JUNE 2010 NEWSLETTER

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Opening This Weekend!

By Tom Griffin
Directed by Nancy Eppert
Stage Management & Scenic Design by John Eppert
Light Design by Phil Leonard
Sound Design by Sean Leistico
Technical Direction by Bill Wright
Properties by Tamara Kingston
Hair / Makeup Design by Hannah Hutchins

June 4 - 20, 2010
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 2:00pm

STARRING
Anthony Eldridge, Karla Fennick, Matt Katzenmeier,
Sean Leistico, Autumn Massiello, Jeremy Riggs,
Stanley Ross, Nathan Stock, Eric Van Horn

FEATURING
(in the role of "Clara")
Amelia Zang-Carter, Ellen Dirnberger, Lauren Stern,
LeighAnna Donelson & Shannon Pittman

The story takes place in a communal residence for four mentally challenged men; supervised by their social worker Jack, who is facing burn-out. Norman, works in a doughnut shop and exhibits obsessive-compulsive tendencies-as does his girlfriend Sheila, Lucien has the mind of a five-year-old, Arnold is paranoid/hyperactive and OCPD and Barry, a schizophrenic, images himself to be a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time that they, like their more fortunate brothers, are allotted on this earth.

Production support provided by...




One True North of Mission, KS
Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce

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2010 Tony Awards Party At The Barn!

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

A Tony Award Watch Party - A Fundraiser for The Barn Players

"What good is sitting alone in your room?"

Bring the gang to The Barn Players to watch and participate in the annual Tony Awards Live. Walk the red carpet and watch the award ceremonies on the big screen. Vote on your favorite categories for prizes!** Doors open at 6:00pm

**At this time, whether or not the broadcast will feature an extended appearance by Katie Horner is NOT a category.

A light buffet, wine and beer will be served.

Tickets are $15 and reservations are preferred.

The Barn Players, 6219 Martway, Mission, Kansas.
Call 913-432-9100

FELA!...MEMPHIS...THE ADDAMS FAMILY...COME FLY AWAY
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET...AMERICAN IDIOT...SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM
Wonderful musical revivals of...
BYE BYE BIRDIE...FINIAN'S RAINBOW...RAGTIME...A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC...LA CAGE AUX FOLLES...PROMISES, PROMISES
And exciting productions of plays, old and new...
A STEADY RAIN...HAMLET...LEND ME A TENOR...IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY)...RACE...TIME STANDS STILL...PRESENT LAUGHTER...A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE...NEXT FALL...ENRON...LOOPED... FENCES
The stars that have trod the boards of Broadway this season include...
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Denzel Washington, Jude Law, Scarlett Johannsson, Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, John Stamos, Cheyenne Jackson, Christiane Noll, Angela Lansbury, Kelsey Grammer, Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth, Carrie Fisher, Michael Feinstein, Dame Edna Everage, Sherie Rene Scott, Richard Thomas, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Valerie Harper, Marin Mazzie, Norbert Leo Butz, Linda Lavin, Victor Garber, Liev Schreiber, Abigail Breslin, Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub, Green Day

For more information contact: Vida Bikales, President of the Board of Directors of The Barn Players at theboard@thebarnplayers.org.

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Coming In July!

By Eve Ensler
Directed by Shelly Stewart
Asst. Direction by Bob Hart
Stage Management by Rita Marks
Light Design by Craig McCann
Sound Design by Sean Leistico
Set Design by Nathan Norcross
Technical Direction by Bill Wright

July 23 - August 1, 2010
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 2:00pm

STARRING
Heather Austin, Irene Blend, Danelle Drury, Diane Garrett, Emily Green, Gayle Grooms, Kate Haugan, Denise Robison, Laura Roose & Shanese Shields.

An Obie Award-winning whirlwind tour of a forbidden zone, THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES introduces a wildly divergent gathering of female voices, including a six-year-old girl, a septuagenarian New Yorker, a vagina workshop participant, a woman who witnesses the birth of her granddaughter, a Bosnian survivor of rape, and a feminist happy to have found a man who "liked to look at it." One of the most controversial and relevant theatre pieces of the last decade, THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES "confront words to demystify and disarm them" (AP), in order to empower women to understand and appreciate their own body and, in turn, themselves. Written by Eve Ensler after interviewing over two-hundred women about their vaginas. She interviewed women of all ages, all races, all religions, and all professions. The resulting monologues are funny, angry, moving, and fearless.

