MCT Performances

2007-2008 Season Shows

Arsenic & Old Lace

We meet the charming and innocent ladies who populate their cellar with the remains of socially and religiously "acceptable" roomers; the antics of their brother who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt; and the activities of the other brother - these require no further description or amplification here. Arsenic and Old Lace is a must for all nonprofessionals, a ready-made comedy hit.

Director - C J McAbee-Reher
Producer - Dave Wolcott
Stage - Bruce & Julia Smith

Cast:
Anita Seldon ....... Abby
Jean Payne ....... Martha
Laura Krell ....... Elaine
Mike Roorbach ....... Rev. Dr. Harper
Dave Losure ....... Teddy
Ron Vermilion ....... Mortimer
Tony Morris ....... Jonathon
Ed Runningen ....... Dr. Einstein
Skip McCarthy ....... Mr. Gibbs
Adam Bradley ....... Brophy
Roger Bainbridge ....... Klein
George Dicken ....... Rooney
Mike Fisher ....... Mr. Witherspoon

COMPLETED SHOWS

Into the Woods

Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Director: John Butcher

An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A witch... who raps? They're all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale.

When a Baker and his Wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone's wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of "The Princess Bride" becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

With plenty of unforgettable roles, transpositions on demand and no chorus, Into the Woods is a great way to showcase a talented ensemble cast. And since the show's emphasis is on character rather than spectacle, it is equally at home in large or intimate spaces. One of Sondheim's most popular works, this timeless yet relevant piece is a rare modern classic.

Cast: Marsha Vermilion, Jimmy Campbell, Diana Reese, Jenny Wolcott, Nikki Smithson, Curtis Sizemore, Kendra Cline, David Wolcott, Peggy Briggs

Exit the Body

A mystery writer rents a New England house that is the rendezvous point for some jewel thieves. The focal point of the set is the closet which opens into a living room and a library. A body found in the closet promptly disappears only to be succeeded by another. The hunt for the jewels reaches a climax at two A.M. when four couples unknown to each other turn up to search. Not since the days of Max Sennett has there been such a hilarious series of entrances and exits.

Director: Danny Losure
Producer: George Dicken
A farce by Fred Carmichael

Cast:
Lillian Seymour ....... Trisha Allen
Jenny ....... Laura Wagner
Randolph ....... James Lewis
Helen O'Toole ....... Angela Temple
Kate Bixley ....... Carol Hamilton
Crane Hammond ....... Julia Smith
Vernon Cookley ....... Ed Runningen
Philip Smith ....... Javon Washington
Richard Hammond ....... Tony Morris

A Few Good Men

This Broadway hit about the trial of two Marines for complicity in the death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay sizzles on stage. The navy lawyer, a callow young man more interested in softball than the case, expects a plea-bargain and a cover-up of what really happened. Prodded by a female member of his defense team, the lawyer eventually makes a valiant effort to defend his clients and, in so doing, puts the military mentality and the Marine code of honor on trial. (Note: Contains obscene military language.)

Written by Aaron Sorkin
Director: Jimmy Campbell
Producer: Erika Cooper

Cast:
Jimmy Campbell.......Lt. j.g. Daniel Kaffee
Jackee Eib.......Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Gallaway
Joe Smith.......Lt. j.g. Sam Weinberg
Javon Washington.......Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson
James Lewis.......Pfc. Louden Downey
C. J. Briggs.......Col. Nathan Jessep
Roger Tappan.......Lt. Jack Ross
Eric Wood.......Lt. Jonathon James Kendrick
Tim George.......Capt. Isaac Whitaker
Mike Hanes.......Capt. Julius Alexander Randolph
Herb Smith.......Capt. Mathew A. Markinson
Eric Bailey.......Cpl. Jeffrey Owen Howard
Anthony Penrod.......Cmdr. Walter Stone
Carlos Santiago.......Pfc. William T. Santiago
John Daily, Jason Smith.......Marines, Sailors, M.P.'s, Lawyers, et al.

Half-baked... But Well Done!

Half-baked…But Well Done! is a musical revue including some of the most familiar and best-loved tunes that Gilbert & Sullivan produced in their long, tumultuous collaboration! Crying Baby Productions has chosen two favorites: H.M.S. Pinafore and Pirates of Penzance for this light-hearted show, suitable for all ages.

Linda Rodden, Director says, "It is a thrill to bring our cast of 13 to your lovely facility and we're sure the folks in Marion will love this show! It's fast-paced and very funny! The voices are phenomenal, making the choral experience rival the best performances you might hear in Ft. Wayne or Indianapolis. Please be sure to come to this one!"

Presented by Crying Baby Productions and Marion Civic Theatre.
Director: Linda Rodden

Barefoot in the Park

After a six-day honeymoon, a lawyer who has just won his first case and his addled young bride move into an apartment that she has chosen for them. Unfortunately, one has to climb six wheezing flights, the apartment is absolutely bare of furniture, the paint job came out all wrong, the skylight leaks snow, there isn't room for a double bed, and an outlandish gourmet who lives in a loft on the roof uses their window ledge to access his padlocked premises. The breaking point comes when the young husband flatly refuses to join his wife in a barefoot walk through the snow in the park. She kicks him out, but he storms back insisting that she should be the one to go.

A comedy by Neil Simon
Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc
Director: Joe Smith
Assistant Director: Erika Cooper

Cast:
Javon Washington as Paul Bratter
Shelby Fongers as Corie Bratter
Joy Welker as Corie's mother, Mrs. Banks
Jimmy Campbell as Victor Velasco
Robert Hutchinson as telephone repairman

Sylvia

Greg & Kate have moved to Manhattan after twenty-two years of child-raising in the suburbs. Greg's career, as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate's career, as a public-school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park---or that has found him---bearing only the name "Sylvia" on her name tag. A street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife. She offers Greg an escape from the frustrations of his job and the unknowns of middle-age. To Kate, Sylvia becomes a rival for affection. And Sylvia thinks Kate just doesn't understand the relationship between man and dog. The marriage is put in serious jeopardy until, after a series of hilarious and touching complications, Greg and Kate learn to compromise, and Sylvia becomes a valued part of their lives.

A comedy by A. R. Gurney
Director: Pat Travis
Producer: Barbara Moon
Cast: Rachel Marley, Michael Gunter, Theresa Leffler, Jon Blake

Driving Miss Daisy

The place is the Deep South, the time 1948, just prior to the civil rights movement. Having recently demolished another car, Daisy Wertham, a rich, sharp-tongued Jewish widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son, Boolie, that henceforth she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. The person he hires for the job is a thoughtful, unemployed black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain and who, in turn, is not impressed with his employer's patronizing tone and, he believes, her latent prejudice. But, in a series of absorbing scenes spanning twenty-five years, the two, despite their mutual differences, grow ever closer to, and more dependent on, each other, until, eventually, they become almost a couple.

Slowly and steadily the dignified, good-natured Hoke breaks down the stern defenses of the ornery old lady, as she teaches him to read and write and, in a gesture of good will and shared concern, invites him to join her at a banquet in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. As the play ends Hoke has a final visit with Miss Daisy, now ninety-seven and confined to a nursing home, and while it is evident that a vestige of her fierce independence and sense of position still remain, it is also movingly clear that they have both come to realize they have more in common than they ever believed possible—and that times and circumstances would ever allow them to publicly admit.

Director: Kathy Boxell
A drama by Alfred Uhry
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

Cast:
DAISY WERTHAN ....... Nancy Shuman
HOKE COLBURN ....... Marcus McClung
BOOLIE WERTHAN ....... Ronnie Vermilion