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...
Dining Room Rehearsals
March 13 & 14 at 7pm
Performance Committee
March 15 at 7pm
(Virtual)
Puffs Performance
March 16, 17, & 18 at 8pm
Trivia Team
March 16 at 7pm
at James' Third Base
Reno Committee
March 18 at 10am
at Mason Community Playhouse
Save the Date to CELEBRATE in 2023!
McPost is continuing to highlight each of the twelve cast members of the first show of 2023, Puffs.
This week the spotlight is on Corey Meyer. He is portraying Wayne Hopkins in Puffs, his first show with MCP.
Corey is a graduate of the School of Creative and Performing Arts (2012). He studied music education at Northern Kentucky University and is a singer, dancer, guitarist, song writer, and self-proclaimed nerd.
No stranger to the stage, he spent the last theatre season performing in five different productions with five different troupes. Some of his credits include Bingley in Christmas at Pemberley with CenterStage Players, Barnaby in Hello, Dolly with Loveland Stage Company, and Lord Byron in Ada & the Engine with Mariemont.
His talent stretches beyond the stage into his day job. Corey is a software developer, who creates web applications and, to express his inner nerd, video games. MCP is thrilled to have Corey join our family for the first time and hope that he will return to our stage many times!
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!
Would you like to be an usher for Puffs? House Managers Dana Davis and Sonya Neff would love to have you join their team. It is always a joy to be able to greet our wonderful audience members, and you can be a part of that by joining the house staff.
If you are able and willing to usher for one of the performances on the first weekend ... Friday, March 10th at 8pm, Saturday, March 11th at 8pm or Sunday, March 12th at 2pm ... please contact Sonya Neff, by e-mailing here.
If you are able and willing to usher for one of the performances on the second weekend ... Thursday, March 16th at 8pm, Friday, March 17th at 8pm, or Saturday, March 18th at 8pm ... please contact Dana Davis, by e-mailing here.
Ushers are expected to arrive one hour before curtain. House Managers will let ushers know what the dress code for the show will be.
It's true that we have barely begun our 2023 50th Anniversary Season, but the planning of a season takes time. That's why MCP is reaching out to directors to ask for submissions for the 2024 Season.
The Play Reading Committee accepts directorial submissions throughout the year. Also, they will archive all submissions considering them for at least three years when they develop a slate of shows for Board approval each season. But they want directors who are specifically interested in being considered for 2024 to submit by March 15, 2023.
You can submit to direct by filling out this form. Then e-mail the form, and a copy of the play to this e-mail.
Our good friends at Mason Historical Society want to host a fundraiser on behalf of MCP. To that end, they are hosting an encore presentation of Cemetery Walk 2022 on Friday, March 24th, at 7pm at the Playhouse. 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!
Mary Beth Benken-Riesenberg, who directed the event last Fall, will be taking the reins again for the fundraiser. She has a cast of familiar faces. It includes:
Gail Rose as Flo Sausser, Perry Denehy as RC Fussner, Sonya Neff as Paula Geckler, Alisha Flaherty as Dorothy Mount and Josiah Taylor as Dorothy's son, Robert Mount, Scott Mussari as Levi Coble, Gail Rudolph as Alverta Green, Jennifer Lisa as Lucille Melampy, and Linda Geering as Luella Voorhis with Tim Geering as Luella's husband, Benton. Jon Scheiding will portray William Mason once again, a role he has accepted in previous Cemetery Walk events and in MCP's bicentennial presentention of Imagine! Mason. Mary Beth will appear in a role familiar to her, that of Rebecca McClung. Rebecca is the most requested portrayal, since she was brought to life in the very first Cemetery Walk.
Please plan to attend. You will be helping to raise more funds for MCP with your presence! Tickets are on sale for $20 and are
available here.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY...
SEND GOOD THOUGHTS...
Please pray for
Susan Berger
as she is facing knee replacement surgery in the very near future. K
eep
Robert Terry
in thought and prayer. He is home but awaiting an additional procedure in the near future.
Please keep praying for
Carol Wright, in her continuing health struggles.
Finally, for those who have the good fortune to have known Steve Myers of Village Players, you may know that he passed away unexpectedly this past week. A Celebration of Life will be held for him, Saturday, March 11th, from 2-5pm at BB Riverboats Rivers Edge Event Center, 101 Riverboat Row, Newport, KY 41071. Please keep Steve's wife, son, and all of his many friends, some within MCP, in thought and prayer as they grieve this loss. He was much beloved by many.
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.
