Aladdin

Aladdin

Written By: Craig Sodaro
Published By: Eldridge Publishing Co.
Production Date: June 9-11, 2006
Location: Abrams Town Hall Theater

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

Romance, mystery, and more fun than a magic carpet ride – that’s what makes this richly imaginative version of the story of Aladdin such a winner. You’ll love all the colorful characters, including Yahoo and his pet snake, who serve as narrators; the evil magician, El Kahsid; the beautiful Princess Celestia; the spoiled, obnoxious Gorgan, who wants to marry the Princess; the lamp and ring Genies and their “wish-granting associates”; the poetic cave creeps; and finally Aladdin himself, who starts out as a lazy, insolent boy but proves himself to be a prince.

Original Cast:
Yahoo………………………………………………………………………………….Joan Koehne
Snake Lady………………………………………………………………………….Quinn Mason
Aladdin’s Father / Townsperson / Servant……………………………………..Kris Jubert
Aladdin’s Mother……………………………………………….Roxanna (Westcot) Running
Jachim………………………………………………………………………………..Jheryl Pickens
Vizier………………………………………………………………………………..Richard Schultz
Sultan………………………………………………………………………………….Doug Croney
Princess Celestia…………………………………………………………………Hannah Ryczek
Gorgan……………………………………………………………………………..Corry Andrews
Aladdin…………………………………………………………………………………..Peter Budz
Baba Mustapha……………………………………………………………………Ricky Michiels
Khoja………………………………………………………………………………….Janet Koehne
Sindah……………………………………………………………………………Matthew Stueber
El Kashid………………………………………………………………………Lenny Klarkowski
Genie of the Lamp………………………………………………………………..Brandon Byng
Lily……………………………………………………………………………………….Kait Wilson
Violet………………………………………………………………………………..Kelsey Kutska
Rosepetal……………………………………………………………………….Amanda Blachuta
Aster……………………………………………………………………………………Olivia Socha
Iris / Buyer……………………………………………………………………………Traci Warren
Daisy……………………………………………………………………………………Sarah Burkel
Sultan’s Wife……………………………………………………………………..Linda Druckrey
Old Women / El Kashid’s Wife……………………………………………………Lori Socha
Guard…………………………………………………………………………Samantha Markham
Cave Creep 1 / Lady-in-Waiting………………………………………………Kaite Kutska
Cave Creep 2 / Executioner………………………………………………….Josh Kozlowski
Genie of the Ring / Buyer’s Daughter……………………………………………….Liza Leja

The Legend of Robin Hood… Sort of

The Legend of Robin Hood…
Sort of

Written By: Pat Cook
Published By: Eldridge Publishing Co.
Production Date: November 4-6, 2005
Location: Abrams Town Hall Theater

Director: Brandon Byng
Assistant Director: Nancy Byng

Would you like to hear the legend of Robin Hood? If your answer is “I Sherwood,” then hitch up your gauntlets and get ready to laugh. You see, it’s a little known fact that the famous English bandit was a bit of a klutz. As a kid he practiced with a bow and violin instead of a bow and arrow, so naturally to fight the king’s injustices he needed his famous band of women. Women? That’s what you get when you send Little John to do the recruiting! But just as the ladies are persuaded that after they steal from the rich they have to give the goodies to the poor, Robin is tricked by a rhyming witch and is taken captive by the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. At the palace, King John holds a festival to trap all of Robin’s followers. Will swordplay and derring-do, plus a lot of cheap tricks, allow goodness to triumph over evil and Robin Hood to win the hand of the lovely Maid Marian.

Original Cast:
King John………………………………………………………………………….Jonathan Kruse
Robin Hood………………………………………………………………………….Rob Schultze
Sheriff of Nottingham…………………………………………………………………Peter Budz
Maid Marian……………………………………………………………………………Lori Socha
Lady in Waiting………………………………………………………………………..Kris Jubert
Little John…………………………………………………………………………….Doug Croney
Friar Tuck / King Richard………………………………………………………Brandon Byng
Witch Waye………………………………………………………………………….Joan Koehne
Annie………………………………………………………………………………….Janet Koehne
Frieda………………………………………………………………………………….Katie Kutska
Sue……………………………………………………………………………………Kelsey Kutska
Guard 1 / Seller 1……………………………………………………………….Logan

Broadway Lullaby

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

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

The Snow Place

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

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