Parkway Playhouse

THE PARKWAY PLAYHOUSE TO HOLD GALA FUNDRAISER ON MOUNTAIN AIR

The Parkway Playhouse and the Mountain Air Country Club have announced the date, time and theme of the 2007 Annual Gala Dinner and Silent Auction to benefit the Parkway Playhouse which will open its 62^nd  Season on June 12 with a production the musical comedy She Loves Me.  The party and auction will be poolside at the Mountain Air Country Club on Friday, May 9^th at 7:00 PM. The theme of the party is “Black and White with a splash of red”.

The evening will consist of music, bidding on silent auction items, breathtaking views, conversation , and an exquisite buffet dinner prepared by Mountain Air Chefs. Admission is $80 per person, with all proceeds going to benefit the Parkway Playhouse, and can be purchased in advance by by mailing a check to Parkway Playhouse at PO Box 1432 Burnsville, NC 28714.   The party is open to all, but due to the high demand for tickets to this year’s event, the Playhouse is requesting that all party-goers RSVP by May 5.

“The party that is planned is not only a great way to get together and enjoy great company and fabulous dinner, but the money that is raised is what enables the Parkway Playhouse to launch its season. The stakes for this event are very high.  The theatre would not have the capital needed to start working on productions.”, said Parkway Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Andrew Gall. “We have had great successes in the past, and last year the support from this community at this fundraiser propelled the theatre in to its most successful season ever.” 

The Parkway Playhouse was established in Burnsville in 1947 and has since become one of the oldest professional theatre companies in the state.  Since Gall’s arrival in 2004, the theatre’s audience and budget has doubled and significant improvements to the theatre’s facility have been made including new seating, air conditioning, additions to the sound and lighting system, as well as stage rigging.

“Despite the progress, there is no guarantee that the Parkway Playhouse will be here forever. The building is old and requires extensive maintenance and needs to be renovated” says Gall.  “The theatre contributes enormously to the cultural life of Western North Carolina and it is in fact a rare cultural treasure.  There is no other theatre like this anywhere losing it or see it diminish due to lack of support would be tragic.”

The 2008  Parkway Playhouse Season will officially start on June 12, and this year will conclude on September 6.  The theatre is scheduled to produce 6 mainstage productions, which in addition t She Loves Me,  also includes highly anticipated production of the musical The Sound of Music.  Also scheduled are Lunch At the Piccadilly- a new musical about septuagenarians who touchingly and comically wrestle with aging; Noises Off- an uproarious farce; Much Ado About Nothing- a timeless comedy classic re-imagined for Parkway audiences;  and Sherlock Holmes:The Final Adventure an action packed thriller featuring the world’s greatest detective. 

Patrons will  have the opportunity to purchase season passes for Parkway Playhouse’s 2008 Summer Theatre Festival, which will include 3 musicals and 3 plays.  Season Tickets are $85.00 - $108 each and will be on sale through June 21.  Season Passes are also available by emailing the Parkway Playhouse at info@Parkwayplayhouse.com.

The 2008 Parkway Playhouse Season is being sponsored by Carolina First Bank, Armin Wessel, Architect, Young and McQueen Grading Company, and Mountain Air.  The Parkway Playhouse is  a charitable organization, donations to the theatre may be tax-deductible.  

For more information about the 2008 Patron Party and Silent Auction, Parkway Playhouse, Mountain Air Country Club, or the 2008  Theatre season please contact the theatre at 828-682-4285 or visit the Parkway Playhouse website at www.parkwayplayhouse.com.

The performances of TREASURE ISLAND at the Parkway Playhouse, scheduled for May 16 and 17 have been cancelled.    The production may be rescheduled later in the year.   All other Parkway Playhouse performances, including the Burnsville Little Theatre's upcoming performances, will occur as previously announced.  For further questions please call 828-682-4285.

Parkway Playhouse Dates for 2008 Spotlight Youth Theatre Camp

 The Parkway Playhouse, in conjunction with Mayland Community College and TRAC has announced the dates for the 2008 Spotlight Youth Theatre Camp.  The camp, which is for students aged 8-15, will be held from July 7-18 from 10AM-4:00 PM at the Yancey Campus of Mayland Community College, and the Parkway Playhouse.  The camp participants will put together an original production, which will be performed at the Parkway Playhouse on July 19 Tuition for the entire program is $175.00 per student.  Enrollment is limited.  To register, parents should contact Mayland Community College at 828-682-7315.   This program is funded in part through a Grassroots Grant from the Toe River Arts Council.  

