Open auditions for the GCA production of “The Addams Family” will take place on Saturday, June 24th at 2 PM, Monday, June 26th at 6 PM, and Tuesday, June 27th at 6 PM. The production itself will open September 22nd and run weekends through October 8th.

The Garfield Center production will have an opportunity for a flexible cast size, depending on the number of ‘ancestor’ characters that are cast. There are 10 principal characters in the cast. Character descriptions can be found at https://www.garfieldcenter.org/gcaevent/addams-open-auditions/2023-06-24/ and requests for character-specific song suggestions are given there.

The director of the production is Jennifer Kafka Smith, and she has given audition music guidelines. First, for character roles, follow the link given above for the songs she would like to hear. Measure numbers come from the MTI Vocal Score. Copies of the sheet music, specific to the requested measures, can be requested via email at [email protected]. Time stamps and measure numbers from the music links found on the GCA website are provided.

The director will have Addams Family show tracks on hand at the auditions. There will not be a pianist available. Singing a cappella does not provide enough information for the director, so she needs to hear singing with an accompaniment to determine two things: your ability to sing with sufficient volume and to tune your voice to the accompaniment. It is permissible to have sheet music and/or lyrics on stage to audition.

For the audition process, each auditioner will sing per the guidelines given above. Auditions will also include a cold read from the script. A portion of the audition will include learning a small section of choreography. Due to the dance segment, the GCA asks that you wear shoes that will permit movement on stage. For this reason, do not wear no rubber soled shoes or sandals).

Once all auditions are complete, casting will be announced by July 4. For any further information or to secure the resources mentioned above, contact the director at [email protected]. Please do not call the Garfield Center.

Presenting a diverse set of short plays ranging from the outrageous to the hilarious, this year’s edition of the Garfield Center’s Short Attention Span Theatre received over 1000 script submissions from local, national and international playwrights. SAST opens for live performances starting June 23rd. Produced by Mark Sullivan, and mounted in collaboration between a large cast and crew of local performers, directors and technicians, SAST will once again feature 8 ten-minute plays, some of which will be appearing on a stage for the first time.

Directed by GCA Executive Director Steven Arnold, “On Queue” is a modern, comedic take on “Waiting for Godot.” Written by Morey Norkin, a resident of Japan who has Maryland roots, the director has cast J.W. Ruth and James Fordi in the play. Ruth was seen in GCA’s “The Play That Goes Wrong” as Max, as Chicklet in “Psycho Beach Party,” and in the title role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Fordi is a local resident, a current Washington College student, and a participant in the college’s theatre program.

In “Oh, No! I Flew Too Close to the Sun!,” a comedy by Oregon playwright Rand Higbee, a Roman-era convict attempts to clear his record by appearing as Icarus in a performance at the Colosseum – but there’s a catch! The director is Shannon Carter, who was Fiona in “Shrek,” Sandra/Florence in “The Play That Goes Wrong” and performed in a variety of acting and singing roles all over the Eastern Shore. Carter’s cast features Brianna Johnson, who appeared in GCA’s “Psycho Beach Party” and “Prescription: Murder,” Robert Walton, who performed in last year’s “SAST,” “The Play That Goes Wrong” and “Shrek,” and Ian Stotts, who portrayed Judah in GCA’s “Joseph.”

Police murder procedures meet “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” in “Annnd Scene (of the Crime),” directed by Brianna Johnson. The play, written by Ohio-based John Busser, features Adrienne Wrona, who appeared in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “Shrek” and “SAST,” Dominic Delcoco, who performed in 2022’s “SAST” and as “Gingy” in “Shrek,” and Ian Stotts.

In “Quack,” directed by Jennifer Kafka Smith, a method actor constantly inhabits his current character role much to the annoyance of his wife and her sister. Smith, who directed “Annie” and “Shrek” for the GCA, has cast newcomer Audrey Roberts from Cambridge, newcomer Lydia Clark from Worton, and Gil Rambach, who appeared in “Shrek,” “SAST” and directed 2019’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” for the GCA.

