Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber is the energizing musical story of the dreamer Joseph and his coat of many colors.  When Joseph, a boy blessed with the ability to interpret dreams, is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, he endures a series of adventures in Egypt that challenge his faith in humanity.  Filled with recognizable tunes in a wide range of musical styles from country-western to rock ‘n’ roll (“Any Dream Will Do,” “One More Angel in Heaven”, “Go Go Go Joseph”), this Biblical tale has delighted audiences worldwide since its London premiere in 1973. 

This production of Joseph features a large cast of 45 singers ranging in age from 8 to 58 from all across the Susquehanna Valley who have appeared in productions with RiverStage, Valley Players, Calvary Theatre Group, Community Theatre League, Susquehanna University, Kutztown University, Shippensburg Univerisity, and high schools including Lewisburg, Shikellamy, Milton, Mount Carmel and Danville.  “One of the most exciting things about the show,” says director Ellen Boyer, “is that we have many young people involved who have been the stars of their own schools’ productions but are performing together for the first time.  When you combine them with our veteran community theatre performers, this truly is a unique, all-star cast.  You won’t want to miss it!”  Director Ellen Boyer is director of theatre arts and forensics at Shikellamy High School and recent recipient of the Sunbury Rotary Club’s 2013 Citizen of the Year award for her many contributions to the arts and education.  The show’s musical directors are Connie Pawling-Young and Marina Gresh, and the cast is led by Shikellamy High School alumnus Victor Gowl in the role of Joseph with Daniel Brehm of Northumberland as Jacob and a trio of narrators played by Shelby Snyder of Sunbury, Jennifer Wakeman of Lewisburg and Marina Gresh of Danville. 

RiverStage Community Theatre, formerly known as the Milton Area Community Theatre, was founded in 2003 as a nonprofit group of actors, directors, musicians and artists committed to bringing top-notch theatre to the Greater Susquehanna Valley.  In 2013-14, it will produce its eleventh season including two dramatic works and a classic musical with performances throughout Milton, Bloomsburg, Lewisburg and Shamokin.  This show is produced by RiverStage in proud association with the Shikellamy High School Drama Department.

FULL CAST
Joseph………….. Victor Gowl
Narrators……….. Marina Gresh, Shelby Snyder, Jennifer Wakeman
Jacob…………… Daniel Brehm
Potiphar………… Bradley Wakeman
Pharoah…………. Kurt Umholtz
Guard…………… Roger Nunkester, Jr
Joseph’s Brothers… Tim Vasey, Jove Graham, Callum Gasteiger, Maurice Daly
                                Bruce Chesson, Tyrell Noll, Roger Manzano,
                                Tim Hippensteel, Matthew Tiramani, Jessep Caravella,
                                Daniel Delgado
Ensemble………… Parker Scott, Camden Hare, Samantha Yuschock, Emily Engle,
                            Aleaha Jones, Sarah Bell, Brandy Vasey, Reba Rohrer,
                            Natalie Schoch, Krysta Maida, Alexandra Scott
Children’s Ensemble…Duncan Ty Bender, Annie Elliott, Taija Figard,
                                  Aliyah Heintzelman, Lexi Markunas, Gabby Markunas,
                                  Ava Markunas, Emma Morgan, Connor Morgan,
                                 Koy Seesholtz, Addison Sharrow, Taylor Sweeney,
                                 Samantha Wakeman, Rachel Wakeman, Alexis Wary

Gaspipe Theatre announces that it will be holding auditions later this month for its summer production of William Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT.  They are seeking males and females from ages 14 to 60; also a few non-speaking roles for youth and children.

Auditions will be held on May 20 & 21 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Gazebo in Hufnagle Park, Lewisburg (between 5th and 6th Streets and Market and Streets);  in case of rain, please go to the 3rd floor of the Lewisburg Hotel (ask at the desk how to get up there!)  Projected performance dates will be Thursday, July 25 through Saturday, July 27.  For more information, call Derek Scott at 939-7650.

