FCT LogoFauquier Community Theatre's
Spotlight
Painting Stories for 33 Years
Special Edition
January 26th, 2012
In This Issue
Final Weekend of Comedy
LOGO Contest
FCT's Got Talent
Auditions
Dinner and Show
Facebook

Pictures by McCall Doyle at Gilded Photography

 

'Man Who Came to Dinner' Brings Comic Relief to FCT Stage

 By Dixie Walters   

            January should become a little more lively with the Jan. 13 opening of the farcical comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner" at the Fauquier Community Theatre. The 1930s-era play revolves around an egotistical cultural critic and radio personality who overstays his welcome on a dinner visit to a Midwestern home.

 

The shenanigans begin when Sheridan Whiteside (played by Jack Seeley of Leesburg) slips on ice and suffers an injury as he makes his way into the utterly conventional Ohio home of the Stanley family. Believing Whiteside has broken his leg, an inept local doctor insists that the critic remain indefinitely at the home of the Stanleys, played by Scott Pierce and Holly Martin Czuchna, and their children, played by Marc White and Hannah Malinowski.

 

As it turns out, Whiteside is everything you don't want in a houseguest. Arrogant, self-centered and manipulative, he quickly takes over the house from his wheelchair and begins to meddle in the affairs of the helpless homeowners, their children and household staff. Even after it's revealed that Whiteside's injury isn't serious, he plots to stay as a house guest and carry on with his conniving ways.

 

Meanwhile, Whiteside's colorful lifestyle infringes on the once-quiet home of the Stanleys. As Christmas nears, eccentric characters descend upon the household, including ex-convicts, beneficiaries of one of Whiteside's charitable causes, and unusual gifts arrive from his acquaintances around the world, including an Egyptian sarcophagus and a live octopus, which is given sanctuary in the basement.

 

Rooted in Reality

The character of Sheridan Whiteside was based on Alexander Woollcott, a well-known theater critic in the 1930s and a friend of the playwrights, Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. In fact, an unannounced visit by Woollcott to Hart's home provided the inspiration for the play.

 

Other cultural touchstones of the time appear in the play and will be noted by older audience members. For instance, the Stanleys have a female relative living with them who is ostensibly based on Lizzie Borden, the notorious axe murderer.

 

"The Man Who Came to Dinner" was first produced on Broadway in 1939 and later made into a 1942 movie starring Bette Davis in the role of Maggie, Whiteside's secretary, and Jimmy Durante as Banjo, a role modeled after Harpo Marx. More recently, the play had a Broadway revival in 2000, with Nathan Lane in the role of Whiteside.

 

Multigenerational Humor

Although the play is firmly rooted in the milieu of the 1930s, accomplished director Ted Ballard says the play has been adapted in a way to make it accessible to mature theatergoers of all ages. "It's a funny, fast-paced show. There's some nostalgia that will be more familiar to some, but everyone can appreciate the humor of the situation," Ballard says.

 

The cast numbers about 30, with some actors doubling up on minor parts. Besides Seeley in the lead role, other cast members include Corinne Shumaker as Maggie, Joe Bersack as Banjo, Craig Czuchna as the absent-minded Dr. Bradley and Kathleen Donovan as Miss Preen. 

 

This is the last weekend of the play, Jan. 27 - Jan. 29. Performances are at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit  www.fctstage.org or call 540.349.8760. The Fauquier Community Theatre is located at 4225 Aiken Drive in Vint Hill. "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is sponsored by John Clark with Middleburg Mortgage.

    

 

          FCT's Marketing Team is looking for                         a new logo!

Join FCT's LOGO contest! Please submit your JPEG logo creation to spotlight@fctstage.org. We hope to present our new logo and name the winner in an upcoming Spotlight newsletter. We are hoping to have an abundance of entries, so put those creative minds to work!!!
The winner will receive 4 free tickets to FCT's 2012-13 season!

Thank you to Peter Fakoury who designed FCT's last logo. FCT has had many years of use sportin' that great logo!
 
 
 FCT's Got Talent

Always wanted to perform onstage your favorite song?  Have a dance you are itching to perform?  Have a monologue you want audiences to hear?  Want to Dazzle us with a magic trick?  Your opportunity has arrived!

The 1st Annual FCT's Got Talent auditions are for ages 5-18 only. On Feb. 5th from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM, come prepared to audition any act that you would like to perform. *Please limit your act to 3-5 minutes. Bring your own music on CD. Note: There will not be a piano player. FCT's Got Talent  will be performed on March 24th at 7:00 PM and Sunday, March 25th at 2:00 PM at The Theatre At Vint Hill.  Audition Location is at Hope
(4173 Bludau Drive, Warrenton, VA - located in Vint Hill)....stay tuned to the website www.fctstage.org/auditions.   If you have questions you may contact Evelyn Rice at  eveyluvstheatre@aol.com.

Auditions for Into the Woods
sponsored by Airlie

Auditions will be at HOPE (4173 Bludau Drive, Warrenton, VA - located in Vint Hill)  Feb. 3 from 7 PM to 10 PM  Feb 4 from 1 PM to 3 PM  Callbacks at HOPE on the 5th (if needed) from 1 PM to 4 PM

Please be prepared to sing 16 bars of a Broadway musical song. Bring the sheet music as there will be a piano player. Please do not bring CD's of the music. Be prepared to dance with proper shoes that you can dance in.

We ask that you have no performance conflicts. The dates of the performances are May 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20. Please bring any rehearsal conflicts that you may have. Rehearsals start the week after auditions until the run of the show with typically a schedule of a few week nights from 7-10 and Saturdays 10-3.

The cast consists of 17-19 adults over the age of 18. We may be casting four roles that can be any age. To learn more about the roles you will be auditioning for please click the PDF below. All roles subject to the Director's vision for age, vocal range, and role combining.

Into the Woods Characters 

Please address all questions to the producer, Susan Noe at susan_noe@yahoo.com.

 

 


FCT's Upcoming Shows    

 

And Then There Were None 

 (Formally known as Ten Little Indians) 

By Agatha Christie

Directed by Scott D. Olson 

March 2-4, 9-11, 16-18 

Sponsored by Discovery Publications  

 

Dinner and Show

Dinner at the Inn at Vint Hill immediately following the Sunday, March 11th performance. Purchase your combined Dinner and Show tickets
 

In this classic Agatha Christie whodunit, eight guests who have never met each other before are lured by a cryptic invitation to a deserted island and marooned, along with the two house servants. An odd cluster of statuettes - ten little soldiers - sits on the mantelpiece. A nursery rhyme embossed above them tells how each of the ten soldiers meets his death, "until there were none." As the group assembles for cocktails before dinner, a mysterious voice accuses each of having gotten away with murder - and then the group starts finding one of their own murdered one by one. Can the group discover the shocking identity of the murderer before there are no suspects remaining?  

 

 

Into the Woods  

By Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Martha Lynch 

May 4-6, 11-13, 18-20  

Sponsored by Airlie Conference Center 

 

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 this 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 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.  

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