In a fantasy kingdom’s distant past, a tailor asks the Queen to break tradition by determining his own preferred surname. His chosen name, “Dragonslayer,” is also the title of North Carolina playwright Clinton Festa’s comedy. Directed by Patrick Pearce, who has appeared on the GCA stage in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “Psycho Beach Party,” “Prescription: Murder” and “SAST,” the show features a large cast of performers, including Amanda Fry, who has multi-year “SAST” credits, Ian Stotts, Robin Wood, who played FDR in “Annie,” Kyleigh Batchelor, who appeared in the children’s chorus in “Joseph,” Gil Rambach, Robert Walton, and J.W. Ruth.

J.W. Ruth directs “Evolution,” by St. Louis playwright Marjorie Williamson. Set in the dawn of civilization, it imagines that even prehistoric cave dwellers can resist change. The cast includes Colleen Minahan, who recently appeared in Church Hill Theatre’s “Sense and Sensibility” and “The Outgoing Tide,” and Pennsylvania resident and GCA newcomer Craig Stump.

Mark Sullivan is the director and playwright for “That Sounds Like Murder.” Hilarity and confusion abound on a dark and stormy night as three actresses attempt to solve a mystery but are thwarted by an unlikely source. Sullivan has cast Amanda Fry, Shannon Carter, and Adrienne Wrona.

“Game Day” is by local playwright and Live Playwrights’ Society participant Jon Clark. In this comedy, a man is facing a life-or-death situation but his dilemma is overshadowed by an argument with surprising revelations. Directed by Adrienne Wrona, the play features Shannon Carter, Dominic Delcoco, and James Fordi.

Performances begin June 23rd and run at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 PM on Sundays through July 9th. Tickets are $20.00 for general audiences and $10.00 for students and can be purchased online anytime at www.garfieldcenter.org or by calling the box office at 410-810-2060 Wednesdays through Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM.

The Garfield Center for the Arts is gearing up for its annual celebration of playwrights, directors and actors who delight in the art of the 10-minute play! Short Attention Span Theatre (SAST) offers an evening of 10-minute plays, designed to hold your attention for “just. long. enough.”

Auditions for this year’s SAST will be held at the Garfield Center on Tuesday, May 2 at 6:30 PM, Thursday, May 4th at 6:30 PM, and Saturday, May 6th at 2:00 PM.  For the production, the GCA is seeking actors and stage crew. Auditions will consist of cold readings from scripts being considered for presentation.

Short Attention Span Theatre will run three weekends: June 23-25, June 30-July 2, and July 7-9. As it is every year, the show will feature a multitude of actors and directors as well as continuing our long tradition of premiering original works by local playwrights and playwrights from around the world.

For any additional inquiries about auditions, please contact GCA Executive Director Steven Arnold at [email protected].

It is not widely known that TV’s Columbo first originated as a character in the play “Prescription: Murder,” by William Link & Richard L. Levinson. The play never made it to Broadway – it was first performed at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco on January 2, 1962, and ran on tour for 25 weeks playing to enthusiastic audiences. It tells the story of a brilliant psychiatrist and his mistress who hatch a plot to murder his neurotic, possessive wife. The execution of their plan and the creation of their perfect alibi depends on a bizarre impersonation. Lt. Columbo must engage the psychiatrist in a duel of wits until the doctor succeeds in having Columbo removed from the case. However, it is the mistress who proves to be the weak link that leads to a trap and a surprising climax!

GCA’s Theatre Manager Nic Carter is the director of the production, which is produced through special arrangement with Concord Theatricals.

Auditions are scheduled for Saturday, February 18 at 2:00 PM, and Tuesday and Wednesday, February 21 and 22, both in the evening starting at 6:30 PM. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script.

