THIS WEEK WITH MCP...
NEXT ON STAGE...
Join us for the first show of our 50th Anniversary season, Puffs! March 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th, 18th at 8:00 PM and March 12th at 2:00 PM in the Mason Community Playhouse.
Get your tickets HERE!
IN THE NEAR FUTURE...
MCP Board Meeting
February 8 at 7:30 PM
Trivia Team
February 9 at 7:00 PM
Coffee Corner
February 11 at 9:00 AM
Night of MCP Trivia
February 11 at 7:00 PM
Performance Committee
February 15 at 7:00 PM
Save the Date to CELEBRATE in 2023!
MCP Announces Auditions for
Escanaba in da Moonlight
Mason Community Players is holding auditions for Escanaba in da Moonlight. Performance dates are: September 8, 9, 14, 15 & 16 at 8pm and September 10 at 2pm. Performances will be at the Mason Community Playhouse. Director Ray Lebowski, Producer Laureen Catlin, and Stage Manager Dana Davis encourage you to come and audition for the show!
Auditions will be held Sunday, February 5th from 2:00 to 5:00pm and Tuesday, February 7th from 7:00 to 9:30pm at the Mason Community Playhouse, 5529 Mason Road in Mason.
The audition will consist of cold readings from the script.
You can download an audition form, fill it out, and bring it with you to auditions. To download the form, click here. Attaching a full resume is appreciated, as is a headshot. If you do not have one or both of those, please do not let that keep you from auditions. A completed form will suffice.
E-mail Director Ray Lebowski, if you have any questions.
Escanaba in da Moonlight is a snapshot into the lives of the Soady men. Retreating to their "home away from home" in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan they can spend time together doing their two favorite things ... drinking and bagging bucks. At 35, though, Reuben Soady is in danger of being the oldest family member in history without a buck to call his own. Laughs abound as you get a glimpse into this traditional male rite of passage as lived out in the unique "Yooper" way.
For a list of characters and a description of each, click here!
Come join us in the UP!
MCPost is continuing to highlight each of the twelve cast members of the first show of 2023, Puffs. This week, Brady Dunn is in the spot light. He will be portraying Mr. Voldy.
Brady is a newcomer to MCP. He has done work in both theatre and film. Most recently he appeared as Russel Henderson and Mosis Kaufman in The Laramie Project - 10 Years Later with CenterStage Players. under the direction of a familiar name, Fred Hunt.
He has appeared in two NKU productions, where he obtained his BA in Theatre Arts. He was Emil in the student-directed The Duck Variations, and Professor Kokinetz in The Mouse That Roared. He has also been on stage with another Northern Kentucky theatre, NDA, where he appeared as Pape Ge in Once On This Island, and Linus in You're A Good Man Charlie Brown.
Brady has a supporting role in the film My Friend Dahmer and as the lead in a recent Mike's Car Wash Christmas commercial.
He is also a tech director and company performer with Improv Cincinnati 2020. Along with his skill in dialects, improv comedy, lighting and sound, he is a pyro guy. That's right he is licensed in pyrotechnics for indoor, outdoor, and flames. Don't get any ideas, folks!
MCP is thrilled to be welcoming Brady to the Playhouse stage for the first time! He appeared this weekend in CenterStage's presentation of the Scottish play! You can catch him next weekend; he'd appreciate the support!
For the list of the entire cast and their roles, visit our web site for all the details HERE. Puffs will be performed March 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 at 8:00 PM and March 12 at 2:00 PM in the Mason Community Playhouse. Expecto parody!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY...
SEND GOOD THOUGHTS...
Please keep praying for BJ Heling
and Carol Wright, in their continuing health struggles.
If you know someone that is hurting who could use good thoughts or prayers, please let the McPost Staff know and we will share it here.
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE ...
Season tickets for 2023, our 50th Anniversary Season are on sale!
Please consider purchasing a ticket for yourself or as a gift. They will continue to be on sale until the close of Puffs. Someone who attends Puffs can have the cost of that ticket deducted from the Season price, if they want to become a subscriber after the first show.
Warren County's Oldest
Continuously Operating
Community Theatre ...
