The community theatre company in residence at
The Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts
10 Durand Road, Maplewood, New Jersey
2020 - 2021 Season
Due to the pandemic, all planned productions will be rescheduled to a future season.
Until then, please join us for a monthly program of live performances via Zoom...
All the World's a Virtual Stage
Submissions for original or published performance pieces are welcome. Contact us for information.
A recorded performance is available upon request.
When an up-and-coming folk singer returns to her native Wickham, Vermont – a town she vowed never to return to after a traumatic experience – she faces both her past and her future.
The Program
The Wickham Way
Written by Rachel Rubin Ladutke, Music by Lisa Brigantino
Directed by Arlene Schulman
Produced by Molly Eisert
CHARACTERS
LIZA COOPER
A rising singer/songwriter, and a native of Wickham, Vermont, 27
MARTI (MARTHA) KAPLAN
LIZA’s life partner, 29
SHELBY BREWSTER
a native of Wickham, Liza’s aunt, late 30s
ABNER MORSE
a native of Wickham, recently widowed, late 70s
CHARLIE MORSE
Abner’s grandson, Liza’s childhood buddy, 27
SETTING
Abner’s home, the Wayfarer Inn in Wickham, Vermont.
A snowy weekend in February.
The present.
ACT ONE
Scene One: Friday. Around 5:30 p.m. Scene Two: Around 11:30 p.m. that night.
ACT TWO
Scene One: Saturday. Late morning. Scene Two: Around 11:30 p.m. that night.
THE CAST
Jessica Katz (Marti Kaplan)
Kay Koch (Liza Cooper)
Eileen Mager (Shelby Brewster)
Joey Nasta (Charlie Morse)
Joe Rothstein (Abner Morse)
Lisa D'Agati Geerhart (Stage Directions)
Marisa Dolkart Herling (Stage Directions)
PRODUCTION
Arlene Schulman (Director)
Molly Eisert (Producer)
Rachel Rubin Ladutke (Playwright)
https://rachelwrites67.wixsite.com/website
Lisa Brigantino (Composer)
MUSIC CREDITS
SARAH
© 1991 Words and Music by Lisa Brigantino
Published by Brigmusic (SESAC)
THOSE DAYS
© 1985 Words and Music by Lisa Brigantino
Published by Brigmusic (SESAC)
EVERY DAY’S A JOURNEY
© 2014 Words and Music by Lisa Brigantino
Published by Brigmusic (SESAC)
I WILL
© 1991 words and music by Lisa Brigantino
Published by Brigmusic (SESAC)
The playwright expresses special thanks and heartfelt appreciation to director/dramaturg Arlene Schulman, who has been an invaluable asset to The Wickham Way throughout its development process. Arlene’s contributions, diligence, and enthusiasm have helped deepen, inform, and shape both the characters and the story.
Click here to watch a recorded performance on YouTube.
Adapted and directed by
Carol Cornicelli
The program
PROLOGUE
Gene Ciccone (Strindberg)
Betty Slevin (Interviewer)
Readers: Sandra Eismann, Mateo Moreno, Melyssa Searcy, Robert S. Webb, Amanda Feliciano
AN ATTEMPT AT REFORM
Melyssa Searcy (wife)
Robert S. Webb (husband)
Sandra Eismann (narrator)
CHEATED
Amanda Feliciano (wife)
Mateo Moreno (husband)
Betty Slevin (narrator)
DUEL
Jennifer Padley (wife)
Rashad Davis (husband)
Amanda Feliciano (narrator 1)
Melyssa Searcy (narrator 2)
Mateo Moreno (narrator 3)
AUTUMN
Dena Daniel (wife)
Ron Richardson (husband)
Sandra Eismann (narrator 1)
Robert S. Webb (narrator 2)
EPILOGUE
Gene Ciccone (Strindberg)
Betty Slevin (Interviewer)
Carol Cornicelli (director)
MARCH
Click here to watch a recorded performance on YouTube.
