Our 93rd Season: 2008-09
Performances: 8:00pm Fridays/Saturdays, 2:00pm Sundays
Dracula,
by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston; Adapted from the Bram Stoker
novel. October 24 – November 23, 2008. Directed by Eric Potter.
Special Midnight Performance: October
31
Eighty-one years after its original production, thirty-one after the
highly successful Broadway revival, we bring you this thrilling
classic. The music plays on--except this time it is the music of the
night--creatures, that is. It's the time of the season for the
sinister, so what more appropriate fare than the terrifying yet
riveting tale of Bram Stoker's alluring if revolting ruler of the
night? Join us for a howlingly good time with the creepy and
charismatic Count. Don't forget your garlic.
Romance/Romance, Book and Lyrics by Barry Harman; Music by Keith Herrmann. January 9 – February 8, 2009. Directed by Bill Kamberger.
Like pictures inside a double locket, the two one-act musicals that make up this evening's entertainment, are joined together while separate and apart. And the same can be said of the couples in each piece, whose adventures in courtship, self-denial, and self-discovery provide glimpses into the rituals of lovers and other strangers in two distinctly different time periods--fin de siecle Vienna and modern-day Hamptons. Be it to waltz time or soft rock, there is much the would-be lovers have to learn--about life . . . about love.
Old Times, by Harold Pinter. February 27 – March 29, 2009. Directed by Sharon Weaver.
From a rented house in the Hamptons to a converted English farmhouse, the search for love continues. Or is it rather power? Song lyrics become weapons in this "love story" as three people struggle for acceptance, dominance, affection, recognition? One is never quite sure--as the characters themselves are not--during this intriguing strange interlude in the country. In this compelling drama from one of the twentieth century's most innovative playwrights, memory and perception are the key as the windmills of the mind churn relentlessly.
I Hate Hamlet, by Paul Rudnick. April 17 – May 17, 2009. Directed by Steve Goldklang.
"Goodnight, sweet prince,/And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" To Andrew Rally, a young actor whose television work has propelled him to fame and fortune--and a chance to play Hamlet in the Park--these words are a death knell. He hates Hamlet, his series has been cancelled, his girlfriend won't . . . well, you get the picture. Andrew is striking out here, and won't go quietly into that good night (if the critics have their way). But lo and behold, the great Barrymore won't let him either! If Hamlet had his father's ghost to contend with, Andrew has that of the legendary star of stage and film whose apartment the TV actor just happens to be renting. The "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" will fly tonight!
The
Drunkard, or The Fallen Saved, adapted by Wm. H. Smith.
June 8 – June 28, 2009. Directed by Ann Mainolfi.
The Vagabond Players owe much to those who, over our 93 years, have
brought Baltimore audiences community theater at its best. One such
person is the late John Bruce Johnson, whose dedication to this
theater, and to Baltimore theatre in general, has touched so many in so
many ways. So, we proudly present The
Drunkard, the famous 19th century
melodrama in which JBJ appeared and which he and audiences alike enjoy.
How fitting that America's oldest continuous little theater should
honor one of its a life-long contributors and champions with a
production of what is probably our country's most successful play until
Uncle Tom's Cabin came along.
