Category: Past Productions

Broadway Lullaby

Written By: Craig Sodaro
Published By: Eldridge Publishing Co.
Production Date: March 4-6, 2005
Location: Abrams Town Hall Theater

Director: Nancy Byng
Assistant Director / Technical Director: Brandon Byng

It’s 1927 and the 42nd Street Orphanage in New York is a bleak place. The McGrew Sisters, who head the orphanage, are mean and stingy to the children in their charge. Enter a new orphan, young Ginny Hobbs, with a trunk full of “magic,” costumes and props from the vaudevillian circuit her late parents used to work. As the kids perform a few skits, two con artists form a plan. They’ll get the kids to do an original show called “Broadway Lullaby,” get it fully insured, and when it flops, collect all the money. But the kids have other plans!

Original Cast:
Paper Boy……………………………………………………………………………Willy Koehne
Lou McGrew…………………………………………………………………..Rolean Wernicke
Sue McGrew……………………………………………………………………..Brenda Kutska
Madilyn……………………………………………………………………………….Kali Erickson
Stella…………………………………………………………………………………Kelsey Kutska
Della……………………………………………………………………………………Katie Kutska
Carla……………………………………………………………………………..Teagan Wernicke
Albert……………………………………………………………………………..Destin Wernicke
Giggles……………………………………………………………………………….Liz Lemirande
Betty………………………………………………………………………………..Brooke Ferdon
Shirley…………………………………………………………………………………Sarah Ferdon
Tina………………………………………………………………………………………….Liza Leja
Ginny Hobbs………………………………………………………………………..Janet Koehne
Leonard………………………………………………………………………………Jonathon Leja
Gladys………………………………………………………………………………Jasmine Jahnke
Charlie Travis………………………………………………………………………..Rob Schultze
Freddie Fink……………………………………………………………………..Mark Wernicke
Nola Labola………………………………………………………………………….Joan Koehne
Jerome………………………………………………………………………….Lenny Klarkowski
Cecil Collossus / Elliot St. John………………………………………..Gary Micoliczyk Jr.
Darla Dribblenote / Kramer……………………………………………………Marissa Rosik
Madame Cleo………………………………………………………………………….Ellen White
Marcella Gabbag………………………………………………………………….Cindy Pogrant
Cosgrove…………………………………………………………………………….Jheryl Pickens

The Saga of the Prospector’s Daughter or She Was Only a Miner’s Minor

Written By: Pat Cook
Published By: Eldridge Publishing Co.
Production Date: August 27-29, 2004
Location: Abrams Town Hall Theater

Co-Directed By: Brandon Byng & Roxanna (Westcot) Running

Here’s a hilarious melodrama spoof whose oddball characters seemingly ad lib their way through the wildest plot ever to come down the pike. Lovely, innocent Constance Purdy is about to lose her home to that villain-about-town, Wiley Schlink. Will hero Monroe Mannerly ride to the rescue in time? Will her long-lost prospector father show up and save the day? These questions aren’t really answered because we’re laughing too hard at the sheriff who has a mortgage on her own jail, a medicine man who ends up in a dress, and a saloon-smashing suffragette whose ax works great on cuticles. Add a piano player with an attitude and a grizzly old prospector/narrator who’d like a different ending to the play, and you get some idea of folks who populate this fool’s gold rush town. Great fun to watch and to perform, especially when the actors are caught napping and playing cards as Act II opens.

Original Cast:
Gabby……………………………………………………………………………..Amanda Zubko
Constance Purdy………………………………………………………………………Becky Wolf
Wiley Schlink………………………………………………………………………Brandon Byng
Monroe Mannerly……………………………………………………………………Mark Wernicke
Indian…………………………………………………………………………….Willy Koehne
Sheriff Hilda……………………………………………………………………….Kris Jubert
J. Barnaby Custard………………………………………………………………….Joyce Gerdes
Freddie……………………………………………………………………………Keith Werner
Catastrophe Kate……………….. …………………………………………….Jennifer Haffman
Mary Carnation……………………………………………………………………..Joan Koehne
Elmira Plankton…………………………………………………………………….Allison Byng
Miss Clydesdale………………………………………………………………….Rolean Wernicke
Judge Blind………………………………………………………………………..Katie Fettig
Piano Player……………………………………………………………………..Ashley Wellens
Waitress……………………………………………………………………….Jennifer Wellens
Townspeople………………………………………………………………………..Janet Koehne
Katie Kutska
Kelsey Kutska
Jonathon Leja
Liza Leja
Elizabeth Lemirande
Destin Wernicke
Teagan Wernicke