PlayBook 2023
This year's titles and dates are:
March 22: Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
April 26: War Horse by Michael Morpugo
May 24:
42nd Street by Bradford Ropes
June 28:
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? by Joan R Powers
July 26:
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
No August Gathering
September 27:
The Once and Future King
by T.H. White
October 25:
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth
November/ December TBD:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
January 24, 2024:
Gypsy, A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee
Among the awards given each year at the Annual Banquet are the Most Community Player Awards. They are special in that the recipients are not chosen by the Board of Directors or through general nominations from group members. These are individuals who have been chosen by their peers.
For each MCP show, the cast, staff, and crew vote for the performer and technician, who have done the most to foster a community spirit with those who are a part of the show. In the case of musicals, they also choose a musician who does the same. The producer(s) and director(s) are not eligible for consideration. It is stressed that this is not an award to honor the person who did the best performance or who executed the best tech or who excelled in musicianship. These awards are to honor those who collaborate joyfully, lift others up, and dedicate themselves to the success of everyone involved in the production. The recipients can be assured that each is respected by the people who worked with them most closely. It is a true honor to be named to the award.
For the 2022 Season, there were six shows. The Most Community Players for Belles were Technician Jason Gonzalez and Performer Ginny Johnson. Technician Phil Catlin and Performer Mike Pateras were similarly honored for You Have the Right to Remain Dead. The casts and staff/crew of Nunsense and Nunsense A-men voted together to name Musician Bill Pohl, Technician Stephanie Dalsfoist, and Performer Julie Poux as the Most Community Players. Jess Bunn was named The Yellow Boat’s Most Community Technician. There was a tie for that show’s performer between Taylor Duecker and Richa Gupta. Finally, when there is a show with only two or three performers, the participants select a recipient from both the cast and the crew. The Most Community Player for The Last Five Years was Stephanie Dalsfoist.
MCP is honored to have these individuals in the family!
For a few months, we have been keeping BJ Heling in thought and prayer. Her suffering has ended as she passed away last Wednesday, March 1st.
Being a part of MCP was a family affair for the Helings. Eldest son Sean appeared in The Wiz in 1996, and then John, BJ, Meaghan, Caitlyn, and Johnny joined the cast of The Music Man (shown below in their lobby photo with another of their stage family to the far right) in 1998.
As a family, they participated in Anything Goes, The Song of the Nightingale, Our Town, Oliver!,
Stalag 17,
and Hello, Dolly! They were sometimes together on stage and sometimes one or two would be on stage and the others would fill staff or crew roles. No matter what roles they took on, they would all support shows by being a part of set construction.
BJ took on the role of House Manager for A Skeptic in the Garden, which included Sean in the cast. She also did the Set Decor for My Three Angels. BJ appeared as Evangeline Harcourt (shown above) in Anything Goes. Neat and petite, she was a costumer's dream who looked great in any outfit. Her other stage appearance was in the ensemble of Hello, Dolly! When BJ could not be otherwise involved, she would be sure to usher.
During their tenure with the group, the Helings were also members of Traveling Troupe.
BJ's last association with MCP, was with daughter Cailtlyn on the House Crew for 2004's Spider's Web. The children were no longer children and there were high school and college events for them and thus for her and John.
Visitation for BJ will be held on Friday, March 10th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the John H. Evans Funeral Home, Inc. (741 Center St, Milford, OH 45150). A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, March 11th, at 10:30 AM at the St. Elizabeth Seton Church (5900 Buckwheat Rd, Milford, OH 45150).
Please continue to keep Sean, Meaghan, Caitlyn, Johnny and their children in thought and prayer, as they mourn this loss. John passed away in March 2020, so now Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma are no longer here to share this earthly plane with them.
You are invited to the Shandy Shower!
Please come and help MCP celebrate soon-to-be-Mom, Shannon Mahoney Lewis, and her Baby Girl Lewis due May 10th! Also, we would like to celebrate the birth of Finn Schiesl (1/8/23) and his Mom, Mandy Caruso Schiesl.
The festivities will be held on Sunday, March 26th, at the Mason Community Playhouse from 2-4pm. Couples are welcome! This is an MCP Shower; there is nothing typical about it!
Click here to access Shannon's Registry.
No need to give gifts for Finn, however, if you feel the need he could use: diapers size 2 and up, wipes, clothes for the future, gift cards, or whatever!
Your kindness in gifting both families is very much appreciated!
Please RSVP by March 19th by e-mailing here. Your RSVP helps with planning and it is appreciated.
The MCP Grant Subcommittee has been hard at work finding more funds for MCP! As they completed initial applications, they found opportunities for corporate grants and sponsorships.
