Shows Archive - Page 9 of 130 - Community Players

“Damn Yankees” tells of middle-aged baseball fanatic Joe Boyd who trades his soul to the Devil, also known as Mr. Applegate, for a chance to lead his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the New York Yankees. As young baseball sensation Joe Hardy, he transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, only to realize the true worth of his life he’s left behind. Joe ultimately outwits Applegate and his beautiful assistant Lola, returns to his former self, and shepherds the Senators to the World Series.

The Opening night of “Damn Yankees” celebrated not only the 45th Season, but also “Past Presidents Night,” honoring the 14 Past Presidents who were able to attend the show. By decades, there were: 3 from the 30’s, 2 from the 40’s, 5 from the 50’s and 4 from the 60’s. A Daily Pantagraph article documented the occasion, and in the program, all of the Past Presidents of Community Players, along with their years of service were honored.

In response to strong ticket demand for “Damn Yankees,” an additional five nights were added to the original run of 8 performances, making a total of 13. Also introduced this season was the practice of using a producer. Their job was to take care of everything except the overseeing of the acting onstage. It was to be an equal partnership with the director. This practice continues to this very day. Arthur Dornus was the inaugural producer and set into practice many of the functions of current producers.

An old maid librarian has saved her money for twenty years in order to buy a hotel where she can meet interesting people. She purchases a strange, tumbles-down place near the ocean, and she gets what she bargains for—plus a good deal besides. The imperturbable librarian encounters ghosts and secret trunks; she wanders through mysterious situations and thunderstorms; she meets with comedy and drama, the living and the dead; and somehow she manages to emerge at the end none the worse for her extraordinary experiences.

“A Man For All Seasons” is a tragic, historical drama that offers a portrait of Sir Thomas More in his last years as Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of Henry the VIII. When Henry fails to obtain Papal approval for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Bolen, he mandates his subjects to sign an “Act of Supremacy” making him both the spiritual and the temporal leader of England. Sir Thomas cannot in good conscience comply. Neither Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey, his family, nor the King himself are able to convince More as he maintains his integrity in silence. Ultimately accused of high treason, this very silence leads the man to his execution and later his canonization in 1935.

“Biography” is a sophisticated exploration of the culture of celebrity. Marion Froude leaves home for New York and becomes a popular portrait painter, living in a sensational Bohemian lifestyle in ‘decadent’ Manhattan. Enter Dickie Kurt, a magazine editor hungry to publish her autobiography. Her former lover, “Bunny” Nolan fears any such thing would jeopardize his chances for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Together with Marion’s father, he brings influence to kill the story, which eventually Marion burns, leaving her to pursue her career and life in casual contentment.