For reservations, please call (913)432-9100 or visit our website at www.thebarnplayers.org

UPCOMING AUDITIONS

Music, Lyrics and Book by Jonathan Larson
Directed by Eric Magnus
Musical Direction by Kevin Hershberger
Asst. Director Shelly Stewart

AUDITIONS:

Saturday, August 28th and Sunday, August 29th, from 1:00 - 5:00 PM
At St. Pius Church, 55th and Woodson, Mission, KS, 3rd Floor.

EXPECTATION and PREPARATION:

Auditions will be an open call both days, and will consist of singing a prepared 32 bar selection of a musical theatre or pop/rock song in the style of the show.

Please Provide: Sheet Music...no CDs & NO ACAPPELLA auditions
Headshot/Resume (if available)

Invited Callbacks will be held on Monday, August 30th from 7:00 - 10:00 pm. If you are auditioning, please make sure to clear your schedule that evening, as callbacks are critical to putting together the strongest ensemble for this ensemble piece.

Rehearsals will begin September 19th. Typical weekly rehearsal schedule will by Sunday through Thursday nights from 7 - 10pm. Conflicts with the rehearsal schedule must be kept to an absolute minimum during the rehearsal process. No conflicts will be accepted during dress / tech week (10/31 - 11/4)

PRODUCTION DATES:

November 5 - 21, 2010
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
All performances take place at
The Barn Players Theatre
6219 Martway in Mission, KS

SYNOPSIS:

Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer-prize winning Broadway musical based loosely on Puccini's opera La Boheme. It follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing Bohemian lifestyle in New York's East Village. AIDS and both its physical and emotional complications pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel; Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble; Benjamin has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends; and Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general, always behind the camera recording the events but never playing a part.

CAST BREAKDOWN:

ANGEL DUMOTT SCHUNARD | A transvestite street drummer infected with HIV. Incredible dancer with a magnetic personality. Prefer Hispanic / Latin | C3 - A4 (Tenor)
BENJAMIN COFFIN III | Wealthy landlord of Mark and Roger's building. Benny wants to start a multimedia studio. Prefer African-American | Eb3 - F4 (Tenor)
JOANNE JEFFERSON | A headstrong public interest lawyer, and Maureen's lover. Prefer African-American | Bb3 - E5 (Alto)
MARK COHEN | A filmmaker and video artist, determined to capture "real" life on film. Roger's roommate. | C#3 - G4 (Tenor)
MAUREEN JOHNSON | A performance artist and Mark's ex-girlfriend. | C4 - F5 (Soprano Belt)
MIMI MARQUEZ | A dancer with AIDS and a drug problem. Desperate for a place to feel safe and protected. Prefer Hispanic / Latin | F#3 - E5 (Alto)
ROGER DAVIS | An edgy, struggling musician who's HIV+. He hopes to write one last meaningful song before he dies. | B2 - A4 (Tenor)
TOM COLLINS | An HIV+ computer genius who has recently returned to New York after an absence. Has a deep capacity for love and understanding. Prefer African / American | F#2 - A4 (Baritenor). There is only one high A (A4) for this character. It is of short duration.
ENSEMBLE of 8 - 12 to play a variety of characters - Cops, Vendors, Support Group, Homeless, Junkies, Parents, Choir, Back Ups, The Man, Alexi Darling

For more information, please contact Eric Magnus, Artistic Director of The Barn Players, at emagnitude@yahoo.com

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BROADWAY and the ARTS Metro!

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Announcing Our 2011 Season!

INTO THE WOODS

A Barn Junior Production
January 14 - 23
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by James Lapine

An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch...who raps? They're all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone's wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins as a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of "The Princess Bride" becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

EVITA

March 4 - 20
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics and Book by Tim Rice

Argentina's controversial First Lady is the subject of this dynamic musical masterpiece. As an illegitimate fifteen year old, Eva escaped her dirt-poor existence for the bright lights of Buenos Aires. Driven by ambition and blessed with charisma, she was a starlet at twenty-two, the president's mistress at twenty-four, First Lady at twenty-seven, and dead at thirty-three. Eva Peron "saint to the working-class, reviled by the aristocracy and mistrusted by the military" was destined to leave a fascinating political legacy unique in the 20th century. Told through a compelling score that fuses haunting chorales with exuberant Latin, pop and jazz influences, EVITA creates an arresting theatrical portrait as complex as the woman herself.

SHOUT: THE MOD MUSICAL

April 29 - May 15
Created by Phillip George, David Lowenstein & Peter Charles Morris

SHOUT! flips through the years like a musical magazine and takes you back to the music, the fashion and the freedom of the 60's! This smashing revue tracks five groovy gals as they come of age during those liberating days that made England swing! Join this non-stop journey through the infectious and soulful pop anthems and ballads that made household names of stars like Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield and Lulu. SHOUT! uses letters to an advice columnist, true confessions, quizzes and advertisements as a frame for terrific new arrangements of such chart-topping hits as "To Sir With Love," "Downtown," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," "Son of A Preacher Man," and "Goldfinger." With its irresistible blend of hip-swiveling hits, eye-popping fashions and psychedelic dances from the 60's, this fun-filled musical will make you want to throw your head back and SHOUT!