Our grant team has created a survey to better understand our membership and potential avenues to support MCP.
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey so that the grant team can collate the responses and create an accurate picture of our membership in their pursuit of grants.
You can fill out the survey here!
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!
The next 50th Anniversary Event is March 30th ...
It's the First Quarter Birthday Celebration of 2023!
To celebrate the birthdays of January, February, and March, we will be dining at City BBQ, West Chester. This is also an opportunity to raise funds for MCP. Our group will receive 20% of the proceeds from each purchase. That is ... as long as we have at least $500 worth of sales from our group. Thus, we really need as many folks as possible to participate. If you cannot come for the gathering time, which will be published soon, you can do take out or delivery and time during their business hours. You just need to use the correct code. Click here to access the form with the codes!
Member Joel Lind takes the lead in this new play written by a local playwright. Momus, God of Satire, Blame and Criticism, travels with Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, Passion and Beauty, to Athens, Ohio in search of a man willing to die out of love for her. Hilarity ensues. Does love conquer all? More importantly, can two Greek gods actually find happiness in Athens, Ohio? You can get tickets to the CenterStage Players show here.
MCP member Gail Rudolph will be appearing in Middletown Lyric Theatre's production of The Children to be performed
March 10 at 8pm and March 11 at 3pm.
Get your tickets here!
Also MCP member Peyton Hahn appears in Loveland Stage Company's presentation of Company March 10, 11, 17, 18 at 7:30pm and 12, 19 at 3pm. Get your tickets here!
Don't forget that Mary Beringer's play, Synapse, will be given a staged reading at the Fifth Third Theater in the Aronoff Center as a part of the Cincinnati Playwright Initiative's New Voices series. It 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. Tickets can be purchased here!
Many of you remember Whitney Dottery, shown above in 2009's Joseph. She moved to Chicago, loved it, and stayed.
She is really excited because she will be appearing as Gary Coleman in Avenue Q for Music Theater Works. She is inviting everyone to consider a weekend away to come see her performance. The show is playing from March 9th through April 2nd. We have some show overlap, but there are a couple of weekends when MCP is not on stage.
Whitney has a discount code, and if you would like to take advantage of that, just e-mail her here. She suggests calling the Box Office directly to avoid Ticketmaster fees. More information, including the phone for the Box Office is available here!
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...
...
the Cast, Crew, and Staff of Puffs, who have been working hard to prepare for this week's opening. A special shout out to Mary Stan Fizer, who has been doing the scenic artistry on the walls, and Alexandria Morgan, who did the artistic painting for downstage left. They both spent many, many hours at their tasks
... Laureen Catlin, Becca McLaughlin, Sonya Neff, and Gail Rudolph, who began the wallpaper project in the meeting room to be. The project is a little more than half done and will, with luck, be completed this week.
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!
Climb Aboard the Train
Director Jennifer Lisa is in search of members who are interested in being a part of the next Murder Mystery Train with Lebanon, Mason, and Monroe Railroad. This session is the April/May mystery. The exact dates have not yet been determined, but if you are interested, please contact Jennifer here.
She would like to get a list of those who have an interest and be able to contact them as soon as she has details.
The Cherry Murder Mysteries, as they are dubbed by LM & M are very popular. They have been a very successful venture between our organizations. And they are a lot of fun. The rehearsal period is short. AND ... you get to be in a show with a lot less time commitment than those full productions! Come on ... give it a try!
50 Stories for 50 Years
The View from Back Stage
By Eric Johansen
My time with MCP has been on again, off again.
I started as a member when we were doing shows in the park at the bottom of the hill in Pine Hill Lake Park. I remember my first show that I was a member of the stage crew. We moved a giant (at least to me as a kid) sharpening wheel during Oliver. It is pictured here with the article ... yes, it was really a stone.
I was also part of the team that moved the giant ramps for the show … by far the worst thing. They had to reach from the ground to the height of the stage, which was an extension of the built in semi-truck "show wagon" that the City of Mason provided for the production. Thus, they had to be long enough for the elevation. They were huge and they were heavy and it took way too many people to move them into place.
From that point on I would help out whenever I was back home. I remember early on helping to build sets, but I was always told that kids weren’t allowed to use power tools while helping.
Move forward a few years ... or a decade ... and I was back assisting the stage manager, actually served as an assistant stage manager, and even led a set build for the complicated Mamma Mia!
production in Theatre 42.
I loved being part of the various shows but I think being involved in The Wizard of Oz and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels were my favorite experiences.
Now I am off to new adventures in Oklahoma, but I will take MCP with me. Where else could you move huge stones and ramps and live to tell about it?
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.