The Snow Place

Written By: Nancy Byng
Production Date: February 27-29, 2004
Location: Abrams Town Hall Theater

Director: Nancy Byng
Assistant Director: Joan Koehne
Technical Director: Brandon Byng

Nestled high in the Bavarian Alps, in an enchanted valley, is The Snow Place. To escape the sweltering summers Yolandee and her family would travel to their cabin in the valley. Only one year to be trapped within it by a terrible avalanche. Many years have gone by since Yolandee’s father had went on a search to find a way out of the valley, leaving her and her mother and their servants behind. Thought to be imaginary to her family, Yolandee’s friends the Snowkins have now come to play with her for a while, and being worried that they may have fallen pray to a vicious creature that roams the valley, the Keyha, she sets off on a journey to find her friends. On her journey, Yolandee encounters a strange traveler, Showlowe and his companion, Keely, who agree to help her search for the Snowkins, and protect her from the Keyha. Will Yolandee find her lost friends, and can this journey uncover another secret…the were-a-bouts of her missing father?! This original play was written by Abrams Spotlight Productions, Inc.’s co-founder, Nancy Byng.

Original Cast:
Mother……………………………………………………………………………..Rolean Wernicke
Yolandee……………………………………………………………………………..Hannah Ryczek
Enid…………………………………………………………………………………..Joan Koehne
Hilde………………………………………………………………………………….Kris Jubert
Jake…………………………………………………………………………………Mark Wernicke
Showlowe…………………………………………………………………………..Lenny Klarkowski
Keely…………………………………………………………………………………Willy Koehne
Keyha………………………………………………………………………………..Mark Wernicke
Mother Keyha…………………………………………………………………………..Allison Byng
Girl Keyha…………………………………………………………………………Jennifer Haffman
Bat Kid…………………………………………………………………………….Destin Wernicke
The Snowman…………………………………………………………………………..Jonathon Leja
Snowkins……………………………………………………………………………..Kali Erickson
Janet Koehne
Liza Leja
Teagan Wernicke
Matthew Stueber
Destin Wernicke

Emmerella

Written By: Nancy Byng
Production Date: August 22-24, 2003
Location: Abrams Town Hall Theater

Director: Nancy Byng
Assistant Director / Technical Director: Brandon Byng

Emmerella, a gypsy girl is coming of age. Her gypsy parents, Gordo and Mata, have been keeping a secret from her…she isn’t their daughter! The only clue to her past is a mysterious locket that won’t open and a dark figure who left her on the gypsies door step so many years ago. Emmerella accompanied by her gypsy brother, Lukor, set off on a journey to find the truth about her past. Along the way Emmerella has many adventures involving friendly dwarves, dim-witted trolls and beautiful delicate-winged creatures. Will Emmerella find what she seeks and unlock the secrets of the locket? Find out in the original play written by Abrams Spotlight Productions, Inc.’s co-founders Nancy Byng and Brandon Byng.

Original Cast:
Comhala………………………………………………………………………………..Becky Wolf
Mata / Townsperson………………………………………………………………Peggy Kehler
Gordo…………………………………………………………………………….Ralph Vannaman
Emmerella…………………………………………………………Roxanna (Westcot) Running
Lukor……………………………………………………………………………….Robert Schultze
Oak……………………………………………………………………………………Willy Koehne
Willow………………………………………………………………………………..Jonathon Leja
Acorn…………………………………………………………………………….Matthew Stueber
Grunt / Townsperson…………………………………………………………….Cindy Pogrant
Lug / Townsperson………………………………………………………………Melinda Zeitler
Ug………………………………………………………………………………………Karen Rybka
Lilly…………………………………………………………………………………………..Liza Leja
Rose……………………………………………………………………………………Kali Erickson
Daisy…………………………………………………………………………………..Janet Koehne
Petunia…………………………………………………………………………………Trina Ryczek
Queen Mother Dolphina………………………………………………………Hannah Ryczek