President