Playmakers 2008-09 Season

Lost in Yonkers
A Comedy by Neil Simon
Directed by Mark Leonard
September 12-28
Auditions: July 13 & 14

Winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Best Play: 1991 Tony Awards. Written by America's great comic playwright, this memory play is set in Yonkers in 1942.  It features another battling odd couple, this time an old woman and her 35 year old daughter.  Bella, the daughter, is mentally challenged, pathetically affectionate and more than enough for Grandma Kurnitz to manage. As the play opens, son Eddie deposits his two young sons on the old lady's doorstep. He is in debt and needs to go on an extended sales trip to make some money. The boys must contend with Grandma, a stern, tough old lady; with Bella and her secret romance, and with Louie, her brother, who may have mob connections. Gradually, the mood deepens and darkens as the boys endure life with a family of emotionally crippled people. While the children are only temporarily exiled in Yonkers, the rest of their sad, funny family is truly lost.

"The best play Simon ever wrote."- N.Y. Post.
"Broadway desperately needs a comedy, a drama, and a hit. With Lost in Yonkers, Mr. Simon has given us all three."- Wall Street Journal.
"One of Simon's most impressive and funniest plays."- N.Y. Daily News.
"Laughter and tears have come together in a new emotional truth. There are moments in this play when you experience a new kind of laughter for Simon, a silent laughter that doesn't explode into a yuk but implodes straight into your heart." - Newsweek.

Arsenic and Old Lace
A Dark Comedy by Joseph Kesserling
Directed by Weston Twardowski
November 7-23
Auditions: Aug. 30 & 31, 7:00pm

The famous comedy success produced a smash hit in New York and on the road. Mortimer Brewster hates his job, but otherwise life is perfect—he’s got a smart, beautiful fiancée and two doting aunts. The only catch? These two sweet spinsters have a secret mission and a recipe for elderberry wine that really packs a punch.  As Mortimer tries to navigate his family’s eccentricities while keeping his fiancée none the wiser, his sociopathic brother shows up with a taste for vengeance and a sidekick named Einstein. Will Mortimer make it to his wedding day, or fall victim to the family insanity first?

“Swift, dry, satirical and exciting, Arsenic and Old Lace kept the first-night audience roaring with laughter.”-  N.Y Times

The Mousetrap
A Mystery by Agatha Christie
Directed by: Kay Files
March 13-29

The author comes forth with another hit about a group of strangers stranded in a boarding house during a snowstorm, one of which is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions that are in their minds nearly wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. Into their midst comes a policeman, traveling on skis. He no sooner arrives, than the jurist is killed. Two down, and one to go. To get to the rationale of the murderer's pattern, the policeman probes the background of everyone present, and rattles a lot of skeletons. Another famous Agatha Christie switch finish! Chalk up another superb intrigue for the foremost mystery writer of her time.

"The Mousetrap" is written so well that even if you have seen it before and remember how it ends, you will take pleasure in watching the way in which Christie develops the real and false clues.” - New York Times

Proof
A Drama by David Auburn
Directed by Larry Gray
May 8-24

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play. On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks handwritten in insanity. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father's madness—or genius—will she inherit?

PROOF is the one you won't want to miss this fall." —NY Magazine. "…combines elements of mystery and surprise with old-fashioned storytelling to provide a compelling evening of theatre…[PROOF is a] smart and compassionate play of ideas." NY Daily News. "PROOF surprises us with its aliveness…Mr. Auburn takes pleasure in knowledge…At the same time, he is unshowily fresh and humane, and he has written a lovely play." —NY Observer. "[A] wonderfully funny…ambitiously constructed work…" —Variety.

Pippin
Book by: Roger O. Hirson
Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz
Music by: Stephen Schwartz
Based on the story of Pippin, son of Charlemagne
Directed by Jennifer Harageones Patterson
July 10-26

Once upon a time, the young prince Pippin longed to discover the secret of true happiness and fulfillment. He sought it in the glories of the battlefield, the temptations of the flesh and the intrigues of political power (after disposing of his father King Charlemagne the Great). In the end, he found it in the simple pleasures of home and family.  This hip, tongue-in-cheek, anachronistic fairy tale captivated Broadway audiences and continues to appeal to the young at heart everywhere (the show has become a staple on high school and college campuses). The energetic pop-influenced score by three-time Oscar®-winning composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz (“Godspell,” “Children of Eden” and the animated films “Pocahontas,” “The Hunchback Of Notre Dame” and “The Prince Of Egypt”) bursts with one showstopping number after another, from soaring ballads to infectious dance numbers.  Featuring a strong ensemble cast and a show-stealing song-and-dance narrator, “Pippin” is equally effective as an intimate, black-box production (as envisioned by the authors) or as original director/choreographer Bob Fosse’s splashy, dance-driven spectacle, which included some of the most brilliant staging in Broadway history.

“Beguiling, highly original and...just plain wonderful!" - Boston Globe
"Extraordinary music theatre!" - Daily News
"Splendiferous theatricality, the kick of a lighting bolt and a passionate knack for being entertaining." -Time Magazine

Children's Theater (not part of the season)

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
A Holiday Comedy By Barbara Robinson
December 12-14

Hey!  Unto you a child in born! The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie and steal and smoke cigars (even the girls). They talk dirty, hit little kids, cuss their teachers, set fire to Fred Shoemaker's old broken-down tool house, and take the name of the Lord in vain. So no one is prepared when the Herdmans invade church one Sunday-and decide to take over the annual Christmas pageant.

None of them has ever heard the Christmas story before.  Their interpretation – the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating – has a lot of people up in arms.  But the actual pageant is full of surprises for everyone, starting with the Herdmans themselves.

“One of the best Christmas plays ever.” - Publishers Weekly

Summer Camp
Directed by Frank Levy

June Camp: May 25-June 14
August Camp: July 17-August 9

Frank Levy’s Summer Theater Camp productions gives
children ages 6-16 the opportunity to learn theater and
communication skills. Every child has lines and dances. We award 10-20 scholarships annually to children who qualify. Campers also have the opportunity to grow further with our camp counselor program.

Playmakers 2007-08 Season

There’s More!

Family Holiday Production
Let There Be Light
by Frank Levy

Summer Camp
Frank Levy’s Summer Theater Camp productions gives children ages 6-16 the opportunity to learn theater and communication skills. Every child has lines and dances. We award 10-20 scholarships annually to children who qualify. Campers also have the opportunity to grow further with our camp counselor program. Email for more info: frank@storiesinmotion.com

Playmakers'
2008-09 Season

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