Author: putnamcountyplayhouse

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

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As we end our 56th season, the Board of Directors would like to thank you all for your continued support of Putnam County Playhouse. To everyone who attended our productions, to all who volunteered onstage and offstage, and to all of our show sponsors we say:  THANK YOU!!  You made it possible.


Our season opened with a production of Curtains: The Musical. It was directed by Ric McFadden and sponsored by:

Click HERE to learn more about this sponsor.

Our July show was the comedy The Foreigner.  It was directed by Jim Green. The production was sponsored by:
Click HERE to learn more about this sponsor.
August brought us the musical comedy The Addams Family, also directed by Ric McFadden.
It was sponsored by:

Click HERE to learn more about this sponsor.
Our season of laughs closed with Laughing Stock directed by Andrew Ranck. It was sponsored by:
&
To learn more about our sponsors click HERE and HERE
We look forward to planning our 2018 season and making it our best ever!  Our program promises a season of laughs, music, and mystery. It is our Season of Hits!  We hope to see you there, onstage and in the audience! Audition dates and directors will be posted here in January!  Season tickets will go on sale in April, 2018.  Don’t miss out!

Also,  plan to attend our Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 22, at 2 p.m. in the Rehearsal Center at the Hazel Day Longden Theatre.



Watch your mailbox for your annual Fall Fund Drive letter. 




Final Show of the 2017 Season! Laughing Stock!

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Putnam County Playhouse presents its final show in the 2017 Season of Laughs with the comedy, Laughing Stock on September 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, and 16.   The Box Office is Monday – Saturday from 5 – 7 p.m. beginning Monday, September 4.   Tickets may be reserved by calling 765-653-5880 or in person during Box Office hours.   Laughing Stock is sponsored by Bittles & Hurt, Hopkins-Rector Funeral Homes

Murphy’s Law could be a replacement title for this fun romp that tells the tale of a summer theatre troupe that performs their repertory season in an old converted barn (Sound Familiar???) with hilarious outcomes.  All of the characters necessary to lampoon the art of theatre are here:  invisible producers that really run the show, wacky directors that think rehearsals just get in the way of true performances, a tottering older couple who know nothing more than their lives in the theatre, the spaced out actress, a “serious” actor who must find motivation for every possible movement on stage, an artistic director who writes his own scripts to save on royalties,  and even a drunken stage manager holding it all together by a very loose thread.  Mix these misfits in with a season that includes the plays Hamlet, Dracula, and Charley’s Aunt and you have a delicious and hilarious recipe for disaster.
 Everyone person in theatre has a tale of something that went wrong in a production, so imagine if all of these things happened at ONCE!  That is Laughing Stock.  While the show is funny and the disasters come one right after another, the true heart of this show is summed up by all those involved: “We wouldn’t trade it for anything.”  
The Cast of Laughing Stock is headed by PCPH veteran, Dustin Bond who plays Gordon Page; he is joined on stage by Dustin Boothby (Jack Morris).  Ashlee Vitz returns to the Playhouse stage as Susannah Huntsman; while newcomer to PCPH MacKendra Stewart plays Mary Taylor.   T.J. Tincher, who delighted audiences in this season’s hit, The Foreigner, returns in Laughing Stock as Tyler Terry.   PCPH veterans Jim Rambo & Don Wilson, last seen in 2016’s musical, 1776, are seen in our season finale as Vernon Volker and Richfield Hawksley, respectively.    Dianna Baysinger plays Daisy Coates and Andrew Ranck lends his comedic talents to his character, Craig Conlin.   Caroline Good, last seen as Grandma in The Addams Family, plays stage manager Sarah McKay.   Kathryn Dory makes her return to the PCPH stage as Helen Mills with newcomer Brian Cox (Braun Oakes).   Sandra Rossok (Karma Schneider) and Drew Harris (Ian Milliken) play overworked interns in the hilarious happenings of the season.
Director Andrew Ranck is assisted by his production staff:   Stage Manager, Jessica Masner; Technical Director, Dusin Bond; Stage Design, Linda Gjesvold; Costume Design, Shelly McFadden; and Production Assistant, Aubrey Sutherlin. 
Come join us for the 4th and final show of the season at the Playhouse. You’ll laugh and you may also gain a little insight into why we do what do!

The Addams Family is Coming!