The 2008 camp includes a two-week-long intensive camp that will be led by Parkway Playhouse company members and professional actors Guerin Piercy and Justin Johnson as well as other performers, directors, and designers with the Playhouse.  Students will also get the opportunity to see the Parkway Playhouse’s production of The Sound of Music, learn about the construction of scenery and costumes, lighting, sound, as well as writing and performing. 

The Spotlight Youth Theatre program is the name of the Parkway Playhouse’s Youth Theatre Outreach program.  Previously, the theatre had offered summer drama camps as the Youth Theatre Institute. “The new name reflects a deeper commitment to creating programs that are educational and entertaining and that have younger audiences in mind” commented Parkway Playhouse Producing Artistic Director, Andrew Gall.  “In the future, the community can expect that we will be creating productions and offering classes and other educational experiences for younger audiences and their parents.  We are excited about doing more to include and involve children and families.” 

For more information about the 2008 Parkway Playhouse Theatre season, or the 2008 Spotlight Youth Theatre Camp please call 828-682-4285, or visit the Parkway Playhouse website at www.parkwayplayhouse.com.

Looking Forward to Parkway Playhouse's 62nd Season

The Parkway Playhouse, one of North Carolina’s oldest theatre companies is proud to announce its 62^nd season.   As in previous seasons, the Parkway Playhouse will tell great stories-classic and new. Musicals, comedies, and drama combine to form a season that exemplifies the Parkway Playhouse’s mission of producing diverse work of the highest artistic standards for its mountain area audience.

“Our new season brings to the stage work by outstanding writers, engaging and clever performers, skilled musicians, innovative directors, and imaginative designers” says Producing Artistic Director Andrew Gall, in his fifth year at the helm.  “Our work is characterized by high-energy performances, playfulness, inventiveness that reveals the complicated world in which we live, in surprising, optimistic and delightful ways.”

The Parkway Playhouse was established in 1947 and is now entertaining its third generation of visitors and residents of the mountain region of North Carolina.   The Parkway Playhouse is a professional theatre company and attracts artists and audience from across the nation.   The 2008 Theatre Season is sponsored by Armin Wessel Architect, Inc, Mountain Air Country Club, Carolina First Bank., and Young & McQueen Grading Co.  The Theatre also receives funding from the North Carolina Arts Council and the Toe River Arts Council.

The Season

The Parkway Playhouse season opens with an “overlooked gem” of a musical that was created by the same group of writers responsible for Fiddler on the Roof (which the Parkway Playhouse produced in 2007).  She Loves Me by Joe Masterhoff, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick, is the tale of two rival clerks in an upscale European boutique who quarrel constantly at work, but are unknowingly writing and anonymous love letters to each other.  “She Loves Me is endearing, engaging, funny, and has an absolutely beautiful score.  It is a title that audiences have not be familiar with, but nonetheless it has become one of the most popular musicals in regional theatre” says Gall, who will direct the production running June 12 through June 21^st.   The cast for Parkway Playhouse’s production includes Burnsville Audience favorite Bradshaw Call and returning company members Kelly Christianson-Messer, Chad Schuermeyer, and Aimee Bohner.   The production is being sponsored by a generous gift from Bill and Caryl Cullom.

On June 26, the Parkway Playhouse will open an unprecedented 3-week run of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic The Sound of Music, which is being sponsored by Heritage Lumber. The musical is based on the true story of the Von Trapp family who famously escaped the Nazi’s and went on to become a musical legacy in the United States.  The film adaptation, which featured Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, is practically a family viewing staple.  “The Parkway Playhouse has developed a reputation for the production of classic musicals, The Sound of Music is not only a powerfully inspiring true story, but also happens to have some of the most enduring music ever written for the stage.  We are excited about having the story of the Von Trapp family as the centerpiece of our 2008 season and ticket demand is already high, even with the added third week- which is a first for the Parkway Playhouse” said Gall.  Running from June 26 through July 12, The Sound of Music is being directed by Parkway Playhouse veteran Christopher Dwyer and will feature Artistic Associate Rob Storrs as the stern Captain VonTrapp and returning company member Lindsey Day Henry, who charmed audiences with her amnesiac nun in 2007’s Nunsense, will play Maria VonTrapp.  