One Year on Mason Road,
50 Years in Mason
2022 Recipient of the
Jason Holt Technician of the Year Award
The annual Jason Holt Technician of the Year Award is given to a member who has shown particular dedication to the technical side of theatre in a given year. The recipient for 2022 is Julie Poux. Julie is a 15-year member of MCP and during that time has dedicated many hours to the troupe both on and off stage. Technically, she has served on stage crew and fly crew, as a lighting tech, and as a dresser. She has been a technical director and served as a stage manager three times.
Serving on the Communications Committee for many years, sometimes as Chair, Julie has also dedicated many hours to photography, graphic design, electronic presentation, and lobby display creation.
This year, Julie served as the stage manager for Belles, helped with set construction on 4 of the 5 productions, was responsible for the logo design of all 5 shows, photographed 3, was publicity liaison for Belles, and because she appeared in Nunsense, served on stage crew for A-men.
In addition, Julie spent many weekends in the Playhouse using her skills with carpentry to help with renovation. She was an integral part of the team that installed the flooring; and this year, she worked (sometimes single-handedly) to make sure that the flooring was installed in every area it was slated to be.
Not mentioned are all of the administrative responsibilities Julie has fulfilled this year and in the past. She is a valued member in every aspect of theatre.
PlayBook Club Announces Exciting Slate of Titles for 2023
MCP's PlayBook Club just completed an interesting discussion. Each month they meet to delve into books that have been turned into plays or musicals. This past week, the group discussed Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, which is the source for two plays and the musical Oliver! Throughout the course of the coming year, there will be discussions centering on Mary Poppins, War Horse, The Jungle Book, 42nd Street, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, Cheaper by the Dozen, A Christmas Carol, and The Once and Future King, which is the source of the musical Camelot. The members have even chosen the book for January 2024, which will be Gypsy, A Memoir.
The next PlayBook gathering will be February 22nd, when the book will be Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Two plays have been based on her novel. The first was produced in 1990 and the second is still on tour having been first produced in 2018. Comparing the book with two stage versions will make for an even more interesting evening! And there is a film to boot! Members are not above bringing in perspective from a film, if it applies!
Everyone is welcome to attend. If you don't finish the book, that is just fine. If you do not get the chance to read the book, that is just fine. If you read the book many moons ago, that is just fine. Much discussion ensues on many levels.
PlayBook gatherings are in the Playhouse when an area of it is free for the evening or they can be virtual if there is inclement weather. Reminders, location, and the virtual link will always be published here in the newsletter and can be found on the MCP web site under Members/Social Events/PlayBook.
MCP's 50 for 50 campaign needs your support!
It cannot be successful without every member helping to promote it. The campaign's goal is to raise $50,000 by December 31st of this year.
You can donate now!
Just click here!
Or make out a check to Mason Community Players for the amount you would like to donate. Be sure to write "50 for 50" on the memo line. You can hand the check to Treasurer Susan Berger or mail it to P.O. Box 300, Mason, OH 45040.
This is not just a fundraiser designed to solicit donations from members. Ask your family and friends to donate. Ask a local business. Remember that we are a 501c3 corporation and the gifts are tax deductible.
This is the YEAR to make the goal! Let's do this!
March 24, 2023 at 7pm
at the Playhouse
Our good friends at Mason Historical Society want to host a fundraiser on behalf of MCP. They are doing an encore presentation of Cemetery Walk 2022. If you did not get the opportunity to see our own MCP members bring Mason residents of the past to life, this is your chance! And you will be helping to raise more funds for MCP!
Tickets are on sale for $20 and are available here.
Some MCP members might remember that Mary Beringer loves to write plays. Her works have been performed at Know Theatre, Cincinnati Lab Theatre, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the University of Dayton's Studio Theatre. On occasion, she submits some of her original works to play writing competitions.
Recently, Mary's play, Synapse , has been selected for a staged reading at the Fifth Third Theater in the Aronoff Center as a part of the Cincinnati Playwright Initiative's New Voices series. Synapse will be performed on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10. Mary would love for members of her MCP family to be present. There is limited availability, so purchase your ticket soon to be assured of a seat.
Tickets can be purchased here!