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Putnam County Playhouse’s third production of the 2017 “Season of Laughs” is a musical comedy, The Addams Family. Show dates are August 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19.    Tickets are available beginning Monday, August 7, 2017. Tickets may be obtained by calling 765-653-5880 from 5 – 7 p.m. or stopping by the box office at the theater from 5 – 7 p.m.
The characters are the same as you might remember from the 1960’s television show:  Gomez (Joshua Saul Bain), Morticia (Tarah Thornburg), Wednesday (Chloe Hayes), Pugsley (Devin Huff), Lurch (Michael McClaine), Uncle Fester (Brad Sandy), and Granny (Caroline Good).  This time around, the unsuspecting Beinecke family has been added including parents Mal (TJ Tincher) & Alice (Shelly McFadden) and son, Lucas (Cameron Callan).
The Addams Familyfeatures an original story, and it’s every father’s nightmare.  
Wednesday Addams has grown up and fallen in love with Lucas, a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family.  A man her parents have never met.   And if that weren’t upsetting enough, she confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother.   Now, Gomez must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia.   Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.  
The Addams Familyancestors sing and dance throughout the show and are played by:  Sarah Arnold, Sarah Bond, Samantha Flannelly, Drew Harris, David Lorimer, Bryana Perry, Winter Prewitt and Stephanie Zhivotovsky. 
Ric McFadden is the director of the production and serves as vocal director.   Isaiah Mattas, Josh Bain and Sarah Bond are the show’s choreographers.   Sound and lighting design is by Dustin Bond with set design/construction by Linda Gjesvold.   Shelly McFadden is the costume designer for the show with make-up/costume assistant, Susan Price.   Stage Manager, Jessica Masner is assisted by stage hands:  Mason Allen, Mariah Taylor, and Cameron Wunderlich.   Darvell Barger is the sound board operator and Haley Wilson is the light board operator.   Spot light operators are Sarah Nowling and Grace Elmore.  

The orchestra for The Addams Family is led by pianist, Marilyn Rush.  Morgan Asher plays keyboards for the production, with Drew Brattain on bass and Dedee Schwomeyer on drums.   The Addams Family is sponsored by First National Bank.  

Auditions for the Final Show of the 2017 Season!

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Director Andrew Ranck will host 2 nights of auditions for Laughingstock, the final production of the 2017 Putnam County Playhouse Season.   Auditions will be held Sunday, July 23 at 3 p.m. and Monday, July 24 at 7 p.m. in the Rehearsal Center at the theater.  
This is Andrew’s third year out at PCPH and His second show directing with us, last year he directed The Odd Couple (Female Version).   Andrew is the Director of Putnam County Comprehensive Services.   He was last seen in Curtains the Musical, playing Christopher Belling.
Andrew describes the show like this: “Murphy’s Law could be a replacement title for this fun romp that tells the tale of a summer theatre troupe that performs their repertory season in an old converted barn (Sound familiar???) with hilarious outcomes. 
Everyone person in theatre has a tale of something that went wrong in a production, so imagine if all of these things happened at ONCE!  That is Laughingstock.  While the show is funny and the disasters come one right after another, the true heart of this show is summed up by all those involved: “We wouldn’t trade it for anything.”  Come join us for the 4th and final show of the season at the Playhouse.”

The cast of Laughingstockincludes 5 women and 7 men in a wide range of ages from teens to 70’s.   For more information about the show and character descriptions, please go to the website at www.PutnamCountyPlayhouse.com.  Those auditioning should be prepared to read from the script.  

The Foreigner is coming to PCPH Stage!

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Putnam County Playhouse’s second production of the 2017 season is a comedy by Larry Shue, “The Foreigner”. Show dates are July 13, 14, 15 and 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2017.

Tickets are available beginning Monday, July 10, 2017. Tickets for all three remaining shows of the 2017 season are available at the box office during weeks of each production or persons may call 653-5880 from 5-7 p.m.

“The Foreigner” is a comedy set in the early 1980’s in Tilghman County, Georgia, at a rural fishing lodge owned by Betty Meeks. The lodge is often visited by Froggy LeSeuer, a British demolition expert who occasionally runs training sessions at a nearby army base. This time Froggy has brought along a friend, a pathologically shy young man named Charlie who is overcome with fear at the thought of making conversation with strangers. So Froggy, before departing, tells all assembled that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and speaks no English. Once alone the fun really begins, as Charlie overhears more than he should.

Alisa Isaacs-Bailey plays Froggy LeSeuer, who along with TJ Tincher as Charlie Baker, set the events in place for hilarity as she initiates the farce that Charlie is a foreigner and does not speak or understand English. Fishing lodge owner, Betty Meeks, is played by Kathy Arnold. Froggy’s friend Betty is infatuated with her new found foreigner and begins to believe she can communicate and understand Charlie.

