Front & Centre Stage has issued the following announcement regarding their upcoming summer programming. A wide range of events is planned for theatre goers of all ages. Please plan to attend and to enjoy live theatre presented in your home town. Be advised that some of the productions are for adult audiences. Please add the following events to your calendar! Innocent Creators Productions Front & Centre Stage's Innocent Creators* presents Disney's Cinderella Friday - Saturday, July 10-11, 2009 @ 7:00 Sunday, July 12, 2009 @ 2:00 Windsor Hall, Downtown Cumberland Tickets: $5 for children 12 and under $8 for adults Reservations: 301-697-7183 The timeless fairy tale meets the magic of Disney in this adaptation of the treasured animated film. Poor Cinderella is endlessly mistreated by her wicked stepmother and stepsisters, and denied a chance to go to the Royal Ball. With a little help from her mice friends, and a lot of help from her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella goes to the ball, meets the Prince, and falls in love! With a beautiful score including "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and the classic "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," this musical will charm its way into your heart, and remind you that 1 / 8
dreams really can come true. The show features a cast of 25 performers ages 5-17. *Innocent Creators was established by Front & Centre to introduce children to the performing arts and providing an outlet for younger performers to showcase their talents. The group is designed for children ages 5-17 and is committed to aiding in the growth of the area's youth in both the performance and technical aspects of the theatre. Friday After Five One Act Play Series A Couple of Bimbos Sittin Around Talkin July 17 & 31 @ 7:00 Allegany Arts Council 6 N. Centre St. Downtown Cumberland During Friday After Five 2 / 8
FREE ADMISSION Linda, B.B. and Nancy are sunning themselves in their backyard in Queens waiting for their boyfriends to take them away for a four-day holiday. They're going to fix up a fourth male with Nancy's cousin, Tess, a conservative "college girl." When Tess arrives, she's repulsed by the Barbie doll hairdos and tight outfits the girls from Queens are wearing. However, Tess is given a lesson when she finds out that the three girls are anything but ill-informed. As the stunned Tess is transformed by Linda, B.B. and Nancy into their look-alike, she listens to them debate the Hundred Years War, the poll tax, the Franco-Prussian War, the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon? Their usual conversation when they're away from their insecure men! Tess gains immeasurable respect for the three girls and hopes that she doesn't come off too dumb, since she doesn't know who won the Franco-Prussian War. But more importantly, she stops making judgments based on superficial evidence. Coffee With God August 14 & 28 @ 7:00 Allegany Arts Council 6 N. Centre St. Downtown Cumberland During Friday After Five 3 / 8
FREE ADMISSION A man is enjoying coffee and a bagel at his favorite New Jersey diner when God, carrying a laptop computer, enters, sits next to him, and seems to know all about him. Their conversation ranges from the playful-finding parking spaces in Manhattan-to the heartbreaking-the loss, all too soon, of a loved one. The man questions God, who expresses sorrow over the death of the man's mother at a very early age but explains that the world is too big and complex for even God to protect everyone from tragedy. There are moments of comedy (when God praises the inventor of Immodium and refuses to take credit for it) and haunting beauty (when the man's dead parents appear, at God's behest, for a final glimpse, and dance a lovely tango). The man, deeply touched by God's gesture, hugs God, a lonely being who has never been hugged and is equally moved by that gesture. One critic has described the play as "the story of a man who finally comes to a turning point in his life. A time when all the pain and confusion is to be released." Red Curtain Productions Front & Centre Stage presents its first Red Curtain Production*** An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein July 24 & 25 @ 7:30 Allegany Arts Council 6 N. Centre St. Downtown Cumberland 4 / 8
