Taking a look back as a new season of theater begins

Friday, Nov. 27, 2009

If I can count and remember correctly, I saw 20 plays (including two one-act play festivals) during Southern Maryland's 2008/2009 theater season.

Wait … That's not right.

I saw 21, as I almost forgot about — in spite of how memorable the show was — a cabaret dubbed "Catch You on the Flipside." (It was produced at Black Box Theatre by Saltnote!, a Waldorf vocal studio.)

The new season is already upon us.

Last weekend, the Newtowne Players concluded a three-weekend run of America's longest running musical — "The Fantasticks" — and Patuxent Playhouse capped its season with two weekends of "A Christmas Story." As well, St. Mary's College held its last performance of George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man," which will go down as the first production to be staged in the newly renovated Bruce Davis Theater.

The Port Tobacco Players are now in the second weekend of John Jakes' adaptation of "A Christmas Carol."

On tap for this weekend, the Twin Beach Players will begin a three-week run of "Babes in Toyland."

But before we list the rest of what 2009/2010 has to offer, let us acknowledge — warning: the following, until the end, is a bit tongue-in-cheek — the 2008/2009 award-winners in local theater.

Most zany: "Return to the Forbidden Planet" by Newtowne Players

Note: "Pretty goofy," to be precise, was how I described the campy musical in a Southern Maryland Weekend cover story about a year ago. Still, the production undoubtedly featured the season's best score, as local musician Krys Baker put together a horn-backed, seven-piece orchestra that burned through tunes by Jerry Lee Lewis, Van Morrison and James Brown.

Best world premiere: "Laughing Daughter" by Roger Penycate and Rick Jones at the Black Box Theater

Note: It was also sort of the only world premiere. Or at least the only production billed as such.

Mr. Versatility: Michael Mickey of the Port Tobacco Players

Note: Mickey nicely transitioned from the hideous, TLC-starved leading man in "Beauty and the Beast" to the manic depressive, throat-cutting leading man in "Sweeney Todd." Nice work!

Best Musical: "Urinetown"

Note: Hold on. That was a different part of Maryland … a different job … a different year, even. Sorry about that.

Best Use of Children: "Oliver!" by Port Tobacco Players

Note: As Oliver, 11-year-old Luke Foster scored an impressive debut. The good news is that the very role launched Phil Collins. The bad news is that the very role launched Phil Collins.

Best Use of College Students: "Polaroid Stories" at St. Mary's College

Note to parental units: Hey! Sorry, it's been awhile. But, really, don't worry about me cuz I'm doing great. This semester I aced poetry, worked in a soup kitchen for 5,000 hours and, get this … I learned how to make do with an apple core in a jam! … Naomi Iizuka's play was a little narcissistic for my tastes. (Or maybe I got a bad grade in Greek mythology.) Even so, the student actors' energy and execution was amazing. As well, it was guest-directed by Jeremy Skidmore, who has directed numerous plays in Washington, D.C., and also produces the District's Source Festival.

Best Change of Pace: Weekend of One-Acts by Newtowne Players

Note to the anonymous creator of "A History of St. Mary's County, MD in 23 Minutes" … Your original script was funny and edgy, but anonymity is gutless. Reveal yourself! … Also, Trish Cole's "Butterfly," which was featured in NTP's second weekend festival, is entered in the Maryland State Community Theatre Festival and will star, as Cole correctly put it in an e-mail message, the same incredible cast. The event will be held from Jan. 15-17 at Round House Theater in Silver Spring

Best Chekhovian Comedy: "The Good Doctor" by Hard Bargain Players.

Note: It took awhile to sort out all the contenders for this prize, but The Theater Company in the Woods managed to bring home the bacon. One of three plays put on by the Hard Bargain Players in 2009, director Melissa Gilpin and the cast also managed to take home a second honor: Top 9 Weirdest Scenes of the year. (There were 9 scenes in the play.)

10th Weirdest Scene: In "Sylvia" by Newtowne Players

Note: Something about the whole guy falls in love with a dog portrayed by a woman thing.

Most intense play: "Angel Street" by Port Tobacco Players; "Jesus Hopped the A-Train" by Hard Bargain Players

Note: As both starred a serial killer, it's simply too close to call.

Best play: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Twin Beach Players

Note: If one is awarding consistency, the Newtowne Players deserve a nod for a well-acted run from "The Foreigner" to "Sylvia" to "Shakespeare in Hollywood" to "Harvey." Heading into its sixth season, the Lexington Park group is truly hammering in an aesthetic.

And if one is rewarding the best production, all factors considered, it would have to go to the Port Tobacco Players' engrossing performance of "A Man for All Seasons." Playing the unflappable Sir Thomas More, Brian Donohue delivered the seasons' top performance.

Still, the best play of the 2008/2009 came as a surprise, particularly given the setting, Holland Point Civic Center near North Beach. Let's face it: The place was not designed for theater. But, in their only show of the season, the Twin Beach Players, Calvert County's traveling thespians, made it their home when they put on Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." And it all served to make the experience that much more poignant.

On the stage

‘A Christmas Carol' — The Port Tobacco Players' production of "A Christmas Carol" will continue through Dec. 13. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m.; Sunday shows are at 3 p.m. Tickets are $17, $14 for senior citizens and students. Port Tobacco Players Theater is at 508 E. Charles St., La Plata. Call 301-932-6819. Go to ptplayers.com.

‘Babes in Toyland' — Twin Beach Players' production of "Babes in Toyland" will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 and 28 and Dec. 4, 5 and 11 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, 12 and 13 at Holland Point Civic Center, 919 Walnut Ave., Holland Point. Tickets are $10, $8 for senior citizens, students and military. Tickets are sold at the door.

A new season

Port Tobacco Players — "Once on this Island" (Jan. 29-Feb. 14); "The Miracle Worker" (March 12-28); "The Secret Garden" (April 30-May 23); "The Producers" (July 9-Aug. 1); "Arsenic and Old Lace" (Aug. 27-Sept. 12). Call 301-932-6819. Go to ptplayers.com.

Newtowne Players — Over the River and through the Woods (Jan. 22-Feb. 7); The Importance of Being Earnest (March 26-April 11); Wit (May 14-30). The rest of the schedule was not available at press time. Call 301-737-5447. Go to www.newtowneplayers.org.

Patuxent Playhouse — The Calvert County theater troupe is still ironing out its schedule but plans to produce Roald's Dahl's "Willy Wonka" before summer 2010. Call 410-326-1401. Go to www.paxplays.com.

Twin Beach Players — "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (April); The Merry Wives of Windsor (June); A Comedy of Errors (August); Keeping Faith (October). E-mail sac50@juno.com. Go to www.twinbeachplayers.com.

College of Southern Maryland — "Home on the Mornin' Train" (opens Feb. 18); "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" (spring). Go to www.csmd.edu/finearts.

St. Mary's College — "Cabaret" (May 4-11). Go to www.smcm.edu/tfms.