Lodge resident Catherine Simms, a former Georgia debutant, is played Samantha Flannelly. Samantha and her brother Ellard, played by Cameron Wunderlick, who is believed to be somewhat of a slow learner, are heirs to the family’s fortune.

Reverend David Marshall Lee, played by Cameron Callahan, and is Catherine Simms fiancé and minister to the fine folks of Tilghman County, Georgia. Owen Musser, played by Bill Weiland, is the local county thug and has plans to disrupt the tranquility of Meek’s fishing lodge. Gordon Arnold and Mason Allen make appearances as members of the Tilghman County Militia.

TJ Tincher, Kathy Arnold, Cameron Wunderlich, Samantha Flannely

The Foreigner is directed by Jim Green with Tim and Caroline Good as assistant directors. Set design and construction is by Linda Gjesvold with technical direction by Dustin Bond and Tim Good. Costume design assistance and linguistics direction provided by Caroline Good. The production crew includes stage manager Mason Allen and his stagehands Gordon Arnold and Haley Wilson; sound board operator Darvelle Barger; light board operator Nicole Moore.

“The Foreigner” is sponsored by Rossok & Co. Insurance and Goodville Mutual.

The Children’s Workshop will be in production July 24 – 28 at the Playhouse. Additional information can be found at www.putnamcountyplayhouse.com.

‘The Addams Family”, makes its debut on the main stage on August 10th. Performance dates are August 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 2017.

Auditions for the Putnam County Playhouse final production of “Laughing Stock” will be held on Sunday, July 23, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. and Monday, July 24, 2017 and 7:00 p.m. Additional information can be found on at www.putnamcountyplayhouse.com.

Shakespeared! The Taming of the Shrew

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For its 10th annual performance, “Shakespeared!” Youth Theatre Workshop will present The Taming of the Shrewon Friday, June 23rd at 7:00pm in the Hazel Day Longden Theatre of the Putnam County Playhouse.  Tickets are $3 for teens/adults (12 and under are free) and will be available at the door.  This year’s workshop is once again sponsored by Shuee Furniture & Mattress and a grant from Arts Illiana.

Middle schoolers, directed by Tim Good with Eleanor Howard and Beth Bax assisting, will perform their traditionally hilarious version first, followed by the high school group’s Wild West version, directed by Caroline Good with Eleanor Howard assisting.  Christopher Douglas and Deja West are serving as this year’s DePauw interns.  Both versions, condensed and adapted by Caroline Good from William Shakespeare’s comedy.

This year’s middle school cast for The Taming of the Shrew:  Katherine (Isabella Brown), Petruchio (Rudy Hagen), Bianca (Bella Green), Lucentio (Leo Brown), Tranio (Rebecca Hebb), Baptista (Noah Barnes), Hortensio (Alice Howard), Gremio (Collin Short), Grumia (Dale Dye Thomas), Biondello (Ella Dye Thomas), Curtis (Bijou Champagne), Vincentia (Aleyce Green), Narrator/Lady Merchant (Evangeline Brown), Tailor (Brenigan Warren), Millineress (Gwyneth Stevens), Widow (Samantha Funk), Bianca’s Servant (Lillian Miller), Officer (Mya Weddle), Priest (Henry Cox), and portraying Petruchio’s Servants (Henry Cox, Clay Glessner, Evan Lazar, Logan Warren, Wylan Heller).
This year’s high school cast for Taming of the Shrew in the Wild West:  Kate (Susanna Howard), Petruchio (Addison Hughes), Bianca (Haley Wilson), Lucentio (Chloe Bodnarick), Tranio (Noah Pettit), Baptista (Devin Huff), Hortensio (Craig Robinson), Gremio (Grant Pettit), Grumio (Michael Thede), Biondello (Isabelle Cafouras), Curtis/Preacher (Samuel Gray), Vincentia (Laney Collier), Lady Merchant (Kaylie Gambill), Tailor/Bartender (Kaylin Cook), Millineress/Schoolmarm (Lily Monnett), Sheriff (Logan Warren), Deputy (Charlie Good), Saloon Girl (Fiona Good), and Kate’s Outlaw Gals (Kaylie Gambill and Jasmine Weddle), and Card Player (Sal Martoglio).
Production Team:  Lauren Good as Costume Coordinator for both groups; Jon Good as lighting technician and set construction; Linda Gjesvold as set painting.  Lighting operators are Stephen Dumbrowski and Christopher Douglas; Sound Operators are Fiona Good and Darvell Barger; and Set Coordinators are Noah and Grant Pettit.