The program
“Phenomenal Woman”
by Maya Angelou
Read by Melyssa Searcy
“Need to Nurture”
A monologue written and performed
by Debbie Buchsbaum
“Mommy ‘Me Time’ in Quarantine”
A monologue written and performed by Tanya Lashley
The Odd Couple (female version)
by Neil Simon
A scene performed by Judy French, Judi Gajary,
Georgiana Hart, Ellen Moschel, and Fran Shultz
“Special Package”
A monologue written and performed by Molly Eisert
“Telling Mom”
A monologue by Karen Dale Wolman
Performed by Ginny S. Crooks
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
"Sisters"
by Delia and Nora Ephron
Performed by Debbie Buchsbaum, Brooke Kaye, and Amanda McCabe
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
“The Dressing Room”
by Delia and Nora Ephron
Performed by Sharmeen Azmudeh, Melyssa Searcy,
Vlada Borisova-Duran, Ginny S. Crooks, and Fran Shultz
Table Manners
by Alan Aykbourn
A scene performed by Mary Clare Cardoni and
Carol Cornicelli
"Sex change"
A monologue by B. Holder
Performed by Vlada Borisova-Duran
The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told
by Paul Rudnick
A monologue performed by Jess Katz
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
“Brides”
by Delia and Nora Ephron
A scene performed by Sharmeen Azmudeh and
Brooke Kaye
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
by Alan Ball
A scene performed by Jessi Baden-Campbell, Jess Katz, Amanda McCabe, and Cyndi Owgang
The Hysterical History of the Trojan War
"Cassandra"
by D. M. Larson
A monologue performed by Vlada Borisova-Duran
“A Conversation with God While
Waiting in Line”
An editorial by Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Performed by Carol Cornicelli and Sandy Eismann
It Had to Be You
by Renee Taylor and Joe Bologna
A monologue performed by Betty Slevin
“Phenomenal Woman”
by Maya Angelou
Read by the company
Click here to watch a recorded performance on YouTube.
Written and directed by
Beth Seales Hanson
Technical direction by
Carol Cornicelli
CAST
Chavi Dock
Dylan Graham
Georgia Rubenstein
Leo Hanson
Lexi Jean Muraca
Lukas Rubenstein
Mercer Barton-Griffin
Romon 8 Danuser
Ryan Macklin
Violet Hanson
Zoe Hanson
Special guest star . . .
Jigsaw
FEBRUARY
Click here to watch a recorded performance on YouTube.
PROGRAM
Donald Pauselius (Producer/Director)
“Creation” by James Weldon Johnson
Ensemble
“The Slave’s Complaint” by George Moses Horton
Idris Talbott
Young Harriet Tubman by Mary Satchell
adapted and directed by Marcia Heard
Ivy Hill-Vailsburg Center for Arts Culture and Community Activism (ACCA) performers: Friday, Malachai Stewart, Isaiah Stewart, Pamoja Days
Historical Profile: Charles Henry Turner
Ron Richardson
“I Know Where I’ve Been” from the musical Hairspray
Melyssa Searcy
1980 (or Why I’m Voting for John Anderson) by Patricia Cotter
Rashad Davis (monologue)
“Gravity” by Rachel Grismer
Rachel Grismer
Historical Profile: Jane Cooke Wright
Aba
“The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes
Ron Richardson
“Come Rain or Come Shine” by Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer
Rashad Davis
The Piano Lesson by August Wilson (three monologues)
Idris Talbott, Aba
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (scene)
Rashad Davis, Rachel Grismer, Marcia Heard, Melyssa Searcy
“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Monique Bosrock
District Merchants by Aaron Posner (monologue)
Ron Richardson
Historical Profile: George Edward Alcorn, Jr.