Needed are 3 adult female and 4 adult male actors. The roles are: Dr. Roy Flemming: a polished urbane New York psychiatrist in his forties who is highly civilized, pragmatic, and gives the impression of a cold, functioning intelligence. Claire Flemming: a brittle, sardonic product of New York’s East Side, she shows the strain of a loveless marriage. Her clothes, like her apartment, are ultra chic. Susan Hudson: young and extremely attractive, with a hint of latent sensuality, she is not particularly complicated, but as the play progresses she shows the burden of increasing tension. She dresses with the stylish taste of an actress. Lieutenant Columbo: a rumpled police official of indeterminate age. He seems to be bumbling and vague, with an overly apologetic, almost deferential manner which masks an innate shrewdness, however, a foxy knowledge of human nature. Dave Gordon: a smooth, boyish lawyer with his eye on a political future. Miss Petrie: a pleasant, efficient woman with a genuine liking for people. Delivery Boy: A delivery person for Madison Cleaners.

For further information, contact Director Nic Carter at [email protected].

Charles Busch is the ultimate in off-beat playwrights. He is the author and star of over twenty-five plays including “The Divine Sister,” “The Lady in Question,” “Red Scare on Sunset,” “The Tribute Artist,” “The Confession of Lily Dare” and “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom;” one of the longest running plays in the history of Off-Broadway. His play “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” ran for 777 performances on Broadway, winning the Outer Circle Critics’ John L. Gassner Award for playwriting, and receiving a Tony nomination for Best Play. He also wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays “Psycho Beach Party” and “Die Mommie Die,” the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

“Psycho Beach Party” is an accurate title for the zany, strange and hilarious play the title represents. Call it Gidget with a personality disorder, or Frankie and Annette go insane, either of which give a sense of the style, wit and comedy of the play. Embracing the era of Hollywood beach movies, it is a parody of 1950s psychodramas, 1960s beach movies and 1980s slasher films. In the plot, Florence Forrest is a Gidget-like character determined to learn to surf, and earns the nickname “Chicklet” from the surfer guys. However Chicklet begins displaying multiple personalities, among them a check out girl, an elderly radio talk show hostess, a male model named Steve and the accounting firm of Edelman and Edelman. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind! Chicklet experiences inexplicable blackouts, and fears that she might be the one responsible for a series of mysterious murders in her beachside town. Hilarity ensues as mischief, madness and the passionate pursuit of the perfect wave delight the audience as beach blankets and Hitchcockian psychological suspense thrillers are tossed around in this rollicking, zany comedy.

The Director of the production is Michael Moore, who directed last season’s Garfield production of “The Laramie Project.” His casting embraces the switched gender aspect of most of Charles Busch’s plays. Chicklet will be played by J.W. Ruth, most recently seen as Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” this past December on the Garfield stage, and scene-stealing Max in “The Play That Goes Wrong” in the opener of the 2022 season at the Garfield. Patrick Pearce, also seen in “Joseph” and “The Play That Goes Wrong” plays Yo-Yo. Dominic Delcoco, who played Gingy in “Shrek” in 2021 and one of the brothers in “Joseph,” plays Star Cat. Dylan Lyles, who appeared in “Shrek,” “The Laramie Project” and “The Good Doctor” at the Garfield plays Provoloney. The Great Kanaka is played by Garfield favorite Brad Chaires, most recently seen in “Joseph” playing Potipher, the Elvis-like Pharaoh and one of the brothers. Brianna Johnson, last seen in “The Good Doctor” and “The Laramie Project” plays Berdine. Minnie Maloney, last seen on the Garfield Stage in “The Good Doctor” plays Marvel Anne, Connie Fallon, last seen in “Shrek,” plays Mrs. Forrest, and newcomer Cassi Pinder plays Bertina Barnes.

Director Moore is assisted in the production by costumer Connie Fallon, with props by Wendy Sardo, lighting by Butch Clark, sound design by Nic Carter, motion graphic projections by Steven Arnold, sound board execution by Jordan Dixon, photography by Steven Arnold, and print graphics, playbill and marketing by Francoise Sullivan.