Admission: $10 Info: 301-298-3724 Welcome to the darkly comic world of Shel Silverstein, a world where nothing is as it seems and where the most innocent conversation can turn menacing in an instant. The ten imaginative plays in this collection range widely in content, but the style is unmistakable. ONE TENNIS SHOE. Harvey needs to broach a delicate subject with his wife. He claims Sylvia is becoming a bag lady, but she protests that her Bloomingdales' shopping bag doesn't make her a bag lady. No, says Harvey, but the picture frame, couch cushion and single tennis shoe retrieved from the garbage do. Not to mention the cold cooked oatmeal in her purse. BUS STOP. Irwin stands on a street corner with a sign reading "bust stop." When Celia passes, he stops her and proceeds to run through the entire list of slang for her breasts, but Celia turns the tables on him with a lengthy and demeaning list of her own. GOING ONCE. In a simultaneously comic and chilling monologue an auctioneer shows off a woman, who is putting herself up for auction to the highest bidder. THE BEST DADDY. Lisa's got the best daddy in the world. After all, he bought her a pony for her birthday. Too bad he shot it dead. Or did he? Maybe it was Lisa's older sister. THE LIFEBOAT IS SINKING. Jen and Sherwin sit safely on their bed, but Jen forces her husband to imagine they are on a sinking boat in the middle of a terrible storm. Waves fill the boat with water; there are no life jackets; and Sherwin must decide whether he should throw his mother overboard or condemn them all to die. 5 / 8
SMILE. Bender and his henchmen drag Gibby into a room and throw him to the ground. Gibby protests that he hasn't done anything wrong, but Bender and the others know better. They have found the man responsible for the '70s smiley face and the phrase "Have a nice day," and they're going to make him pay. WASH AND DRY. Marianne stops by the laundromat, but she's horrified to discover that her laundry hasn't been cleaned. George counters he never agreed to wash it. "George's Watch and Dry," he says. "You gotta pay attention." THINKING UP A NEW NAME FOR THE ACT. Pete hits on the phrase "Meat and Potatoes" as the perfect name for their vaudeville act, but Lucy doesn't like it. They get into a terrible fight, and Lucy kills Pete. And the only words in this farcical sketch are "Meat and Potatoes." BUY ONE GET ONE FREE. Merrilee and Sherilee are offering the deal of the century. "Buy one, get one free," the hookers sing to a tempted Lee. It's a golden opportunity. And it all rhymes. BLIND WILLIE AND THE TALKING DOG. Blind Willie sings the blues and asks passersby if they can spare a nickel or dime to help him and his hungry dog. But his dog can't understand why Willie refuses to use the fact that he owns a talking dog to make some real money. ***About "Red Curtain" Productions*** Red Curtain Productions was created to offer "adults only" theatre that is not intended for patrons under the age of sixteen. The shows produced "behind the red curtain" may contain strong language, sexual references and violence...but still provide quality entertainment and carry artistic merit. 6 / 8
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical...Live in Concert! Thurs-Fri. August 6 & 7 at 7:00 pm Canal Place Amphitheatre FREE ADMISSION Lawn seating - bring your lawn chairs and blankets ****NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN**** Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 60s, several of its songs became anthems of the Vietnam War peace movement. The musical broke new ground in musical theater by defining the genre of the rock musical, utilizing a racially-integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a Be-In finale. Hair tells the story of the tribe, a group of politically active, long-haired Hippies of the Age of Aquarius fighting against conscription to the Vietnam War and living a bohemian life together in New York City. Several of the songs from its score became Top 40 hits ( Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine ) and a feature film adaptation was released in 1979. A Broadway revival opened on March 31, 2009, earning rave reviews and winning the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for best revival of a musical. In 2008, Time magazine wrote that "Today Hair seems, if anything, more daring than ever." The show features the vocal talents of some of the area's most seasoned performers, choreographed dances by Frostburg Dance Academy, and a five piece band made up of some of the tri-state's most talented musicians. 7 / 8
Vocalists include Jordan Kline, Rock Evans, Danny Durr, Josh Ruppenkamp, Kimberli Rowley, Heather Footen-Kline, Chelsea Davis, Angela Merrithew, Martha Schadt, Alex McDonald, Bronwyn Davis, Desiree Growden, Lyndsay Smith, Jackie Masse', Billy Price, Paul Chiarenza, Becky Bostaph, Shelley Murphey, and Sophie Davis. Dr. John Hawkins of Potomact State College is serving as music director. 8 / 8