The Real Thing, the Masquers’ fourth show of the season, opened its 5-week run on August 28. Written by that master of the English language, Tom Stoppard, and directed by Robert Estes, the play revolves around playwright Henry, his wife Charlotte and his real (?) love Annie, and focuses on Henry’s search for true love (and his problems writing about it). Themes of love, reality and politics, plus all those lovely words of Stoppard’s, make for an exciting and entertaining evening.

The talented cast, all of whom are making their Masquers debuts, consists of Darek Burkowski, Erika Bakse, Sarah Nowicki, Liam Robertson, Robyn Gray and Bessie Zolno.

As directors Estes said just prior to opening, “All of us on The Real Thing can't wait to share it with the Masquers audience. The actors are vibrant, sexy, passionate. If you love dazzling wit, articulate verbal combat, falling in love, falling out of love, then finally love triumphant...and tons of pop music (with a little Bach), you're going to love this show.”

Get Real With Stoppard’s The Real Thing

Supporting the play is an equally talented production staff: Paula Dodd Aiello on costumes, Norm De Veyra on sets, Michael O’Brien on lighting and sound, Denise Yerby on properties and Renee Echavez as stage manager. Debbi Sandmann served as production manager. ED Bindner and Mary Kidwell in the light/sound booth round out the team.

Make your reservations soon for this delightful play. The show runs until September 26. You can book seats on the Masquers website (www.masquers.org) or call the reservation number at 510-232-4031.

If you’re of a certain age, you’ll also have a great time humming along with Henry’s choices for his appearance on Desert Island Discs. Maybe not high art, but boy are they familiar and do they bring back memories!

4

Farragut North was a great success – a contemporary political thriller that kept audiences riveted. Director James Nelson says, “We didn't hold any punches to deliver this show as the ugly, dangerous, edgy beast that it is, and we hope you were as excited about the results as the cast and crew." Yes, we were.

Most of you will have heard by now that we had to substitute our original season closer, Drood due to our favorite music director’s health issues (she’ll be fine, by the way – it’s just taking a bit of time). Replacing Drood is The World Goes ‘Round, a revue/retrospective of the music of Kander and Ebb, the team that brought you Cabaret and Chicago among others. Casting is under way, and we’re looking forward to a great show.

Kander & Ebb’s Music Will Close Our 2015 Season

Envision’s next production is Charlotte’s Web, adapted by Joseph Robinette from the E.B. White children’s classic. The show opens Friday, October 2 and plays Fridays at 8:00 PM, Saturdays at 7:00 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM through October 11. Bucking tradition, Charlotte’s Web will have the luxury of a 2-weekend run.

Directed by Ginger Buckner, the cast consists of children as the youngsters and animals in the play, working with the adults in the story. A spoken chorus provides the descriptive passages.

Having a mixture of children and adults is something of a new venture for the Masquers. We hope it’s one which will bring new audience members, (perhaps a younger demographic) when parents attend with their children, to learn about this fine theatre, as did the extremely successful Frog and Toad.

Members of the Marketing Task Force have made contacts with the local community and have obtained grant money to provide tickets for local children and their families and copies of the book for some classes at Washington School.

The cast features Masquers Addy Medernach, Nancy Benson, Vicki Zabarte, Kit Turner, Jerry Telfer, Tammara Plankers, Bridget O’Keeffe, Monroe Benschop and a host of kiddies. The design staff includes John Hull (sets), Tammara Plankers (costumes), Michael O’Brien (lights), Joe Ponder (sound) and Margaret Paradis (production manager).

Charlotte’s Web Has A Few Words To Share

Politics,Politics,Theatre!

5

Stage One Youth Sang A Lullaby To US! The 2015 Stage One kids' summer theatre workshop was a great success! We had 20 munchkins (16 girls, 4 boys, ages 8-14, about half from Pt. Richmond) who wrote and produced three delightful plays. And we found two fabulous leaders in Amy Prosser and Emmanuel Linden-Broner! This year we added a little clowning (Emmanuel did a stint with the Pickle Family Circus) and a modest introduction to the Bard (thanks to Amy). Our finale musical piece, Lullaby of Broadway, was terrific thanks to Gregg Klein's help! And, of course, we couldn't get the girls to stop checking themselves out in the mirror after Robert Love's fun workshop on makeup! All in all, a very good year. Special thanks to Kathe, Heinz and Bob for their continued support - couldn't do it without y'all.

SEASON 2016! We can finally announce the line-up for our 2016 Season! • The Gamester by Freyda Thomas, directed by Steve Hill • The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance, directed by John Maio • Violet by Jeanine Tesori and Bill Crawley, directed by Maria Calderazzo • The Quality of Life by Jane Anderson, directed by Michael Sally • The Drowsy Chaperone by Martin, MacKellar, Lambert & Morris, directed by G.A.

Klein

Early Auditions For Elephant Man

Speaking of season 2016, auditions for The Elephant Man will be held earlier than normal. While the usual notices will be sent, we’re giving you advance notice. Auditions are scheduled for Dec 6 and 7 at 7:00 PM. For show information, character descriptions, conflict calendar and audition forms, go to www.johnjmaio.com/auditions

If you still have questions after reading the material located there contact JohnJMaio@gmail.com. It’s a spectacular play, so do consider trying out!

6

A lot of good news has flowed from the Masquers Playhouse this year, both onstage and off. The productions have been both wonderful and wonderfully received. Attendance is up—primarily due to our increased sales of season tickets—donations have held steady, and we have done a good job at keeping expenses in check.