Melyssa Searcy
Blue Door by Tanya Barfield (monologue)
Aba
“Interracial” by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Monique Bosrock
District Merchants by Aaron Posner (monologue)
Idris Talbott
“If You Believe” from the musical The Wiz
Maya Davis
Historical Profile: Zelda Wynn Valdes
Monique Bosrock
The Fantasticks (monologue)
Lisa Peterson
“The Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimké
Aba
“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
Ensemble
DECEMBER
PROGRAM
Introducing America to a curious British tradition
Chris Farrow, an actual Brit
Yule Horror
by H.P. Lovecraft
Chris Farrow
“Haunted Wonderland”
Adapted and performed by Beth Seales-Hanson
with Zoe, Violet, and Leo Hanson
The Ghost Who Vanished by Degrees
Based on the short story by Robertson Davies
Adapted and directed by Dena Daniel
Dena Daniel, Alicia Dennis, Jeff Parsons
The Meeting
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Chris Farrow
The Ghost of the Blue Chamber
Based on the short story by Jerome K. Jerome
Adapted and directed by Carol Cornicelli
Gene Ciccone, Jim Knight, Ron Richardson, Mathew Schwartz
“Santa Clause Is Coming to Town”
Sharmeen Azmudeh, with Marilyn Monroe and Merlin
Stopping by Woods
by Molly Eisert
Directed by Dena Daniel
Alicia Dennis, Jeff Parsons, Mathew Schwartz
“Baby, It’s COVID Outside”
Adapted and performed by Betty Slevin and Gene Ciccone
The Shadow
Based on the short story by Edith Nesbit
Adapted and directed by Carol Cornicelli
Amanda Feliciano, Mateo Moreno, Jennifer Padley,
Melyssa Searcy
Bells (II)
by Edgar Allen Poe
Sharmeen Azmudeh & co.
Smee
Based on the short story by A.M. Burrage
Adapted and directed by Carol Cornicelli
Gene Ciccone, Mateo Moreno, Laurellie Jacobs Martinez,
Skyler Martinez, Betty Slevin
“The Twelve Nights of Terror”
Adapted by Beth Seales-Hanson
Beth Seales-Hanson (with Zoe, Violet, and Leo Hanson),
Sharmeen Azmudeh & co., Dena Daniel, Amanda Feliciano,
Mathew Schwartz, Melyssa Searcy
Farewell
Chris Farrow
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
Watch the performance now on YouTube!
Emcee: Beth Seales Hanson
(with help from Zoë, Violet, and Leo Hanson)
The Tell-Tale Heart
By Edgar Allen Poe
Directed by Carol Cornicelli
Killer: Robert S. Webb & Mathew Schwartz
Police Officer 1/Old Man: Alan Foster
Police Officer 2: Suz Stone
The Monkey’s Paw
By W. W. Jacobs
Directed by Sharon Quinn
Narrator: Laurellie Jacobs Martinez
Mr. White: Mentha Marley
Mrs. White: Sharon Quinn
Herbert White: Skyler Martinez
Sergeant-Major Morris: Kirk Woodward
Lawyer: Norman Metz
The Night Wind
By Eugene Field
Directed by Carol Cornicelli
Sharmeen Azmudeh (with Marilyn and Merlin)
The Cask of Amontillado
By Edgar Allen Poe
Directed by Sharon Quinn
Montressor: Ron Richardson
Fortunado: Norman Metz
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (excerpt)
By Washington Irving
Directed by Carol Cornicelli
Narrator 1: Melyssa Searcy
Narrator 2: Sandra Eismann
Ichabod Crane: Jeff Taylor
Jon Mortonson’s Funeral
By Ambrose Bierce
Directed by Carol Cornicelli
Friend 1: Judi Gajary
Friend 2: John Mendlovitz
Minister: Alan Foster
Widow: Suz Stone
Family at the Funeral: the Schwartz family, the Searcy family
SEPTEMBER
Watch the performance now on YouTube!
The Murder of Crows
Directed by Carol Cornicelli
Ginny Crooks (Mrs. Wilkins)
Melyssa Searcy (Debra)
Mathew Schwartz (Greg)
The Meadow
Directed by Alan Foster
Lisa Barnett (Mrs. Page)
Shiva Kiani (Miss Harris)
The Deal
Directed by Alan Foster
Vinnette Richardson (Vivian Howard)
Ron Richardson (Arthur Nelligan)
Dewey or Don’t We?
Directed by Carol Cornicelli
Betty Slevin (Helen)
Gene Ciccone (Oliver)
PLAYWRIGHTS
Nancy Halper is an editor and ESL teacher who has written several short plays, including “The Murder of Crows,” “Dewey or Don't We?,” and “The Truth About the Lemmings.” She and her husband live in Summit, New Jersey, and have four grown children.
Ryan Kaminski is a playwright from Flemington, New Jersey. His work has been featured in one-act festivals, playwriting festivals, and podcasts. Learn more via his New Play Exchange profile: https://newplayexchange.org/users/34918/ryan-kaminski