The Valley Players Community Theater Organization will hold auditions for its summer dinner theater production on Monday, May 13 and Tuesday, May 14 at 7 pm at The Packer House, 24 North 3rd Street, Sunbury. Performances of the show will be on July 26, 27, August 2 and 3, also at The Packer House. “We’re in a unique position right now, in that we have more than one viable script, and we wanted to determine which to produce based on who we have auditioning,” director Joyce M. Hendricks said. “We are looking for some fresh faces to grace our stage, and there are roles available for a wide range of ages.”  Plays under consideration are Art of Murder, a comedy/mystery by Joe DiPietro, Noel Coward’s classic comedy Blithe Spirit, and Cliffhanger, a comedy/mystery by James Yaffe.

The Valley Players Community Theater Organization is a non-profit organization, and has produced musicals, comedies, dramas and interactive murder mysteries throughout the Central Susquehanna Valley since its founding in 1971.  For more information, contact Joyce Hendricks at 570-898-5450 or artdiva1@ptd.net.

And tonight, March 5th at 8:00pm, WVBU 90.5 FM will present the first ever on-air broadcast of RiverStage’s production of Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel: The Marx Brothers’ Lost Radio Show which was recorded live in front of a studio audience in October.  Tune in tonight or listen to the livestream at www.wvbu.com!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber is the delightful musical parable of the dreamer Joseph and his coat of many colors.  When Joseph, a boy blessed with prophetic dreams, is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, he endures a series of adventures in which his spirit and humanity are constantly challenged.  Set to an energizing cornucopia of musical styles from country-western to rock ‘n’ roll, this Old Testament tale is both timely and timeless. 

The show will be performed the weekend of July 19-21, 2013 at the Shikellamy High School in Sunbury, directed by Ellen Boyer with musical direction by Russell Wynn, Jr.

Interested actors, singers and dancers may attend any of the audition sessions.  Adults and teens should bring a short prepared song with sheet music for piano accompaniment or CD.  Children (grades 3-8) should be prepared to sing the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee (America).”  The cast requires more than two dozen male and female actors of all experience levels, plus a children’s chorus. 

For more information about auditions, visit riverstagetheatre.org/auditions or contact us at auditions@riverstagetheatre.org to make sure that you receive all the audition details as they’re announced!

As a subscriber, you will receive:

• Tickets to both FOOLS and JOSEPH for just $25! (Save $5.00 off individual-ticket prices!)
• Reserved seating in a special subscribers-only section!
• Easy ticket exchange privileges!  If you have to switch dates or transfer your tickets to someone else, just contact us up to 24 hours in advance and let us know!
• Recognition in our programs as a RiverStage subscriber!

2. Order individual tickets!

• All single tickets are just $15!
• All seating for single-ticket holders is general admission.  (Doors usually open 30 mins before the performance.)

(You can always purchase individual tickets at the door, too.  But ordering in advance helps guarantee your place in the audience, and it helps us with our budget & planning for the season.)

3. Bring your group to the show!

• For group reservations of 10 or more, all tickets are just $12.50!
• Easy ticket exchange privileges!  If your group has to switch dates, just contact us up to 24 hours in advance and let us know!

Once you have chosen from one of the above ticketing options, reserve your tickets today with one of these 3 convenient choices:
1. Submit your order online and pay via credit card at http://www.riverstagetheatre.org/tickets/order/ (or for group tickets, www.riverstagetheatre.org/tickets/groups/).
2. Submit your order by phone at 570.506.8423.
3. Submit your order by mail with a check to:  RiverStage Community Theatre, 185 AJK Blvd #187, Lewisburg, PA, 17837.

In each newsletter, we’d like to take a moment to spotlight one of our volunteers who makes our theatre productions possible!  Dennis Merkle is the set designer and master carpenter for Fools.

Theatre has been part of Dennis Merkle’s life since high school when he played the title role in The Death and Life of Larry Benson.   In the intervening years he has married (to wife Deb in 1978), changed careers (from psychopharmacology research to physician assistant), moved (from Philadelphia to Lewisburg, then Winfield) and has raised a family.

When his daughter was a freshman at Lewisburg Area High School, Dennis answered the call to help behind the scenes for the spring musical. His involvement with set building has grown and for the last three years he has been intimately involved in set design for the LAHS musical. Once his own kids were out of the house Deb was “concerned that I would spend too much time at home driving her crazy.  She found a notice regarding a local community theater holding auditions and suggested that I contact them and offer my services.”

