Waynesboro Players presents premiere of local author’s play
Did you know that pirates believed that wearing pierced earrings would improve their eyesight and that whistling on a ship would cause the weather to turn stormy? Learn more about modern-day pirates Feb. 23–26 at Waynesboro Players’ premiere production of local author Matthew Warner’s Pirate Appreciation Day.
In this comedy, a Waynesboro Players directorial debut for Caleb Towns, a group of buccaneers believes that hijacking a cruise ship on the Talk Like a Pirate Day holiday is the proper route to infamy. They discover more than they bargained for in a colorful ensemble of fellow passengers. By the time night falls of the first day at sea, a tentacled monster will be summoned, a sword fight will be fought with plastic butter knives, and someone will take a one-way voyage to Davy Jones’ locker! Continue reading “Waynesboro Players presents premiere of local author’s play” »
Auditions for Players production
The Waynesboro Players will hold auditions for a production of Pirate Appreciation Day by local author and playwright Matthew Warner on Sunday, Nov. 27, and Wednesday, Nov. 30.
The auditions will be held at the Waynesboro Players Warehouse, 722 E. Main St., Waynesboro, from 6-8 p.m. on both Nov. 27 and Nov. 30.
Pirate Appreciation Day follows the efforts of the so-called Pirate Appreciation Movement to restore the good name of moderny piracy.
The group of buccaneers believes hijacking a cruise ship on the Talk Like a Pirate Day holiday is the proper route to infamy. Its saltiest members, Walker D. Plank and sidekick Halitosis Halvard, sneak aboard the M.S. Stillwater as it departs for a Caribbean cruise.
They discover more than they bargained for in a colorful ensemble of fellow passengers. Frederick Feedle Fillingsworth is a fugitive museum curator with a valuable stolen artifact. Teenaged nerd Paisley Nettleton is a prodigy of ancient languages and archeology, hovered over by his squabbling parents, Ned and Doris. The Captain — the hairest man of the Seven Seas — would do anything to win the affections of Bridget, the mysterious yeoman.
By the time night falls on the first day at sea, a tentacled monster will be summoned, a sword fight will be fought with plastic butter knives, and someone will take a one-way voyage to Davy Jones’s locker. Aye so, but ’tis good to be a pirate!
Roles to fill:
Principals: 7 men (20s–late 40s), 4 women (20s–late 40s)
Supporting: 5 men (20s–40s), 2 women (20s)
More information: www.WaynesboroPlayers.org.
Community Mourning: Waynesboro loses local arts icon
The Waynesboro arts community is in mourning today over the sudden passing of artist, dramatist, author and retired Waynesboro High School teacher Duane Hahn.
“Duane … how can we imagine creative Waynesboro without you? I’m heartbroken,” wrote author and friend Elizabeth Massie on a Facebook post Thursday morning.
Hahn was an icon to the local cultural community. He taught in the Waynesboro school system for 33 years, and in 2000 was named the Virginia Secondary Communication Teacher of the Year. Former Waynesboro mayor Tom Reynolds noted on Facebook today that Hahn had taught all three of his children. Former vice mayor Nancy Dowdy said on Facebook that Hahn had taught her and her husband, Steve.
“Waynesboro will be less without him, but heaven is smiling. R.I.P. Mr Hahn!” Dowdy wrote.
A native of Waynesboro, Hahn earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Morehead State University. For several years Hahn developed and directed children’s theater for elementary schools in Waynesboro, and after his retirement from teaching continued work in children’s theater with the development of a series of plays focusing on social issues affecting children today.
His most recent children’s theater project, The Queen’s Fairy Quest, commissioned for The Lost Colony Waterside Theater, opened in June 2010.
Hahn was a long-time member of the Waynesboro Players community-theater group – joining the Players in 1976 and acting, directing and producing a number of productions, including Shenandoah Moon, a fictional account of the forced migration of natives of the hollars of the Blue Ridge with the development of the Shenandoah National Park in the 1930s, and Tuesday Mourning, the story of the Bedford Boys who lost their lives in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.
Hahn was the primary author on Shenandoah Moon, which he also published as a book with Augusta Free Press Publishing, and on Tuesday Mourning, which is set for a revival production with the Waynesboro Players in June.
An accomplished ceramic artist, Hahn was also a member of the Artisans Center of Virginia and had recently had works on display in an ACV exhibition in Waynesboro.
“He was the kind of person who always had something going on,” said Crystal Graham, who had known Hahn since their days together on the board of directors of the Wayne Theatre Alliance and had worked closely with Hahn on the Shenandoah Moon book project – and had recently been in contact with Hahn about another project that he had in the works for the coming weeks.
“The Shenandoah Moon will be so much dimmer tonight,” wrote Massie, who collaborated with Hahn on the Shenandoah Moon project, on Facebook. “I truly believe you are with God now, safe and loved. Paint the heavens for us, sweetie. We’ll see you later.”
Tribute
Books/Plays
Art
Video
Tall Tale Tellers: A children’s theater production by Duane Hahn that takes us backstage at a Wild West show where Annie Oakley, Paul Bunyan, Calamity Jane and others try to outdo one another with stories of their most famous exploits.