The show opens February 10th and runs weekends through February 26th, with performances at 8:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 PM on Sundays. Tickets are already available online and can be purchased through our website at www.garfieldcenter.org or by calling the Box Office at 410-810-2060 on Wednesdays through Fridays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Auditions for the first production of the Garfield Center’s 2023 season, Charles Busch’s “Psycho Beach Party” are scheduled for December 3 at 2:00 PM, December 6 and 7 at 6:30 PM. The play will be directed by Michael Moore, who directed the Garfield’s recent production of “The Laramie Project” as well as performing memorable roles in “Clue” in 2021 and “The Good Doctor” this season. The show performs on weekends from February 10 through February 26th and auditions will be held at the Garfield Center at 210 High Street in Chestertown.

A hilarious cult favorite, imagine Gidget crossed with “The Three Faces of Eve” and “Mommie Dearest.” Chicklet, a perky teenager in Malibu Beach circa 1962, wants to learn to surf and join a group of beach bums led by the great Kanaka. Unfortunately, she suffers from a multiple personality disorder. Seeing red causes her to transform into various other selves, including a sinister vamp out to conquer the world. Complications arise when a movie starlet flees the set of her latest rotten movie to hide among the surfers. The climax is a wild luau scene where hypnosis reveals the shocking root of Chicklet’s psychosis.

The play became a film in 2000, featuring an adapted screenplay by Busch and with performances by Lauren Ambrose, Thomas Gibson, Amy Adams and the story’s creator, Charles Busch, as Captain Monica Stark.

Auditions will consist of readings from the script. The play requires 6 female adult actors and 5 male adult actors. If anyone interested in auditioning needs additional information, contact the Director, Michael Moore, at [email protected].

Putting just the right finish on a very successful season, the Garfield Center has been hard at work on their upcoming production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”  Sure to be a hugely popular show, patrons should arrange their tickets sooner rather than later. Tickets can be purchased anytime online at www.garfieldcenter.org or by calling the Garfield Center at 410-810-2060 during regular box office hours Wednesdays through Fridays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The Garfield Center is pleased to announce that Chesapeake Bank and Trust is the production sponsor for “Joseph.”

Director Jen Friedman has a wealth of experience as a comedienne, actor and director. She never felt too inclined to direct a musical – except for one. She’s always had a passion for “Joseph” and hoped she would finally have a chance to let her years-long ideas and concepts be realized on the stage. “I wanted to direct Joseph because it reminds me of my childhood, and it’s something that my family would enjoy together,” Jen said. “I really enjoy the show and it is a perfect show for the Garfield’s family musical slot. My cast and staff have been working very hard to put on a spectacular show, and I know that Kent County and Eastern Shore families will have great memories from coming to see our work.”

Jen is surrounded by additional expertise within her production staff. Betsy VanBenthuysen is Music Director for the production, Cavin Moore is Choreographer, Hope Dorman is the Stage Manager, Steven Arnold is set designer and photographer, Butch Clark oversees the lighting and set construction, Nic Carter oversees the sound design and Jen Friedman is overseeing costumes and props. Francoise Sullivan designs and publishes the playbill.

The cast that Jen has chosen is an extremely talented group of experienced local performers. Leading the show in the title role of Joseph is J.W. Ruth. He’s been seen in several recent and prominent roles in the area, including the roles of the Prince and Pseudolus in CHT’s Into the Woods and A Funny Thing Happend on the Way to the Forum, along with his side-splitting turn as Max in GCA’s The Play That Goes Wrong. Joining him to co-lead the production is Heather Joyce-Byers as the Narrator. Heather was also in CHT’s Into the Woods as The Witch as well as several past GCA productions including Annie and 2021’s SAST.

Performing featured roles are Herb Ziegler as Jacob, Bradley Chaires as both Potipher and Pharaoh, Lisa Webb as Potipher’s wife, John Mann as the Butler, Patrick Pearce as the Baker, Regan King as the Snake, and Dominic Delcoco as the Camel.