From July 17 through July 26 Parkway Playhouse audiences will have to hold their sides with laughter as they are treated to Michael Fryan’s epic backstage comedy Noises Off.  Widely regarded as one of the funniest plays ever written, Noises Off is a play-within-a play.  Tracing the comic trials and tribulations of a group of actors from a bumbling dress rehearsal to a disastrous closing night, Noises Off has become a worldwide favorite.  The Parkway Playhouse production is being directed by Asheville director, Peter Carver, who is making his Parkway Playhouse debut, and features returning Parkway Playhouse actors Christopher Dwyer, Jeff Messer, Guerin Piercy, Lisa Gluckin, Kelly Christianson-Messer, and Preston Tinsley and Jordan Danz. 

North Carolina novelist, Clyde Edgerton (also wrote Walking Across Egypt) returns to the Parkway Playhouse with his newest effort, a musical adaptation of his novel Lunch at the Piccadilly.  Featuring a hilarious musical score by Mike Craver (the composer of Smoke on the Mountain and Radio Gals) and a cast of some of energetic singing and dancing septuagenarians, Lunch at the Piccadilly will open on July 31 and close August 3.  The production is a co-production with the Cape Fear Regional Theatre and is being directed by Steve Umberger, the founder and long-serving Artistic Director of Charlotte Repertory Theatre.  “This production is exciting and is hopefully the first in a long line of new work being done at the Parkway Playhouse” said Gall.  “The production is funny, touching, and highly entertaining. There is a song about Medicare and Medicaid and just about every possible musical style from bluegrass to classic Broadway is included.”

Next up is a new take on a classic.  The Parkway Playhouse’s production of William Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy/war of the sexes, Much Ado About Nothing will be set in New York’s “Little Italy” at the end of WWII on V.E. Day.  Military pomp and circumstance are undermined by the matters of love and romance.  As soldiers return home, the savage tongued Beatrice resumes her witty war of words with her equally cynical old flame and avowed bachelor, Benedik.   Meanwhile, Claudio, a decorated young soldier woos the woman of his dreamed he is the victim of an elaborate and malicious hoax.  The whole mess is resolved by the dim-witted and foppish constable, Dogberry.  “We are not looking at Much Ado About Nothing as a play that has been around for four centuries, rather we are looking at it as a brand new play” commented Gall.  “The story and theme of the play are enduring and there are few characters in the entire history of drama that match Benedik and Beatrice for witty repartee.  Bringing the play into the modern era has made it even more relevant and funny than ever.”  Running from August 14 through August 23, Much Ado About Nothing will be offered to local students as well as the general public.  

The Parkway Playhouse’s final production of the season will be playwright Steven Dietz’s Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure featuring Artistic Associates Rob Storrs as the world-famous detective and Jeff Messer as his faithful companion and chronicler Dr. Watson.  “Our audience has been clamoring for a thriller for several years” said Gall.  “When I got this script we immediately included it into this season. Rob Storrs and Jeff Messer are an unbeatable on-stage team” says Gall, who will direct the production.  “The story is filled with all of the twists, turns, and unexpected revelations one would expect from a Sherlock Holmes story.”   The production will open on August 29 and close on September 6. 

Tickets

Season passes are now on available and the Parkway Playhouse is offering a number of packages available to meet any number of lifestyles, seating preferences, and budgets.  Packages range from the all inclusive “First Friday Package” which includes all six productions and an afterglow reception with the cast, staff and creative team to a budget minded “Pick Three” package.  For the first time ever, the Parkway Playhouse is offering student season tickets.  Packages range from $86-$108.  Season packages can be ordered by calling 828-682-4285 or sending an email to info@parkwayplayhouse.com

The Parkway Playhouse Box Office will open on May 27 for season pass sales and season pass holders to make reservations.  Individual tickets will go on sale Saturday, June 7.  The Parkway Playhouse box office hours will be from 10am-6pm Tuesday through Saturday, and one hour before curtain time. 

Parkway Playhouse productions run Thursday through Saturday and start at 7:30pm.  Each production will have one Sunday Matinee that starts at 2:30pm on the first Sunday of each production’s run.

