MSC's "Read Thru Series"
Presents An Evening Of
Non-Stop Comedy Featuring
You Can't Take It With You
Margreta Stage puts a delightful cap on summer activities with a playreading of You Can't Take It With You, directed by Jeanie Rapp, on Saturday, August 28, at the Chester Meeting House.
This wonderfully funny play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart originally opened on Broadway at the Booth Theater in December of 1936 and went on to play for 837 sold-out performances. You Can't Take It With You won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1937 and is still a timeless favorite, thanks to its zany but loveable characters, witty one-liners and charmingly offbeat plot developments. When a young couple brings together their wildly different families for dinner, chaos reigns. Can Alice and Tony's romance survive their relatives? Can their relatives survive each other - especially when the cops arrive?
It is a wild and riotous ride with a large cast, featuring veteran actors Peter Walker and Scotty Bloch as well as 16 other MSC company members. Artistic Director Jeanie Rapp started her first local company with a "read thru" of this very play and now reprises it under the Margreta Stage banner.
The playreading will run one evening only, Saturday, August 28 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25. Reservations can be made by calling the MSC Box Office at 860-767-8943. Tickets will also be available at the door on the evening of the play.
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Actor Party, Monday, October 18
Be There!
Join the fun this fall with an evening of food, friends and readings from new and old plays. The next Actor Party will be held Monday, October 18 at 6:30 pm at our studio in Essex. We may refuse to say anything but 'break a leg' but we aren't superstitious about 'pot luck' - so be sure to bring your favorite tidbits to pass and a beverage of choice. Remember, everyone is welcome and we encourage new theater artists to get involved in our growing company. If you have a short piece you'd like to direct, or a monologue or scene you'd like to try out, please let us know by emailing us: office@margretastage.org. Or call us at (860) 767-8943.
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What's your POINT OF VIEW? MSC wants to know...Look for this exciting new forum on our website and in MSC playbooks throughout the season.
Margreta Stage is interested in your side of the fascinating dialogue that makes theater relevant. Your response, as an audience, ignites the event on stage and it is our hope that the piece of theater we bring to you informs your life.
Your voice is very important to us and we want to know what resonates with you. What is provocative to you? What thoughts, feelings and unique insights does the journey of live theater evoke in you? Write to us so we can share your point of view with the MSC theater community. This forum is meant to recognize and pay tribute to the vital role you play in the Margreta Stage family.
We invite you to submit your ideas - in any form that moves you - letter or note, essay or article, poem or limerick, song or sonnet, quotation or quip. What would you say? E-mail your point of view to office@margretastage.org or head to the
web page and take a look at the first post and start a discussion.
Our POINT OF VIEW page is dedicated to you.
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 The Director's
Corner
Dear Friends,
The French say that a day without wine is like a day without sunshine...and I say, ditto to laughter.
I am passionate about all aspects of theater but I especially love its celebratory spirit. There is nothing like a comedy to rev up your endorphins and lift your spirit. Where else but in a theater are we so willing to laugh at ourselves and have fun doing it!
Six years ago I gathered local talent and friends to do a reading
of You Can't Take It With You, at River Tavern. That 'read thru' experience of spontaneity and creative exploration has become an MSC tradition. So I decided to do a revival because theater is a great place to participate in the richness of ritual and tradition. And I thought we should all have some fun!
Kaufman and Hart have a special place in my heart for more than their theatrical genius. This play and I have a long relationship - if it weren't for You Can't Take It With You, I wouldn't be here. My parents met while acting in this play many years ago, so you see, I am affectionately tied to it on many levels.
It is with respect and joy, for legacies both personal and theatrical, that I bring you this production. I look forward to seeing you there.
Margreta Stage Company
860.767.8943
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Our Company Members at Work
Jason Naylor can be seen in The Buddy Holly Story at Ivoryton Playhouse. July 7 - August 1,
Kenneth Lindquist Jr. and Jonathan Saltus are performing on The Essex Steam Train in the murder mystery The Band Slayed On written by Anna Trusky and Ira Sakolsky. Friday evenings: July 30 and August 6, 13, 20, & 27.
Kandie Carle's East Haddam Stage Company is reprising William Gillette's All the Comforts of Home. The cast includes Ginny Wolf, Rayah Martin and Kenneth Lindquist Jr. Performances are Saturday & Sunday through July 31, 1:00 pm outdoors at the Gillette's Castle, 67 River Rd., free admission. Also at 2:00 pm indoors at the Historical Society Museum, 264 Town Street, free with $5 museum admission.
Jamie B. Murphy's play, Promise, will be presented by Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre, Wellfleet, MA, Nov. 4 -7, 11-14 & 18-24. Tickets: www.what.org or phone
508-349-9429. Promise will be directed by John Tillinger and choreographed by Christopher d'Amboise.
Amy Forbes of Treehouse Players is offering four, week-long acting sessions, half & full days, for children ages 5-12. New this summer is Adventures Back Stage. For more info please call 860-581-0143 or amydforbes@gmail.com.
Maureen Alfiero introduces
CONNECTICUT KIDS ON STAGE, a place to find Connecticut theater auditions, acting classes, performing and technical workshops and performing arts camps for kids from pre-k to age 17. To access this terrific resource go to: www.ctkidsonstage.com
Sue Levine invites you to celebrate with her at R.J.Julia Booksellers, Wed, August 11 at 7 p.m. for her first poetry reading from her new book, Haberdasher's Daughter. For more info go to:
www.suzannelevine.blogspot.com
Todd Little performed in the six week run of Personal Appearance at Wings Theater in New York City.
John Johmann played Oliver in Shakespeare's As You Like It at Art Farm's Shakespeare In The Grove.
Getchie Argetsinger recently played Dorothy Parker in a reading of Diminished Fifth, by Julie Halpern at the 913 Theatre Festival and performed in Harley Adam's new comedy, Play #4, in the Samuel French Festival in New York City.
Please continue to send us any news so we can share your work and help promote local theater projects.
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Monday, September 13, 2010 at 01:14PM 
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