As Joseph’s jealous and devious brothers are Bradley Chaires as Asher, John Mann as Levi, Patrick Pearce as Dan, Joel Tolbert as Reuben, Regan King as Napthali, Dominic Delcoco as Isaachar, Tom Dorman as Simeon, Quentin Bergenholtz as Benjamin, Jim Johnson as Zebulum, Ian Stotts as Judah, and Magdalena Chevaz as Gad.

And performing in the children’s chorus are Lilly Askew, Kyleigh Batchelor, Maria Boone, Olivia Jane Coppage, Addyson Crooks, Daria Fox, Madelyn Hopwood, Aubrey Johnson, Clover King, Jocelyn Matera, Carly Mourlas, Maddison Riley, Riley Rosati and Rooney Rosati.

The Garfield Center strongly recommends purchasing tickets early as the show is expected to be very popular and will likely sell out.

The many moods of New Orleans music will be filling the air in Chestertown’s Wilmer Park for the 26^th Annual Chestertown Jazz Festival this Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10.

The festival opens at noon on Saturday with the traditional Gospel featuring Sylvia Fraser and The Anointed Vessels – Lester Barrett, Jr., Zita Seals, Monica Christy, and Kevin Benjamin on piano.

Headliner Don Vappie, 4 string banjo maestro, Creole cultural expert and jazzman extraordinaire has been called a living embodiment of New Orleans music. His band, the Jazz Creole Jazz Serenaders, features vocalist Quiana Lynell, trumpeter Kevin Louis, clarinetist and saxophonist Tom Fischer, bassist Richard Moten, piano and keyboard player Mike Esnault, and drummer Brian Richburg. They will take the audience through the many moods of New Orleans music: traditional jazz, soul-funk, blues, rhythm and blues, zydeco, and Dixieland.

Also on the bill are the Chestertown Festival Brass Band, Dave Robinson and his youth group, the Capital Focus Jazz Band, and local favorites, Philip Dutton and the Alligators.

Thursday, September 8, the Mainstay in Rock Hall presents Zydeco-a-Go-GoIn conjunction with the Jazz Festival

Tickets are still available for the Friday night Big Easy cocktail party and concert featuring the Dave Robinson and the Conservatory Classic Jazz Band and New Orleans style cuisine prepared by Chef Rodney Scruggs and his team from Watershed Alley.

To purchase tickets and for more information on the 26^th Annual Chestertown Jazz Festival, September 8 – 10, visit https://www.garfieldcenter.org/gcaevent/2022-chestertown-jazz-festival/ or call the Garfield Center at 410.810.2060.

Photo: GCA’s “The Good Doctor” in rehearsal. TOP LEFT, an overzealous dentist (Dylan Lyles) goes to war with his patient’s (Bob Chauncey) teeth. BOTTOM LEFT: a man and woman (Jim and Diane Landskroener) debate whether or not to elevate their passing acquaintance into something more. BOTTOM RIGHT: At the theatre, Cherdyakov (Michael Moore) has the terrible misfortune of sneezing on General Brassilhov (Bob Chauncey), shocking Brassilhov’s wife (Minnie Maloney) and as the Narrator (Frank St. Amour) looks on. TOP RIGHT: The cast of “The Good Doctor” includes (front) Diane and Jim Landskroener, (back, left to right) Dylan Lyles, Bob Chauncey, Minnie Maloney, Michael Moore and Frank St. Amour (not pictured are Brianna Lyn Johnson and Ben Gilbert).