Volunteering and Outreach offerings

“Volunteers are a huge part of the Parkway Playhouse’s success” says Gall.  “Our volunteers are the first people you see when you arrive for a performance. They are involved in every aspect of the theatre’s operation and we could not do it without them.”

Volunteers interested in being a part of the Parkway Playhouse receive complimentary tickets for productions, and in 2006 the Parkway Playhouse established the Mark W. Bennett Award, which is an honor given to a volunteer(s) to acknowledge their outstanding contribution.  Past recipients of this award include F. Warren Hughes, Rosemary Banks, Will Storrs, and Suzanne Gavenus.

The Youth Theatre Spotlight Camp is a theatre camp for children aged 8-15, and is offered in association with the Toe River Arts Council and Mayland Community College.  The camp runs from July 7-18 on weekdays from 10am-4pm and is led by members of the Parkway Playhouse’s professional company.  “Camp participants can expect to be working intensely to create their own production” commented Gall.  “Their final product will be on display at the Parkway Playhouse at a special performance at the conclusion of the camp.”  The cost of the camp is $175.  Participants will need to bring a bagged lunch. To register, parents should contact Mayland Community College at 828-682-7315.

The Parkway Playhouse will present two performances of Treasure Island the production will feature Yancey County drama students enrolled at Mayland Community College.  The performances will be on May 16 at 7:30pm and May 17 at 2:30pm.  Tickets will be available at the door.

For more information about the Parkway Playhouse, please call 828-682-4285 or visit the Parkway Playhouse website at www.parkwayplayhouse.com.

Parkway Playhouse’s 2008 Season 

***Season marks Andrew Gall’s 5th Season as the Producing Artistic Director**

Burnsville, NC: Parkway Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Andrew Gall proudly announces the line-up for the 2008 season of plays and musicals for the historic theatre’s 62nd season. The season includes 3 plays and 3 musicals. Subscriptions for the season range from $55.00 to $108 and can be purchased on-line at the Parkway Playhouse website at www.parkwayplayhouse.com or by calling and leaving a message with the Parkway Playhouse Box Office at 828-682-4285. Season Passes will go on sale November 12 and will be available through June 21, 2008. Gift certificates redeemable for season passes and individual performances will also be available.
The Parkway Playhouse Box office will open for regular hours starting in May 2008 and tickets for individual performances will go on sale in early June. Season subscribers will have a variety of different packages to choose from and the advantage of being able to reserve seats to performances prior to the opening of the box office to the general public. Additionally, the Parkway Playhouse will partner with the Nu-Wray Inn to offer pre-show dinners before evening performances and pre-show brunch before matinees.
The 2008 season includes a new musical-comedy Lunch at the Piccadilly based on the novel by North Carolina Novelist Clyde Edgerton, with music by Mike Craver; Producing Artistic Director Andrew Gall will stage a critically acclaimed new thriller about the world’s most famous detective Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure by Steven Dietz; the delirious backstage farce Noises Off by Michael Fryan; Jerome Davis, one of the region’s most innovative directors, will stage a production of William Shakespeare’s witty romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing set at the end of World War II; Playhouse audiences will be treated to a production of She Loves Me a joyous musical comedy staged by Gall; and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s timeless masterpiece The Sound of Music will play for an extended engagement. A children’s production, which is not included on the subscription, has yet to be announced.
The 2008 season marks Producing Artistic Director Andrew Gall’s fifth season with the Parkway Playhouse. Coming to the theatre in 2004, Gall has overseen numerous changes and unprecedented growth at the venerable theatre. In his tenure Gall has succeeded in dramatically increasing ticket sales with many productions frequently sold-out or at capacity, expanding the season, improving the historic Parkway Playhouse facility, and securing much needed funding from foundations across the country. In 2006 alone, 7500 patrons from across the country attended a performance at the Parkway Playhouse.
“The Parkway Playhouse is a unique institution, and I am privileged to be a part of an organization with such a rich history and a promising future” commented Gall, 36. “Part of what makes the Parkway Playhouse so special is its location in and relationship with such a strong community.”
Further information about the Parkway Playhouse 2008 season follows. Information about casting and auditions will be available in early 2008.
The Parkway Playhouse 2008 Theatre Season

She Loves Me
June 12-June 21
By Joe Materhoff, Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick
Directed by Andrew Gall
“a continuously melodic evening of sheer enchantment and complete escape” –Frank Rich, New York Times. Georg and Amalia can’t stand each other. Intensely competitive clerks in a perfume boutique, they are constantly at odds with one another. Both secretly find solace in an anonymous pen pal – totally unaware that they are actually writing romantic letters to each other. This endearing tale of unlikely sweethearts, and the eccentric colleagues who aid and abet them, is an intelligent, romantic comedy filled with surprises and quirks. From the songwriting team behind Fiddler on the Roof, the intoxicating score features the show stopping “Ice Cream,” “Twelve Days to Christmas” and the popular title tune.

