2008-09 is the Community Players’ 25th season, give or take a season or
two, our beginnings are a little murky. At the end of the season Fritz
Brun will have directed 27 dramatic productions for the Community
Players, ranging from one-actors to 9 musicals and two of Shakespeare’s
heavies. We aim to charm, some of the time, but sometimes we feel like
delivering a kick in the pants. 2008-09 will be a harsh season. Our
fall musical is
The Threepenny Opera
with music by Kurt Weill and text by Bertolt Brecht. This musical is
one of the finest works of art describing life in a big city, and we
all know that big city life is a mixed bag. Our spring play will be
Shakespeare’s Othello, which is not light entertainment either.
One of the special things about the Community Players is that at the
Community School it is cool to be in plays, and not just for girls.
Boys want to act too. This makes it possible for us to do almost
anything. Our choice of material always depends on the nature of the
available talent, which always tends to be considerable. This season
four aspiring professionals will lead our acting company, Hailey Zanes,
Rika Pere (new at the Community School, but an established star in the
valley), Harry Dreyfuss and Caspar Brun, supported by such seasoned
veterans as Elizabeth Beesley, Noah Koski and Tate Boley.
Over the years many of our actors have performed outside the school,
beginning at a very early age. Connor Wade was five when he had his
stage debut as the Changeling in The Ballet School’s dance version of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And when he was a 3rd grader Connor played Peter as a boy, the eccentric aunt’s nephew, in Laughing Stock’s
Auntie Mame. Both Connor and Kevin Wade, Travis Stone and Tyner Pesch were in Laughing Stock’s production of
Oliver
starring Sam Mott as Oliver. Scarlett Caldwell was a sensation at age
10 in Laughing Stock’s Annie. Louisa Waycott thought she was going to
be a cellist until she appeared in the St. Thomas Playhouse production
of Jesus Christ Superstar, but from then on she became a superstar at
the Community School, and went on to professional training as an opera
singer at Ole Miss. She had her professional debut this summer (08) as
Despina in Mozart’s Cosi Van Tutte with Opera in the Ozarks. Louisa
Waycott also appeared in the St. Thomas Playhouse production of Tommy,
as Tommy’s mother, Tyner Pesch was the mad psychiatrist, Kevin Wade
played Tommy -- and Judas in
Jesus Christ Superstar, and Joseph in the St. Thomas Playhouse production of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Louisa and Kevin partnered each other in the St. Thomas Playhouse
production of The Fantasticks. Together with John Cortese, Kevin Wade
acted with Company of Fools in a one-actor written by Wood River High
School student, Max Kessler. Kevin went on to professional musical
theater training at NYU, and this summer (08) he returned to the valley
as a professional actor, and gave one of the finest performances in
Company of Fools’
Violet. Many Community School actors have
returned to the valley to perform in our local Shakespeare Festival.
Emily Dreyfuss and Casey Mott played leads in
All’s Well That Ends Well.
This summer Rika Pere played Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. Caspar
Brun spent last year in the Bay Area where he played Damis in
Tartuffe and Fenton in
The Merry Wives of Windsor
in two semi-professional Bay Area Community Theatres. Meanwhile back
home in the Wood River Valley Rika Pere and Harry Dreyfuss starred in
George Gershwin’s
Crazy for You, produced by St. Thomas
Playhouse. In the summer a large number of Community School actors
performed in the St. Thomas Playhouse production of
Hair, among these Harry Dreyfuss, Rika Pere, Hailey Zanes, Noah Koski and Alison Sher.
In short, it is certainly true that in the Wood River Valley the hills are alive with the sounds of music and drama.