FROST / NIXON

June 10 - 26
By Peter Morgan
(For Mature Audiences)

British talk-show host David Frost has become a lowbrow laughing-stock. Richard M. Nixon has just resigned the United States presidency in total disgrace over Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. Determined to resurrect his career, Frost risks everything on a series of in-depth interviews in order to extract an apology from Nixon. The cagey Nixon, however, is equally bent on redeeming himself in his nation's eyes. In the television age, image is king, and both men are desperate to outtalk and upstage each other as the cameras roll. The result is the interview that sealed a president's legacy.

MARVIN'S ROOM

July 22 - August 7
By Scott McPherson

Bessie lives in Florida where she cares for her aunt and ailing father, Marvin. Bessie learns amidst all this that she has leukemia and that her only hope is to contact her long-estranged sister Lee to see if her bone marrow is compatible for a transplant. Lee reluctantly makes the trip to Florida from Ohio, bringing along her two sons, one of whom has just been released from an institution after a wave of arson. The reunion of the sisters is uneasy at best, with long buried recriminations coming to the surface even as love slowly overwhelms Lee's veneer of selfishness and glib denial.

DISNEY'S ARISTOCATS, KIDS

A Barn Junior Production
July 26 - 28
Based on the 1970 Disney Film THE ARISTOCATS
Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Al Rinker, Floyd Huddleston
Music Adapted, Arranged and Additional Music by Bryan Louiselle
Book Adapted and Additional Lyrics by Michael Bernard

Madame's jealous butler Edgar cat-naps Duchess and her Aristokittens and abandons them in the Parisian countryside. What's a cat to do? Luckily, Thomas O'Malley and his rag-tag bunch of Alley Cats come to their rescue! This feline adventure is sure to get you tapping your feet to its hep, jazzy beat, which includes the Disney favorites "The Aristocats," "Scales and Arpeggios" and "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat."

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

A Benefit Concert for The Barn Players
August 12 - 14
Music, Lyrics and Book by Jason Robert Brown

A contemporary song-cycle musical that ingeniously chronicles the five year life of a marriage, from meeting to break-up... or from break-up to meeting, depending on how you look at it. Written by Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs For A New World), The Last Five Years is an intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE

Sept. 16 - Oct. 2
Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison
Book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar

A rare combination of unprecedented originality and blinding talent, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE begins when a die-hard musical-theater fan plays his favorite cast album on his turntable, and the musical literally bursts to life in his living room, telling the rambunctious tale of a brazen Broadway starlet trying to find, and keep, her true love.

SWEET CHARITY

November 4 - 20
Music by Cy Coleman
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Book by Neil Simon

Charity Valentine is the eternal optimist. While working at the seedy Fan-Dango ballroom, she is often taken advantage of and continually experiences bad relationships. Finally, she seems to have met a decent fellow in Oscar. Trying to hide her true profession, she lies to him and tells her that she works in a bank. Soon, Oscar asks Charity to marry him. Unfortunately, Oscar discovers Charity's real profession and backs out of the marriage. Nevertheless, Charity continues to remain hopeful that good things will happen in her life.

THE 4TH ANNUAL 6 X 10: Original Ten-Minute Play Festival

The fourth exciting installment of our showcase of original works
December 9 - 11

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Many thanks to our patrons

Prior Attire Resale Shop, Mark Gilman and Gill Studios, Mainstreet Credit Union, Casey Carl & Jason Cronister, In Memory of Jack Turmon, One True North, NE Johnson Co. Chamber of Commerce, Cecelia & Bruce Baty, Rosemary Hartigan & Richard Pauli, Vida Bikales, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Beate Pettigrew, Barb Nichols, Curt Knupp & Derek McCracken and Hallmark Corporation, Michael Ruth & Michael Murphy, Martha Risser, Jennifer Obrist Cisneros, The Mission Project, Bob & Petra Allen, New Friends of K.C., Eric Magnus, Chris & Marsha Wilson, Patrick & Carrie Lenahan, Rebecca Black, Lisa West, Gregg and Kim Winsor, Jane Hursh, Pam Haskin, Carol Rucker, Lee Finch, Cara Erickson-Park, Whitney Rowland, Marie Asner, The cast of "Pippin", The cast of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"