The Sound of Music
June 26-July 13
By Richard Rogers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Howard Lindsey, Russell Crouse
Directed by Christopher Dwyer
When a postulant proves too high-spirited for the religious life, she is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain, and they marry. Upon returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain's immediate service in their navy. The family's narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the theatre. The motion picture version remains the most popular movie musical of all time.

Noises Off
July 17-26
By Michael Fryan
Directed by Peter Carver
“The funniest farce ever written”.-New York Post Hilarity and chaos ensue in Michael Frayn’s ingenious play-within-a-play. Detailing the on and off-stage antics of a third-rate British acting troupe desperately trying to stage and tour a third-rate farce called Nothing On. As actors in this play-within-a-play rehearse, forgotten lines, dropped trousers and lost plates of sardines create onstage pandemonium. Meanwhile, it is total chaos backstage as love triangles, petty bickering and ruined affairs lead to pratfalls, flying props and more than one bloody nose. In the end, at the frenetic final performance, everything merges into one perfectly ravaged and wholly uproarious theatrical nervous breakdown.

Lunch at the Piccadilly
July 31-August 9
By Clyde Edgerton and Mike Craver
Directed by Steve Umberger
A Co-Production with the Cape Fear Regional Theatre
Clyde Edgerton’s best-selling novel of the same name comes to the stage with the humor, authenticity, and sweetly eccentric characters of the original, plus a few new surprises. The ladies of Rosehaven Convalescence Center have a lot of life left, and they intend to use it. Why should the old folks in nursing homes rock their lives away when they could join forces with churches world-wide and start a “powerful, nation-sweeping movement” to help people? They call themselves The First Breakfast Club, because after 2,000 years of Last Suppers, “we need a First Breakfast to follow it up!” Their leader is the cantankerous ex-Reverend L. Ray Flowers, and together they’re changing the world, one wheelchair at a time. The 25 songs by Mike Craver (“Radio Gals,” “Smoke on the Mountain”) combine almost every imaginable musical style, from bluegrass to Broadway, and may be the first-ever musical score with songs about Medicare and Medicaid. In short, this may be your grandmother’s Piccadilly, and she never looked or sounded so good.

Much Ado About Nothing
August 15-23
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jerome Davis
Much Ado About Nothing is probably Shakespeare’s best love story--certainly his funniest. Staged by noted director, Jerome Davis, and set at the end of WWII, allied soldiers come for a short stay in a little Italian town, where military pomp and certainty are gloriously undermined. The victorious Don Pedro and his entourage are defeated by young women, old men, and the bumbling Constable Dogberry. That women and men live on different planets is the cliché that is spun into gold by this brilliant comedy. Love plays havoc with the conventional attitudes of both sexes. The wild insecurity of the romantic young lovers Hero and Claudio is contrasted with the entrenched opposition to marriage of Beatrice and Benedick - who are perfectly matched in everything, including their determination to remain single.

Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure
August 29-September 6
By Steven Dietz
Directed by Andrew Gall
The game is afoot! A chilling mystery featuring the world’s greatest detective, the King of Bohemia, a notorious photograph, a kidnapping, and of course, Holmes’ great nemesis, Professor Moriarty. At the end of Sherlock Holmes’ remarkable career, it features one last great case, as well as the romance he sacrificed throughout his years of fame and glory. Based on the classic 1899 play by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette, this new adaptation was recently nominated for a 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Award by the Mystery Writers of America.
For more information about the Parkway Playhouse or the 2008 Theatre Season please contact the Parkway Playhouse at 828-682-4285 or visit the Parkway Playhouse website at www.parkwayplayhouse.com.
 

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This page was last updated on Friday, 09 May 2008 02:24 PM