Tag: Comedy

The Play That Goes Wrong

The Play That Goes Wrong

Brigette Finger

May 8, 9, 10, 11 and May 15, 16, 17, 18

Get your tickets now for a night of mishaps, mischief, and madcap mania! It’s the opening night of the Cornley Drama Society’s newest production, “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” and things have quickly gone from bad…to utterly disastrous. The troupe’s ambitious 1920s whodunit has everything you never want in a show: falling props, collapsing scenery, an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything…including their lines. How will this eager ensemble battle against all of the disastrous odds? Will they make it to the final curtain call?

An international hit that’s equal parts Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes – The Play That Goes Wrong is full of hilarious perfection.

Abrams Spotlight Productions is thrilled to introduce our cast of “The Play that Goes Wrong”. As the Director says “it’s gonna be a WILD show!”

Cast Name (Role)

  • Chris Mayse (Chris/Director)
  • Maddie Pamperin (Annie/Stage Manager)
  • Jerah Doxtator (Trevor/Lights and Sound Guy)
  • Maggie Monte-Knaapen (Sandra/Florence)
  • Bobby Buffington (Max/Cecil/Arthur the Gardener)
  • Eric Westphal (Perkins/Dennis)
  • Erick Gyrion (Thomas Colleymore/Robert Grove)
  • Matt Worzala (Jonathan/Charles Haversham)
  • Will Knaapen (Stage Crew)
  • Marly Thomson (Stage Crew)
  • Julie Johannas-Frohlinger (Stage Crew)
  • Mike Eserkaln (The Director, for real, he’s really the director of the show)
  • Maggie Dernehl (Assistant Director, the one helping Mike)

Tickets are on sale NOW!

The Play That Goes Wrong

The Play That Goes Wrong

Auditions for The Play That Goes Wrong

Brigette Finger

Audition information for The Play that Goes Wrong, Directed by Mike Eserkaln
Seeking a cast of male and female actors 16 years old or older

Auditions
Auditions will be held January 28th or 29th from 6pm-8pm. You may attend either day.
Location: The Nancy Byng Community Theater, 5852 Maple St Abrams, WI

The audition will consist of a short reading from the show. You are welcome to come with your own monologue prepared, although not required. If you have a conflict with audition times, please reach out and we will try to accommodate you. There will be paperwork to complete prior to auditioning.

Rehearsals
Rehearsals will begin the last week of March (date to come).
Rehearsal dates and times will be scheduled around availability, however typical rehearsals will be: Sundays 5pm-8pm, Tuesdays 6pm-8pm and Thursdays 6pm-8pm.
There will be a Tech Week of rehearsals May 4th-7th. These rehearsals are mandatory.

Performances

There will be 8 performances of The Play that Goes Wrong.

  • May 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 at 7pm
  • May 11 and 18 at 1pm

All performances are mandatory.

If you have questions, you may contact us via email at theater.aspi@gmail.com or call the box office at 920-826-5852.

Mike Eserkaln

Chaotic, Confusing, Mayhem! : A Director Spotlight

Assistant Director
Mike Eserkaln - Director of Lustful Youth

This June, Abrams Spotlight Productions, Inc. is excited to present an original play written and directed by the one and only Mike Eserkaln!

Mike has graced the ASPI stage in the productions of Oliver and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His first experience directing a previously published play was the 2022 production of The Foreigner. He is also currently an advisory member of the ASPI board. 

Director is not the only talent on his resume! Mike is an artist of various media: painting, digital, photography, improvisation, and writing. You can check out his work at www.eserkaln.com and/or at www.Patreon.com/Eserkaln.

With 38 years of theater experience, many of which spent doing improvisational comedy and original scripts, Lustful Youth: A Comedy is particularly meaningful. It is the first play that Mike ever had produced! And interestingly, it can now be considered a period play. Cue the nostalgia! This upcoming production will also be Mike’s fourth iteration directing this play, and he is very much looking forward to seeing the way that the cast takes to the script and makes it their own!

Having worked with the cast and crew before, Mike is excited to see them portraying different characters. They are all very talented people and their dedication to the production is already coming through at rehearsals. 

Chaotic confusing mayhem!  Three words describing the production from the writer and director himself. He believes audiences will enjoy the situation that Walt, the main protagonist, finds himself in, and the way that he and his imagination navigate the world they end up creating.

The original inspiration for the play began as a writing exercise, writing just plot with no character development.  It was originally called “Plot”, and then he started writing dialogue between two characters and that developed into the rest of the story.

For the aspiring writers and playwrights, here is advice from Mike: “Stop thinking about writing a play and just write the play.  Stop thinking, stop planning, stop excusing, just write it.”

Catch Lustful Youth, an original play by Mike Eserkaln, June 8-10 & 15-17 at 7pm and June 11 and 18 at 1pm. Tickets are on sale NOW! Purchase yours for one of the eight performances at abramsspotlightproductions.com. Please call the Box Office at (920) 826-5852 with any questions.