Program Notes
Mermaid Players Reunion Plays
Production Coordination by
The Gang of Four
Juli Davidson, Class of '70
Bob Hupp, Class of '81
Jim Lartin-Drake, Class of '70
Ted Martin, Class of '86
In cahoots with
David Brubaker himself
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STAGE MANAGERS
Connie Thatcher Hess, Class of '68
Erikson Nystrom, Class of '88
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TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Christopher Abrecht, Class of '81
Katie Stegmeier Helm, Class of '65
Gail Troussoff Marks, Class of '73
Jeff Peck, Class of '97
Katherine Reichenbach, Class of '87
Bill Zapcic, Class of '77
Plus Players to be named later
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Dedicated to Marj Green Brubaker,
All Mermaid Players Wherever You Are,
and Our Wonderful Audiences
Scene I
From A Thurber Carnival by James Thurber, "The Night the Bed Fell on my Father",
with
Tom Stretton (Class of '63)
This is the opening monologue of the 1963 Mermaid Players production of A Thurber Carnival
Scene II
From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, adapted by Ava LeGallienne and Florida Friebus, Act II, Scene 8
with
Laurie Lucas Walker (Class of '80) as The Red Chess Queen
Linda Williams Waite (Class of '80) as The White Chess Queen
Alexis Walker as Alice
Alice, who has been on the most curiouser adverntures of her young life, now finds herself betwixt and between two rival chess Queens. Step into the looking glass with her now if you please.
Scene III
From The White Album by The Beatles, "When I'm Sixty-Four",
with
Carol Baker Farley and Tom Farley (Class of '67)
No, we're not 64. Not yet. But if we keep our shoes shined and our taps polished, we figure when the day comes we'll be ready for anything. This "Tap Dance for Two" was presented earlier this year by The Fabulous Footnotes of Jensen Beach, Florida, choreographed by Sandy Paustian.
Scene IV
From On the Harmfulness of Tobacco by Anton Chekhov, excerpt from the opening monologue
with
Stuart Fischer (Class of '83)
Set in 1906, this comic monologue features a mild-mannered, middle-aged teacher whose shrewish wife has forced him to lecture at a public gathering on the evils of tobacco in spite of the fact that he himself smokes.
Scene V
From Radio Angelo, screenplay by "Tommie Quatro" (aka Juli Davidson, Terri Gabriell, Zachary Romano, & Emily Van Ness) "The Kitchen Scene"
with
Rebecca Ware Strum (Class of '70) as Jaye
Juli Davidson Chusid (Class of '70) as Hannah
David McCallum (Class of 2000) as Ansel
The story of Radio Angelodeals with love, loss, and redemption for an extended family. It is a tale seeped in the music and lyrics of progressive rock from 1954 through today. The Kitchen Scene takes place near the beginning of the Third Act. We'll spend a few minutes with Jaye who lost her husband to cancer about nine months earlier, and her dear 81 year old Aunt Hannah. They are in Jaye's suburban kitchen on Hannah's monthly Home Hair-do Day. Jaye's son, Ansel, enters mid-scene. He is leaving in a few days for his freshman year in college.
Special thanks to current Mermaid Player David McCallum for volunteering his talent, bravery, and quick-study abilities to bring our scene to life.
Scene VI
From The Lovliest Day of the Year by John Guare, "The Park Bench Scene"
with
Scott H. Rebol (Class of '79) as The Man
Debbi Reboul as The Woman
This is a short one-act. And therefore, self-contained. So, in pure Mr. B. fashion, it requires no Knowledege Aforethought.
Scene VII
Benchmarks by George Tiboni, Poetry and Lyrics
with
George Tiboni (Class of '68)
Benchmark - a reference point used to establish another location relative to it. a mark on a fixed and enduring object. a point of reference from which measurements of any sort can be made.
Scene V
From The Consul,by Giancarlo Menotti, the Aria from "The Paper Scene"
with
Barbara (Bobbi Jo) Bagri (Class of '61) as Magda
Joy O'Shea as The Secretary
Ross Care, accompanist
This Pulitzer-prize winning musical drama opened on Broadway in 1950. Set in an unnamed country under totalitarian rule, the story deals with the stalwart efforts of a wife to gain an exit visa to join her husband, a freedom fighter. In this pivitol scene, Magda (the Wife) has returned to the consulate yet again to plead for the necessary papers.
Barbara Thome Bagri has performed the role of Magda with the Lancaster Opera Company. She has performed with many theatre groups in Central Pennsylvania and has sung professionally in Italy and Austria. She dedicates this performance to the memory of Dr. Fritz Sandels.
Scene IX
From Words and Music / Levitical Worship by Edna Tatum, the "Praise God" segment
with
Vermelle Diane Lewis Greene (Class of 1974)
And now, a dramatic reading from Edna Tatum's 1996 Words and Music CD. If you saw Robert Duvall's film The Apostle, you might be ready for this.
Scene X
From Love Lemmings by Joe DiPietro, "The Very First Date of Martha Mitz"
with
Molly Logan Huppuch (Class of '72) as Martha
David McCallum (Class of '2000) as Rick
Here, an anxious divorcee assails her date with a load of unsolicited facts and feelings.
Scene XI
*Saturday Only*
Nerves of Straw,by Stuart Pankin
with
Stuart Pankin (Class of '68)
Paul Silverman (Class of ' 68)
The entertainments with which you are about to be entertained require no introduction.