The talented Mr. Merkle has worked both in front and behind the curtain in many area productions and we are thrilled that he took the lead in creating the set for Fools. For Dennis, community theatre is fun, but it also provides an opportunity for personal growth. “I think that it is way too easy to define myself by what I do and forget to have fun.  Getting outside the day-to-day reality provides balance. As hokey as it sounds, theater expands us as individuals.  It helps to develop vocabulary, self critique, speaking skills, public confidence and social skills.  These are facets that each of us can take into our daily lives that help to make us more interesting people.”

RiverStage is excited to be gearing up for its second show of the season, Neil Simon’s comedy Fools at the Campus Theatre, 413 Market Street in Lewisburg on Friday, March 8 at 7:30pm, Saturday, March 9 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, March 10, 2:30pm.

Fools by Neil Simon, which premiered on Broadway in 1981, tells the story of an energetic young schoolteacher, Leon, who takes a new job in an idyllic small town in the Ukraine in the 1890’s.  After arriving, he discovers that the inhabitants have been cursed for 200 years with chronic stupidity and foolishness.  To complicate matters further, Leon also falls in love with his boss’s beautiful daughter, Sophia, who is already being pursued by the richest man in town.  But with help from the village’s other colorful residents, Leon sets out to break the curse, save the town, and live happily ever after.  CBS-TV praised Fools as “bright, fresh, funny, witty, warm” and “the happiest to-do on Broadway.”  

This production features an all-star cast of 10 talented actors from across the Susquehanna Valley.  Ben Hartman who recently appeared as Puck in Gaspipe Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, plays Leon, the optimistic schoolteacher.  His love interest, Sophia, is played by Sarah Bell of Lewisburg, a graduate of Indiana University’s theatre program.  Leon and Sophia are guided by her parents, Nikolai and Lenya, played by the real-life couple of Ken Kopf and Hope W. Kopf of Northumberland who have appeared together in Over the River and Through the Woods, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and many other area shows.  The villainous Count Gregor, who competes with Leon for Sophia’s affection, is played by actor Glenn Wilson whose resume includes roles such as Carlos on All My Children, Mark Rothko in Red and Moss in Glengarry Glen Ross at Key West’s Waterfront Playhouse.  Finally, the cast is rounded out by an ensemble of hilarious characters played by Andrew Shaffer, Bradley Wakeman, Kathy Coup, Traci Ferguson and Ned Ladd who together bring years of Shakespearean, musical theatre, radio, and other performance experience to the stage.  The production is directed by Jove Graham, a Lewisburg resident and alumnus of Philadephia’s Arden Theatre Company professional development program.  Set design and construction is by Dennis Merkle, costuming by Hope Kopf and Barbara Ross, properties by Kathy Coup, with lighting by Andy Seal.

(Click here to Meet Our Cast & Crew!)

“Fools was clearly a labor of love for Neil Simon,” says director Jove Graham, “that gave him a chance to mix comedic styles and create larger-than-life characters and situations that just wouldn’t fit in most of his other modern-day plays.  There are influences from  Borscht belt vaudeville humor, Abbott & Costello, Burns & Allen, Monty Python… it’s first and foremost a comedy and the rehearsals are making us laugh every night.  But it’s also a story about family, small-town living, and the teachers who inspire us and set out to make our world a better place.  It’s about love, and the true meaning of ‘intelligence.’ It’s also about the hard choices we make when our life’s goals and dreams don’t always match up with the people we want to spend our lives with.  Amidst all the laugher, it’s really a beautiful little story.”

Fools runs for one weekend only (March 8-10) at the Campus Theatre, and we hope you will be there to join in the fun!

One of the main goals of RiverStage is to extend our reach in the Susquehanna Valley.  We had an incredible number of new faces from across the region auditioning for Fools, so we are certainly moving in the right direction! We have an incredible cast and crew working diligently (and having a lot of fun) to bring Neil Simon’s play to life and I can’t wait for you to see it!

In this newsletter, you will meet some of the people who help make RiverStage a community theatre, find details about our season and learn how you can be part of our new beginning!

See you at the show!

Jennifer Wakeman, President   
RiverStage Community Theatre