MCP member Jay Fultz has been cast in the new musical comedy, Steeple People at La Comedia Dinner Theatre. The show is in production now and will be presented through February 12th. Steeple People is the story of a gospel quartet from Tennessee. They are preparing for a three city national tour of Ghana by hosting a fundraiser. The musical showcases 15 popular hymns that have been "spruced up" with brand new arrangements. Tickets are available by calling the venue at 937-746-4554. For more details, visit lacomedia.com. Jay would appreciate your support.
Are you an MCP member who is participating in a show with another theatre group? Let us know the details by sending an e-mail to this address and we will publish the information here in the newsletter.
Expressing Gratitude...
THANK YOU TO...
... Mary Beth Benken-Riesenberg, Laureen Catlin, Mary Stan Fizer, Gail Rudolph, and Gaylene May Schumacher, who put second coats on a few items, painted the holder for the large fire extinguisher in the kitchen and did some touch up painting near the new wall of plaques.
Gail spent quite a while gathering props for Puffs from the inventory on the second floor and a few members of the Paint Team were able to lend a hand.
McPost is featuring a very special series throughout 2023. 50 Stories For 50 Years, as it is called, cannot be successful without your contribution. The goal is to have 50 different people share a personal story of an experience with MCP. The story is yours to tell. It can be a tale of the first time you came to the group, your favorite moment on stage, your funniest experience, your most heart-warming encounter. It can be from on stage, back stage, at a meeting, at a gathering. It can be from 50 years ago or from yesterday. The sky's the limit with the exception that nothing will be published that is hurtful to any member past or present (stories can be funny without causing pain), or that does not keep cursing to a minimum (we are online, folks). The stories will not be published in chronological order, but in the order in which they are submitted. Do not make Laureen or Robert have to write the next story! Get ready, get set, write! Submit your MCP story via this e-mail!
I'm Flying
By Becca McLaughlin
On July 26-28, 1984 MCP presented Fiddler on the Roof as the summer musical. I love this show, and I desperately wanted to try out, but even then I knew that learning lines was not my forte. However, I decided to give it a try and be a part of the chorus, maybe, have a line or 2. Tom Fox was the director. I knew him from The Miracle Worker. To my amazement, I was asked if I would like to be Fruma Sara, Lazar Wolf’s dead wife in the smoky, dreary dream sequence.
Oh, YES! I don’t remember, unfortunately, all of the details, the where and when of things, but I remember how I felt … very nervous, and excited!!!! Someone told me that Linda Geering, someone I had never met, was creating the costume and make up and I was assured it would be incredible.
I started analyzing Fruma Sarah. She really needed to fly instead of being pushed all over the stage as I had seen before. We were all young enough to think that was a “good” idea. So I set to work to find out how to create a flying contraption. At the time, I was married, and my husband, Brad, was in construction. He figured out and designed how to rig a wire system which extended across the stage, as far up as it could go. I set out to find some kind of a harness to lift her from the floor and to hold her. I made many phone calls, parachute harness, similar kinds for other “harness using” equipment. Then, one of the very knowing people I spoke to suggested an ice diving harness, it would have the strength and the design to do what I needed. The next step was to locate one which happened quite quickly. A flying Fruma Sara was destined to be.
I took the harness, we attached her wonderful dress, Linda applied white and red make up, white gloves provided arm bones, and skeletal long red nailed hands, her wig topped it off, What a character. The costume now was ready, a long, long ragged dress with long pearls, a made up face, straggly hair, gloved hands, all over an ice diving harness that connected to the wires. She hid behind a tombstone! Ernie Rowland was on stage left, Frank Harpen on stage right standing up on ladder rungs, and when the music hit the cue, they jumped and she flew singing her song. They pulled the wire back and forth and Fruma Sarah FLEW! What an adventure!
This newsletter will be sent to you each Sunday evening. It is the hope of the leadership of MCP that this will be an easy communication for you to refer to throughout that week and that you will not have as many messages from the group in your inbox over the course of the week. You can always reach out to us at any time with suggestions.
513-398-7804
newsletter@masonplayers.org
www.masonplayers.org
The Mason Community Post is edited by Laureen Catlin with support from Assistant Editor Robert Terry and IT Technician Phil Catlin.