The last issue of Wicked Stage announced that a fundraising flyer was at the printer with a request for help from our patrons, members, and donors to refresh our worn lobby and theater. The wish-list on the flyer included a variety of modest upgrades, from replacing bathroom fixtures to new carpets and fresh paint.

The response has been truly gratifying. Many, many of our supporters stepped forward with checks ranging from $15 to $1,000. In addition, the Lesher Foundation, a frequent contributor in the past, provided a matching grant of $4,000, so the final tally more than met our goal. As a result, everyone involved with the Masquers can look forward to some wonderful improvements in the theater. To manage the project a committee has been assembled that includes: Robert Love, managing director; Bob Westman and Heinz Lankford, facilities managers; Anne Collins, lobby manager; and David Cole, board president.

Before implementing the projects at hand, however, the Board has asked for an ADA compliance inspection from a state certified access specialist. Within a couple of weeks we will have a report in hand explaining legal issues, noting areas where work is required, and providing guidelines on how to bring the theater into compliance. Our aim is to incorporate ADA-mandated improvements into our lobby refresh project.

By the time the next Wicked Stage appears, we hope to be moving forward with these improvements. In the meantime, we look forward to enhancing an already wonderful Masquers Playhouse theater experience for everyone involved and make necessary modifications so that we can serve even more patrons.

David Cole, Board President

News From The Board

September 9 Membership Meeting! The next Masquers quarterly membership meeting will be held at the theatre on Wednesday, September 9 at 8:00. As usual, TAS will meet at 7:00. Remember -- membership meetings are required attendance. If you need to be excused, please leave a message at the theatre (510-232-3888) or notify any TAS member.

7

Reusing sets and flats is nothing new to the Masquers -- a money-saving technique that has been in use by the group long before terms like "recycling" and "waste reduction" had entered the lexicon. This practice was revealed in a set of black and white photos recently uncovered in the Masquers archives. During our 1963 season we needed to transition from the set of Strange Bedfellows, a Victorian comedy set in the lavish parlor of a senator's San Francisco's Nob Hill mansion, to the early 60's living room of a London flat that would be necessary for Breath of Spring. Members credited for set construction in the program were Roland Scrivner, Basil Cherniak (also responsible for the window backdrop) Charles Reynolds and Chris Christian. Set dressing for both of these sets was by Jeanette Gilmore.

It should also be noted that press articles from the time period (May 1963) note a facelift to our façade had also occurred between these productions. Specifically that "bubbled glass has been installed in the front doors". As of this printing no known photos exist of our facade with the "bubbled glass" doors. If you know of any, do let us know.

All Photos: Masquers Archives

MasquersHistory

fromJoe Ponder

8

"In a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment."

Our Eastern Kentucky branch reports that Jim Colgan is having a pretty good year so far. He just finished performing in The Morehead Theatre Guild's production of Witness for the Prosecution in which he played the prosecuting attorney and wowed audiences with his withering cross examination of the murder suspect (gee, wonder where he learned that?). The same company has asked him to direct in their 2016 season, and he will direct The Fantasticks (wow, Colgan's directing a musical, will wonders never cease?). His play Interrogation was premiered in April by Lucky Penny Productions in Napa and was well received by actors and audience alike (he's hoping to get someone to work with him to present the one act version of this play in the SF Fringe next year; volunteers? If you’re interested in directing or stage managing, email Jim at colganjames@yahoo.com). And he just received word that The Sewanee Review, a very highly regarded literary journal, will publish his short story “Shelter” in their Winter 2016 issue. “Shelter” is about a soldier during WWII who meets a woman in a small French village and seeks shelter in her home. The Sewanee Review has been around for over a hundred years and has published works by many literary luminaries including Wallace Stegner and Wendell Berry, so Jim is moving in very fine company. What's next? Who knows?

Jayme Catalano appears in Eat the Runt at Altarena Playhouse in Alameda from August 14 through September 13. It's a really funny workplace comedy with a HUGE twist: the audience casts the show every night, and since there are virtually no pronouns written into the play, and every character is gender neutral, each actor can play any of the eight roles. They all had to learn the entire script, from beginning to end, and they never know which character they're playing until 5 minutes before the show begins.

Opening October 15 at Hillbarn Theatre: The Odd Couple directed by Masquer Michael Sally. Fellow Masquer John Maio will play Oscar (no surprise there) and Masquers friend C. Conrad Cady will play Felix. Go to www.Hillbarntheatre.org for details.

Curtain Theatre presents The Taming of the Shrew at the Old Mill Park Amphitheatre in Mill Valley. The show runs four weekends including Labor Day Monday - August 22, 23, 29, 30 and September 5, 6, 7 (Labor Day); 12,13. The cast includes Alan Coyne as Petruchio, Steve Beecroft, Vicki Siegel, Georgie and Miranda Craig, and Norman Macleod with Michele Delattre & Don Clark et al. in the band. It’s a lovely show, admission is free, so go spend an afternoon in the park!

Jennifer Rastegar was Arty nominated as best supporting actress for her role as Suzette in Don't Dress For Dinner.

Keith Jefferds is delighted to have been recently cast as ex-president Art Hockstader, the good-old-boy power broker of Gore Vidal’s political classic The Best Man — in Piedmont Players’ October production directed by Sharon Huff Robinson. (Sue Trigg will be playing the indomitable Mrs. Gamadge – what fun!)