Featuring PTP's "Members In The News" and other 
Southern Maryland "Community Theater" events & Links

2008 - 2009
Season Shows

Sept./Oct. 2008: DRACULA: THE CASE OF THE SILVER SCREAM
Directed by: David Standish   Produced by: Carol Charnock

Nov./Dec. 2008: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Directed by: Joe Stine   Produced by: Cheryl Reckeweg

Jan.  2009: OLIVER
Directed by: Suzanne Donohue   Produced by: Amy Cooksey

March 2009: A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Directed by: Bill Graves   Produced by: Kathy Mead

May 2009: THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS
Directed by: Lisa Kay Morton   Produced by: Steve Claggett

July 2009: SWEENEY TODD
Directed by: Jim Kleyle   Produced by: Karen Kleyle

August 2009: DEARLY DEPARTED
Directed by: Leslie Wanko   Produced by: David Bayles & Cheryl Reckeweg

Do You Have Something To Say???

Katherine Church Prout
does

When I try to pick through my fondest PTP memories, they usually, ironically, involve not the glamorous on-stage roles I’ve been lucky enough to have, but instead I think of the work I've done backstage while at my least presentable—doing hair and make-up on others or creating odd or unusual props…very happily covered in paint, sawdust, hot glue and whatever else I can get into.

One of the memories that bubbles up involves part of the set I built for To Gillian On Her 37^th Birthday, in May of 2005. I had been asked to construct a large, natural looking sand dune because despite the fact that the amazingly creative set was covered in actual sand, there was no way to have enough to make a real dune. After forming a fake dune, to make it look genuine, I went about the painstaking process of using spray glue, tube glue, and even hot glue to meld the seems of the fabric and then adhere a thin layer of actual sand to the entire outer surface so it would have the same texture as the rest of the sand. This was a slow process of spraying glue then flinging sand against the dune, and I was lucky to have some friends helping—Craig (Hower), Keith (Linville), and Sweetie (Karen Klyle) were all assisting. In addition to the layer of sand, I was also attaching random clumps of seashore grass and other bits of vegetation to give it that last realistic touch. Of course, the grass wasn’t exactly the right shade, so we were also using spray paint here and there—to touch up the plants and sometimes parts of the dune itself. We were all having a good time—listening to music while we all feverishly sprayed, glued, and painted—working late into the night, tired, but enjoying ourselves. At some point I believe “Come On Eileen” by Dexy's Midnight Runners came on, and magically, as if we were each under the same spell, we all started dancing—I mean, crazy dancing—like monkeys on Spring Break. It was actually quite wonderful—there we were all jumping around, singing along really loud—I even recall Keith (who I believe is not fond of heights) was about halfway up a big ladder, making it hop off the ground in time with the music, when we all just stopped and looked at each other like, “Um……What was that? …Were we just all dancing like crack monkeys…? That was weird…” Then, after a good thirty seconds of silence from us all while we looked at each other and tried to piece together what just happened, we, in perfect unison, all agreed that it was indeed time to open up that elephant door and perhaps get a wee bit of fresh air along with those three different types of glue and multiple cans of spray paint. It was just one of those hilarious moments that comes from dedicated exhaustion… And of course the minor fact of forgetting how proper ventilation when working with fumes can protect against outbursts of scary dancing.

Noises Off continues through June 15th.

     A Life-Size Rubik’s Cube?

                 Picture this:  taking apart a room in your home, turning it inside out, and putting it back together again.  That, believe it or not, is a fairly accurate description of what the stage crew of the Port Tobacco Players production Noises Off does, not once, but twice during every performance. 

                 Described by one crew member as “a giant Rubik’s Cube,” the two-story-high set was created by veteran PTP set designer John Reckeweg to fulfill the vision of director Randy Tusing.   Given the amount of space on the stage within which the huge pieces have to move, producer Kathy Mead said the set reminds her of the type of child’s puzzle in which all the pieces are trapped in a small plastic square, and must be moved in the appropriate sequence for a solution to be found.

Opening weekend audiences were so impressed by the intricacy of the set change “choreography” – done with the curtain open because every inch of stage space is needed to pull it off – that they gave the stage crew a round of applause!  “I couldn’t believe they could do that,” said one patron.  “I thought it was all one piece, I had no idea it could come apart that way!”

Part of the “dance” is performed by two members of the set decoration and properties team who move rapidly about among the moving pieces, resetting furniture and props in their appropriate places depending on the act about to begin. 

A very fast-paced three-act play, Noises Off follows the adventures and misadventures of a company of actors who are rehearsing for, then performing, a fictional play called Nothing On.  Act I is the final rehearsal before opening night, and there are still many glitches to be worked through, including doors on the set that won’t open, or stay closed. 

In Act II, we see the set from backstage as the company is putting on a matinee performance a month later.  “Cast and crew” shenanigans have reached a fever pitch.  Large bottles of liquor, fire axes, and flowers fly about, as people run almost non-stop up and down stairs and in and out of doors. 

The third act is yet another performance, another month later.  The Nothing On cast stumbles through forgotten lines, lost places, and injuries behind the scenes that force last-minute understudies to fill in – to hilarious effect.

Each act of Noises Off – the REAL play – is funnier than the last.  All in all, it is a frenetic, fascinating, and, most of all, fun evening of theater.

Noises Off runs through Sunday, June 15, performing Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.  Call the theatre at 301-932-6819 for reservation information

AUDITION NEWS:

AUDITION DATES SET FOR DRACULA

Producer Carol Charnock and Director David Standish have announced the audition dates for the October production of Dracula: The Case of the Silver Scream. 

Tuesday, June 17 at 7 PM
Thursday, June 19 at 7 PM
Saturday, June 21 at 10 AM

Auditions will be held at the PTP theater.

Members in the Spotlight

Lisa Kay Morton and Mitch Morton are heavily involved with the first Stageworks Festival, a major international music festival that will be held in Indian Head, Maryland (suburban Washington, DC) in June 2008.  Operas, musicals, chamber music concerts, cabarets, symphonic concerts, choral concerts, and master classes are just a part of the program.  More information is available at www.stageworksfestival.org

If you have ever worked on a PTP show and want to tell us about it, send us your news.  Write a short (100 words or less) blurb and email it to pseudowriter@aol.com under the heading PTP Memories.  We can’t wait to hear from you…  Read Katie Prout’s memory on the other side of this newsletter

NEVER SWIM ALONE REPRESENTS PTP AND USA IN CANADA

             PTP's Never Swim Alone was invited to perform at the Liverpool International Theatre Festival (LITF).  This is an International Competition which  was held in Nova Scotia this year from May 12th through the 20th.  The cast, crew, and a few supporters packed their bags and headed north for the experience of a lifetime - while two others braved the 18 hour drive to deliver the set (Thanks Cindy and Zeke!). 

The production was extremely well received and earned the production's director, Jim Kleyle, an Outstanding Director Award.  From the stories that returned, this was an amazing experience and a deserved bookend to the show’s success.  Great job all!

Members in the News

Members in the Spotlight

(It’s not too late to help them out…)

PTP has two members in training for the ride of their lives.  Brothers John and Jeff Merritt are riding a bike 105 miles on August 30, 2008, in Whitefish, Montana, to help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.  To learn more and to support their efforts, use the following links:

John Merritt—http://ride.jdrf.org/rider.cfm?id=8128

Jeff Merritt—http://ride.jdrf.org/rider.cfm?id=807