The original production of Neil Simon’s comedy “The Good Doctor” opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on Broadway in 1973 and featured a stellar cast including Christopher Plummer, Marsha Mason, Frances Sternhagen, René Auberjonois, and Barnard Hughes. The play was a departure for Simon from his usual living room-style comedy.  He set out to celebrate the irony and droll humor of Anton Chekhov’s work by encapsulating the style within short sketches tied together by a narrator suffering from writer’s block. In one sketch, a government clerk over-apologizes and has a nervous breakdown after accidentally sneezing on a general during a night out at the theatre. In another sketch, a crafty seducer goes to work on a wedded woman, only to realize that the woman has been in command from the first overture. And then there’s the visit to the chair of a frighteningly overzealous Dentist. And let us not forget the classic tale of a man who offers to drown himself for three rubles. The stories are droll, the portraits affectionate, the humor infectious, and the fun unending. Sometimes absurd, sometimes melancholy, but always enjoyable, it is a modern take on the essence of Chekov featuring various comedic styles and characterizations.

Directing the production is Bonnie Hill, a seasoned director who has staged multiple productions at The Garfield Center and Church Hill Theatre, among others. The production stage manager is Sheila Austrian, who is no also no stranger to the local stage, having appeared in, and worked on, many productions. Costumes are by Connie Fallon, with assistance from Nita Wieczoreck, Props are by Wendy Sardo, Lights and Sound are by Butch Clark and Nic Carter, the Sound technician is Amelia Plummer, Photography is by Steven Arnold, and the poster and program is by Francoise Sullivan.

The show features a splendid cast of gifted local actors, some of which are new to the Garfield Stage. Playing diverse roles throughout the program are Frank St. Amour, Bob Chauncey, Ben Gilbert, Brianna Lyn Johnson, Diane Landskroener, Jim Landskroener, Dylan Lyles, Minnie Maloney, and Michael Moore.

The show runs weekends from September 16 through October 2, with performances starting at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 PM on Sundays. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at www.garfieldcenter.org or by calling the Box Office on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM.

To begin work on its 2022 season-closing production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” the Garfield Center will be holding open auditions in September for the musical, which will run weekends from December 2 through December 18. Featuring a score of music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, it was his first successful stage musical and one of several collaborations with lyricist Tim Rice.

“Sha la la, Joseph, you’re doing fine! You and your dreamcoat, ahead of your time!,” the musical is a reimagining of the Biblical story of Joseph, his father Jacob, eleven brothers and the coat of many colors. Told entirely through song with the help of a Narrator, the musical follows preferred son Joseph who, after being sold into slavery by his brothers, ingratiates himself with Egyptian noble Potiphar but ends up in jail after refusing the amorous advances of Potiphar’s wife. While imprisoned, Joseph discovers his ability to interpret dreams, and he soon finds himself in front of the mighty but troubled, Elvis-inspired, Pharaoh. Joseph’s solution to Egypt’s famine elevates him to Pharaoh’s right-hand man and reunites him with his family. The magical musical is full of catchy songs in a variety of styles, from a parody of French ballads (“Those Canaan Days”), to country-western (“One More Angel in Heaven”) and calypso (“Benjamin Calypso”), along with the unforgettable classics “Any Dream Will Do” and “Close Every Door.”

AUDITION DATES are Saturday, September 17 at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, September 20 at 6:30 PM, and Thursday, September 22 at 6:30 PM. Auditions are open to anyone of any age, including children. The show features a children’s chorus. All roles are available for casting. Auditions will be held at the Garfield Center for the Arts at 210 High Street in Chestertown.

To audition, you must be prepared to sing either a music theater or pop song that demonstrates your singing ability and your range. Singing without accompaniment (a cappella) is allowed, but performers are strongly encouraged to bring some form of accompaniment. There will be no piano accompanist provided, so if you wish to sing using piano sheet music, you must bring your own accompanist. For karaoke-style accompaniments, a bluetooth speaker will be provided. CD tracks or thumb drive files are discouraged due to limitations in available playback equipment, so have your playback music ready on your phone to broadcast over bluetooth.

Some auditioners may also be put through a light dance or movement audition, so please wear regular shoes instead of open-toe shoes or sandals.

This audition information is also available on the Garfield Center’s website at www.garfieldcenter.org/gcaevent/joseph-auditions.  Additional questions may be emailed to Director Jen Friedman at: [email protected].