Scene XII
Love Letters by David Alan Friedman, Brenda Liebowitz, and Barry Alan Kushner
with
David Alan Friedman (Class of '73) as Michael
Brenda Liebowitz (Class of '73) as Melissa
Barry Alan Kushner (Class of '73) as Andy
First staged in 1973, romance fans have been moved by the immense human emotion of the continuing saga of "Love Letters" from dinner theatre to dinner theatre across the continent: from Wilkes-Barre to Escondido, from Saskatchewan to Hagerstown, from, well, probably back to Wilkes-Barre. Also known as the "Love Boat Tour", "Love Letters" tells the story of the life-long romance between Andrew and Melissa, two lovers destined never to stay together. In tonight's newest chapter, Melissa is alive, not dead or in the loony bin. She and the just-recently miraculously unmarried Andy have consummated their love in....holy matrimony. Let's find out if they were better off writing letters.
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Greetings to the Mermaid Players from
Chris Lowell, Class of '64
When a show closes and the cast goes its seperate ways, we say, "til next time." But of course we never really do - we'll never occupy the same psychological space and time in the same way again
We're softening the sad breakup of that particular theatrical family with a word of hope. What we're really saying, I think, is "the unity and togetherness we've forged through these rehearsals and these performances have been special, and I want to hold on to this."
Mermaid Players is the only show that never closed for me. This few, this happy few, this band of brothers and sisters, has been with me in my makeup box, whispering notes to me in rehearsals, nudging me onstage for entrances, and accompanying my curtain calls ever since my last show at Dickinson in 1964.
I can't do a comedy without being boosted by the superb work of our dear, late friend Richard Koeln, for example. His impeccable timing and deadpan delivery in A Thurber Carnival are models of comedic excellence that helped me while working on modern stuff like The Mystery of Irma Vep and The Foreigner.And although I have played oppposite many fine actresses since those days, none had the regal grace and centeredness of Lynn Davis in The Crucible.Moments we shared in Act II back in 1962 continue to help me build theatrical relationships in recent productions like Death of a Salesman and Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune.
The splendid character work of such fine and important Memaid Players as Tom Stretton (whose Roderigo was so memorable in Othello)and Bob Mettler, Steve Kreisberg, and Stu Pankin continue - more than 30 years later - to provide grist for the mill. And the energy, focus, and obsession with character that Fred Morsell shows in his work even 35 years after leaving the pleasant confines of Denny Hall have been, literally, a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to me. My "noble lord" is with me each and every drama I do, and having had the oppoprtunity of working opposite him twice in Othello has been a great Mermaid Players legacy.
And of course, hovering above all these memories is the Boss: he of the intense stare and the "Hello, friend." He of the reflective look and attention to fine detail. Nobody has taught me more about acting and directing than David Brubaker. There isn't a scene I play, not a rehearsal I direct, where his hand is not, at least in part, on the tiller. And it steadies the boat every time.
Like the wonderful depiction of G.B. Shaw pulling the strings of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins on the My Fair Lady album cover, David has been out there giving notes to me, nudging me along the way through every show since the first one he cast me in back in 1961. And dammit, I can't slip nuthin' by him. He catches it all. None of the theatrical work I've done in the last 40 years has been without his guiding hand; and now influence on that work has been more important and more precious.
So you see what I mean now that Mermaid Players has not, nor will it ever close for me. There is no final curtain, no " 'till next time" for a company that continues to influence me, a group that has not faded into memory but continues to be at the core of my theatrical life. While the Alpha Psi Omega key lies dormant and unworn in a drawer, Mermaid Players transcends nostalgia and has, like Paris, been a moveable feast for me throughout my life, enriching it greatly.
So warmest greetings to you all, my brothers and sisters; strut and fret yet one more hour upon the stage. Celebrate and enjoy the memories - I do constantly. Break a leg!
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From the Heart of
Vincent Paterson, Class of '72
Memories of Mermaid Players flash in my head like Sugar Plums
Malingering dramatically in bed in a nightgown as The Imaginary Invalid.
Wooing the magnificent Frances Conroy in Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man.
Singing mournfully to Molly Logan in Sergeant Musgrave's Dance.
Or as one dreamlike episode.
It opens with Marj Brubaker patiently teaching us how to paint a flat
and concludes with basking in the applause that filled Mathers Theatre.
(Was it just youth or could we have been that impossibly brilliant?)
The wrap party at the Brubaker's home surpassed,
if possible, even the evening of theatre.
The air sparked with the rush of congratulations about others' jobs well
done and the laughter over the "could you believe it?" moments.
The highlight of every wrap party,
Of every performance at Dickinson,
had to be the approbative smile on David's face.
David didn't need to pay a compliment or give a hug,
All he had to do was catch your eye when you walked into the living room
and, with a not quite imperceptible nod, smile.
This meant everything to us.
David Brubaker's smile.
It is indelibly printed on my heart.
It is a part of every successful moment I ever have.
I am no longer a performer.
I am a Director and a Choreographer.
Yet, 26 years later, when I drive home from a glorious day on the set
or return to my hotel room after a triumphant opening night
or attend another wrap party,
I sense the warmth of David's smile and know that I have done well.
Play on. Do well.
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The following Mermaid Players were set to perform, but due to
life, work, and the pursuit of happiness elsewhere, they regretfully
can not be here this weekend. Break a leg, all.
Chris Bird, Class of '80
Brian Fish, Class of '86
Kassie Fleisher, Class of '81
Lucia Scarano Forte, Class of '84
Meg Fronheiser, Class of '92
Ann Thompson Kern, Class of '63
Rose Malague, Class of '83
Vincent Paterson, Class of '72
Patricia Simmons Stephen, Class of '57
Marilyn Coates Thomas, Class of '82
Jennifer Thornton, Class of '97
Theodore Varga, Class of '93
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