From the AFP Archives
- Mourning in Bedford subject of new play, Nov. 5, 2009
- Author explores forced relocation of mountain families in ’30s, Jan. 15, 2009
- Tuna embraces, satirizes small-town South, Feb. 28, 2008
Players put on ‘Nuncrackers’
The Waynesboro Players open a four-show production of the local favorite “Nuncrackers” Thursday night at Kate Collins Middle School.
Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
The production is directed by Duane Hahn and stars Barbara Spilman Lawson, Sandi Belcher, Janie Ballurio, Dianne Wade Truslow and Bob Wright.
Players schedule auditions for March 2011 show
The Waynesboro Players will be holding auditions on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 for a scheduled March 2011 production of Moonlight and Magnolias.
Moonlight and Magnolias is a play by Ron Hutchison, but also it was the first title for David O. Selznick “Gone with the Wind” epic. The storyline takes us three weeks into the making of “Gone with the Wind,” when Selznick did not feel the script was working. So, he locked himself in his office with Ben Hetch, known as the Script Doctor, and Victor Fleming, who was, at the time, directing “The Wizard of Oz,” in order to come up, in five days with a “workable” script.
The only problem is that Hetch had never read Gone with the Wind, so Selznick and Fleming end up acting it out for him, scene by scene. It’s a zany comedy based on a true story, and the audience has a hard time keeping up with laughing at the jokes.
Experienced actors are needed to portray Selznick (in this 30s) Fleming and Hetch (in their 50s).
Auditions will be held on Friday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m. at the Waynesboro Players Warehouse on East Main Street.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Players bring Willy Wonka to stage
Story, Photos and Video by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Charlie ends up with one of the tickets to take a tour of the famed Willy Wonka chocolate factory, and the experience promises to change his life..
Playing Charlie in the upcoming Waynesboro Players’ production of Willy Wonka is changing the approach for young actor Aaron Crosby.
“Usually a teen-ager is pessimistic about the world, and Charlie is so thankful for everything that he has. I’ve had to adapt what I do to try to portray that mindset,” said Crosby, a senior at Buffalo Gap High School who is starring in the Players’ production of Willy Wonka, which runs May 27-30 at the Louis Spilman Auditorium at Waynesboro High School. Continue reading “Players bring Willy Wonka to stage” »
Goodnight, Grace: Walkers bring Players production to life
Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Alex is a telephone repairman on a late-night call. Grace is an aging-before-her-time twentysomething on the prowl in her own apartment.
Grace thinks Alex is, well, a prowler. She saw him climbing in her window, after all. Alex doesn’t mind that she thinks what she thinks. He thinks it adds a bit of mystery. And hey, she is wearing a bikini with a coconut top and not much else.
You’re not going to believe who are bringing Alex and Grace to life in the upcoming Waynesboro Players production of Saving Grace. Try former Waynesboro City Manager Doug Walker and his wife, Llyn Walker.
The Walkers have been doing community theater since Doug’s days as an assistant county administrator in Spotsylvania County, but they’ve never been on stage together. Continue reading “Goodnight, Grace: Walkers bring Players production to life” »
Waynesboro Players hold auditions for Willy Wonka
Staff Report
News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
Do you love singing, candy, and getting wrapped up in a great story? Then Roald Dahl’s “Willy Wonka” musical auditions are for you!
The Waynesboro Players in partnership with Imagine That! Theatre is producing this much-loved tale of the world-famous candy man on a quest to find a young heir to take over his sweet, successful business!
This show is directed by Claire Covington, along with assistant director Joe Bruce, and is being produced by Morgan Alberts Smith and Leigh Ellis. Continue reading “Waynesboro Players hold auditions for Willy Wonka” »
Players looking for sweet tooths
Auditions for Willy Wonka in January
Staff Report
News Tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The Waynesboro Players and Imagine That! Theatre are holding auditions for a May 27-30 production of Willy Wonka next month.
Auditions are set for Friday, Jan. 22, from 6-9 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 23, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. at Main Street United Methodist Church in Waynesboro. Continue reading “Players looking for sweet tooths” »
Break-ins reported at KCMS outside theater performance
Six vehicles were broken into outside a performance of the Waynesboro Players production of Tuesday Mourning at Kate Collins Middle School Saturday night.
The string of incidents was reported around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, following the performance of the locally-written and -produced play on the loss of 22 natives of nearby Bedford on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Continue reading “Break-ins reported at KCMS outside theater performance” »
Video | The Waynesboro Players present Shenandoah Moon
The Waynesboro Players are presenting the world premiere of the locally written Shenandoah Moon, a fictional account of the story of the seizure of land from mountain families to clear the way for the development of the Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park in the 1930s. AFP editor Chris Graham reporting. Includes a sneak preview of one of the scenes in the play. Length: 8:27. Continue reading “Video | The Waynesboro Players present Shenandoah Moon” »
The February New Dominion magazine is on the streets
The February edition of The New Dominion print magazine is out and about at locations across the Central Shenandoah Valley and Charlottesville. Links to stories on our sister website TheNewDominion.com and our web extras are here. To find out where you can pick up your copy, click here. Continue reading “The February New Dominion magazine is on the streets” »
