The Tony-winning musical “Oliver!” will be onstage at the Putnam County Playhouse June 2-4 and June 8-11. All performances begin at 8 p.m. All tickets are $10 and can be reserved by calling the box office at 765-653-5880 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily beginning Monday, May 30. The box office is open Monday-Saturday during performance weeks only. Tickets cannot be reserved online at the website OR on our Facebook pages.

The production is directed by Caroline Good, who also supervised the costumes for the show. Caroline directed Annie in 2018. She is also the creator and director of our annual SHAKESPEARED! Youth Theatre Workshop [this season’s production will be The Scottish Play]. She directs and teaches in the theatre department at DePauw University. Caroline has appeared in leading roles at PCPH in shows including Blithe Spirit, Angel Street, and The Sound of Music. She was also the special guest actress at Wabash University playing Amanda in their production of The Glass Menagerie.

Amy Tharp is musical director and pianist. She worked on Little Women The Musical at PCPH. Kathryn Dory is the vocal director. Kathryn will be the vocal director on August’s production of Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The orchestra includes Morgan Asher, keyboard; Dedee Schwomeyer, percussion, Kaitlyn Kissel, flute/piccolo; and Ty Ishikawa, trumpet.

Choreography was set by Sarah Armitage and Joshua Saul Bain who also choreographed last season’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Set design is by Linda Gjesvold. Dramaturg and dialect coach is Eleanor Howard.

The entire production is sponsored by Shuees Great Buys Plus.

Based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, the musical features Ella Tischer in the title role. Other leading roles include Alex Gurnon as the Artful Dodger, TJ Tincher as Fagin, Grace Buehler as Nancy, and David Johnson as Bill Sikes. Tischer, Gurnon, Buehler, and Johnson are making their PCPH main stage debuts in this show. Tincher was seen in last season’s Pillow Talk.

Leading the way in comic roles are Ashlee Ann Vitz and Andrew Ranck as Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry and Karen Temple as Widow Corney.  Chris Wurster is Mr. Brownlow and Tim Good plays Mr. Bumble. All are veterans on the PCPH stage.

Playing multiple roles are John Tischer and Bart Jones. Tischer played Gaston in the PCPH production of Beauty and the Beast and Jones appeared last season in You Can’t Take It With You.

Supporting roles are taken by Hannah McLaughlin, Clay Glessner, Cyrus Gurnon, Emily Gray, Jim Elliott, Kathi Elliott, Barb Boese, and Sandi Rossok.

Also appearing are Joey Draper, Josie Tischer, Ashley Hugues, Molly Murphy. Children appearing in the show are Josephine Glessner, Josie Cox, Clara Everett, Michael Henry, Sage Cummings, Marley Jedele, Jasmine Cummings, Josie Tischer. and Penny Cummings.

Production stage manager is Noah Pettit. Assistant stage manager is Cameron Wunderlich with Rebecca Hebb and Craig Robinson on the stage crew. Dana Henry is the sound technician and Shelby Merrill is running the light board.

The 61^st season of Putnam County Playhouse will begin with an Open House on Sunday, May 29, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hazel Day Longden Theatre in Greencastle. The public is invited.

The event will include rehearsals of numbers from the season opener the musical Oliver!  Light refreshments will be served.

Board members will be on hand to answer questions.  Season tickets and individual tickets for all shows will be on sale at that time. We hope to see you there!

The season includes – in addition to Oliver!  – Clue: Onstage in July, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in August, and The Miracle Worker in September.

This year’s annual two-week-long “Shakespeared!” Workshop at the Putnam County Playhouse centers around Macbeth, with the middle school group performing a more traditional version and the high school group presenting their off-beat comedic version, complete with a lively soundtrack, chase, and pop-culture references.  Both versions embody Shakespeare’s original text, but in short condensed adaptations.

Both groups meet in the afternoons daily during the two weeks, playing theatre games, learning voice,  stage movement, and acting techniques, and, of course, rehearsing the play.  The middle school (entering grades 6th-8th) group meets Monday-Friday 12:30-2:30pm, and the high school (entering 9th+) workshop meets Monday-Friday 3:00-5:30pm with performances Friday and Saturday, June 24 and 25 at 7:00pm, when each group presents their own very different versions of the play: the middle school group performing on Friday and the high school group performing on Saturday.

We plan to adhere to guidance provided by the CDC for Covid-19 at the time of the workshop. Last year, we were able to relax a little, but participants still had the option to wear masks during sessions, we created physical distanced staging, and we kept air flowing throughout the playhouse, or worked outside.  The kids did have the option to perform without masks, as well.  We’re hoping for the best, but are prepared to implement whatever protocols seem appropriate at the time.

The scripts will be available soon on the playhouse at the Youth Theatre Workshop page using the drop down menu. So, feel free to read it before our first day. We will read through the play on day one, and the players will have a chance to note their role preferences. The roles will be cast that evening, and rehearsals will begin on day two!

THERE ARE PARTS FOR EVERYONE! “Shakespeared!” is tailored to provide young players with an opportunity to engage with Shakespeare’s text in a fun way and to see the potential interpretations that lie within the text.

The registration link for the 2022 workshop will be available on February 1st! PLEASE DON’T USE THE 2021 FORM!!!

To read your program, click HERE!!