The entire “Shakespeared!” experience is designed to challenge the young player and to demystify the bard’s lively text in a fun and engaging way, empowering them with ownership of it.   In addition to interacting with Shakespeare’s text and learning the play, the kids will have the opportunity to directly apply instruction in acting technique, movement, voice, improvisation, comedic timing, character development, and subtext. 

Addams Family Auditions at Putnam County Playhouse!

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The third show of our “Season of Laughs” is the musical comedy The Addams Family. It will be produced August 10 – 12 and 16 – 19.    Director Ric McFadden will have two sessions of auditions for all roles in the show. The first session will be Sunday, June 4 at 3 p.m. to be followed by a second session on Monday, June 5, at 7 p.m. Both sessions will be held on the Main Stage at the Hazel Day Longden Theatre.
The characters are the same as you might remember: Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Lurch, Uncle Fester, and Granny.  This time around, the  unsuspecting Beinecke family has been added including parents Mal & Alice and son, Lucas.
The show is very reminiscent of the original television series you may have seen.   
The plot revolves around Wednesday who has fallen in love with Lucas, a normal” boy.  A dinner at the Addams House is planned where the families will meet for the first time.  Wednesday confides in her father Gomez, that in fact, she and Lucas are already engaged.  Gomez must hide the information from his wife Morticia.  The dinner ensues with much hilarity and fun for the audience.
Auditions will include singing (16 to 24 measures please), reading from the script, and dancing.  Prospective cast members should attend either audition date but not both.
Characters include:  Wednesday Addams..(teen/young adult); Gomez Addams (40 – 50);   Morticia Addams (40 – 50);  Alice Beinecke (40-50); Fester Addams(30-50);  Pugsley Addams (8-13) tenor/boys’ unchanged voice; Mal Beinecke (40-50);   Lucas Beinecke (teen/young adult); Grandma Addams (script age is over 100); Lurch (30-60) bass, Tall.   Addams Ancestors (various ages) appear in most scenes throughout the show. 

For more information, check out www.putnamcountyplayhouse.com.   We hope to see you at auditions this summer!  The Addams Family is sponsored by First National Bank.

Open House and Opening Week of Curtains The Musical!

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Putnam County Playhouse opens the 2017 season with the musical comedy, “Curtains.”    The show will run June 1, 2, 3 and June 7, 8, 9, and 10.   Tickets are available beginning May 28 from 2 – 3 p.m. at the Playhouse Box Office during their Open House.  The Cast of Curtains will present musical numbers from the show during the Annual Open House and refreshments will be served. 

Tickets for all four shows of the 2017 season will be available beginning Sunday, May 28.  The Box Office is open the weeks of performances or you may call 765-653-5880 from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.  

Curtains is a musical mystery comedy set in 1959 at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, where a new musical called “Robbin’ Hood!”, a western version of Robin Hood, is being produced.   Playhouse favorite and veteran actress, Karen Temple plays faded film star diva Jessica Cranshaw who takes on the role of Madame Marian in “Robbin’ Hood.”  When Jessica is murdered during the show’s finale, all of the cast & crew of “Robbin’ Hood” are suspects in her murder. 

Lt. Frank Cioffi, Boston Police Detective and musical theatre devotee, played by Chris Wurster, arrives on the scene to solve the murder and finds himself enthralled with Jessica’s understudy, Niki Harris, played by Caroline Good.     

 (Chris Wurster and Caroline Good)

 Art imitates life as Josh Bain portrays Bobby Pepper, the show’s choreographer.   Robbin’ Hood’s producer, Carmen Bernstein, is played by Ashlee Vitz.   And Addison Hughes makes his Playhouse debut as Oscar Shapiro, the show’s financial backer. 
Lee Reberger and Shelly McFadden return to the playhouse stage as divorced songwriting team Aaron Fox & Georgia Hendricks.  The show’s flamboyant British director, Christopher Belling is portrayed by Andrew Ranck.  Sarah Bond plays Bambi, the show’s featured dancer.  

The cast also features Scott Armitage as Carmen’s husband, Sydney Bernstein; Tim Good as theater critic, Daryl Grady; Eleanor Howard as stage manager, Johnnie Harmon and Karen Sutherlin as Detective O’Farrell. 

The ensemble, which is featured heavily in the production, includes:  Chris Douglas

Ben Purnell, Julie Collenbaugh, Chloe Hayes, Payton Kumpf, Andrew Corder, Fiona Good,

Dan Purnell, Samantha Flannelly, and Jacob Riggen. 
 (Samantha Flannelly, Jacob Riggen, Andrew Ranck, Ben Purnell, Karen Sutherlin, Tim Good, Sarah Bond, & Joshua Bain)

Veteran Playhouse performer & director Ric McFadden is the director of Curtains.   Sandi Rossok is assistant director for the show.  The production staff includes vocal direction by Erik Foster, choreography by Sarah Bond, Joshua Bain and Lori Briones.   Set design & construction by Linda Gjesvold with technical direction by Dustin Bond.   Playhouse favorite Jack Randall Earles served as casting director with costume design by Shelly McFadden.  Susan Price joins the Playhouse family as Wardrobe Assistant.    Wig design is by Diana Van Middlesworth. 

Marilyn Rush, pianist & pit conductor leads musicians Morgan Asher (keyboard), Drew Brattain (bass), Marcia Boswell (flute).  

The production crew includes stage manager, TJ Tincher; stagehands Connor George and Mariah Taylor; sound design and operator, Dustin Bond; light board operator, Nicole Moore and spotlight operators Cameron Wunderlich and Mason Allen.  

Curtains promises to be a fun, entertaining show that you won’t want to miss!   Call the Playhouse box office beginning Monday, May 29 to reserve your tickets.   Box office hours are 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Saturday during show weeks.   The box office phone number is 765-653-5880.  Curtains is sponsored by Shuee’s.

AUDITIONS FOR “THE FOREIGNER” COMING UP!!!

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The second show of our “Season of Laughs” is the Larry Shue comedy The Foreigner. It will be produced July 13-15 and July 19-22.  Director Jim Green will have two sessions of auditions for all roles in the show. The first session will be Sunday, May 14 at 3 p.m. to be followed by a second session on Monday, May 15, at 7 p.m. Both sessions will be held in the Rehearsal Center at the Hazel Day Longden Theatre.

The Foreigner is being sponsored by:

Click HERE to learn more about our sponsor.

The Foreigner tells the story of Charlie Baker (stage age 20’s – 40’s), a broken-hearted Englishman who wants to take a vacation and get his life together. His friend Froggy Le Sueur (stage age 30’s – 40’s) – also an Englishman – recommends the Georgia fishing lodge of his good friend Betty (stage age 40’s-50’s). English accents are required for Charlie and Froggy.

When Charlie decides he doesn’t want to be bothered by the locals, he takes Froggy’s advice and pretends that he can’t speak English.  Everyone around him reveals secrets thinking that he can’t understand what they are saying. The hilarious consequences of his charade turn everything upside down.

Roles including Charley, Froggy, Bette, are all open.  Other open roles include the local minister David Marshall Lee, his fiance Catherine Sims, and Ellard Sims, her brother.  Also along for the fun is Owen Musser a local do-gooder who is actually the leader of group of rabble rousers.   The stage ages for all of these roles is 20’s to 40’s, with the exception of Ellard who is late teens early 20’s.

Auditions will consist of readings from the script.  More information can be found under the Current Season drop down at the top of the page on the website!


THE LITTLE BARN HAS A HISTORY!

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When Mrs. Hazel Day Longden donated this property to us, it had two structures – the main barn and a smaller barn.  For the first two seasons in 1981 and 1982, we presented our show on the outdoor stage in front of the little barn.   Bleachers were constructed for our audience members, and minimal lighting instruments were used.

The dressing rooms were in the small barn.  They were used until the construction of the Rehearsal Center.  The outdoor stage was also used as rehearsal space and for special presentations such as the Children’s Workshop.

Marc Adams, Melodie Strain, Jill Monnett

There was only one performance rained out in two seasons, the Thursday night performance of the musical The Sound of Music.

Jim Poor starts to assemble the bleachers inside the small barn.

Recently, we did some work on the outside of the small barn to keep rain and running water from getting inside.  It is now used as a storage facility for flats and large set pieces.


We also added a new roof to the structure that matches the roof on the main barn and rehearsal center.  


It is now a secure and waterproof storage place that is can be used for any large set pieces or other property that we don’t have space for in the shop and prop areas of the Hazel Day Longden Theatre and Rehearsal Center.



There was a time, however, when it was the center of all activity of the Putnam County Playhouse – two seasons still fondly remembered by many onstage and offstage.


New photos by Michael McClaine