Vagabond Players Baltimore 94th Season, 2009-10

Our 94rd Season: 2009-10

All in the Family

Performances: 8:00pm Fridays/Saturdays, 2:00pm Sundays

September 4-27: The Cocktail Hour, by A.R. Gurney. Directed by Roy Hammond

By one of America's favorite playwrights, The Cocktail Hour won the Lucille Lortal Award as Best Off-Broadway Play. John, a playwright, returns home during the family ritual of the cocktail hour. He has written a play about his family. Anxious to receive their blessing, he is instead confronted with recriminations and revelations from his wealthy, very proper WASP parents and siblings. A deliciously funny and occasionally touching play.

"...as funny and moving as The Dining Room....It could be the best play he has done so far."
--The New Yorker

"When I watch Gurney at his best, as he is here, I laugh through the tears."
--New York Daily News

October 23-November 22: Christmas Belles, by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten. Directed by John Ford

Get ready to laugh! From an upper-crust New York family, we'll take you to the small town of Fayro, Texas, and the three Futrelle sisters--Frankie, Twink, and Honey Raye--who are not in a festive mood at Christmastime. Hot-flash-suffering Honey Raye is desperately trying to keep The Tabernacle of the Lamb's Christmas program from spiraling into chaos. The squabbling sisters have to deal with family secrets, a surly Santa, and a reluctant Elvis impersonator, among an assortment of other problems. Somehow, the feuding sisters manage to pull together through this hilarious holiday journey! You'll meet a cast of very funny, unforgettable characters.

"The funniest thing since Greater Tuna!"
--The Lake Country News, Lake County, CA

"This hilarious comedy has been making audiences all over the country merry and bright!"
--The Malibu Times, CA

January 8-February 7, 2010: Man of La Mancha, by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darien, music by Mitch Leigh. Directed by Eric Potter

A close-knit "family" of prisoners help to dramatize the inspiring story of Don Quixote's Quest for "The Impossible Dream." Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Man of La Mancha opened at the ANTA Washington Square Theatre, November 22, 1965, and then moved to Broadway for a run of 2,328 performances. This popular musical, with its haunting Spanish rhythms, continues to thrill audiences around the world. We welcome this beloved show to the Vagabond stage!

"...'La Mancha' is widely thought of as a classic Broadway musical..."
"Many people who saw the original production remember it with great warmth."
--The New York Times

February 26-March 28: The Drawer Boy, by Michael Healey. Directed by Michael B. Zemeral

This beautifully written play moves from toughness and hilarity to something devestating and tender. The Drawer Boy premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille in Canada in 1999 and won the Dora, Chalmers, and Governor General's Awards. Miles, a young actor, spends time at a small farm while researching a new play. He soon becomes obsessed by the close relationship of the two middle-aged farmers, one of whom is brain-damaged. What really happened to Angus, and is his protector, Morgan, telling the truth?

"Sheer Magic ... a moving tribute to art's healing power ... the crowd stormed to its feet cheering with an enthusiasm usually found only at rock concerts."
--John Bemrase, Macleans

"...wonderfully understated and deeply affecting."
--John Coulbourn, Toronto Star

April 16-May 16: Speed-the-Plow, by David Mamet. Directed by Steve Goldklang

Hilarious and chilling---David Mamet’s comedy is a raw, funny and ruthless behind the scenes dissection of Hollywood --- how deals are cut and how movies get made. A phenomenal success in New York, “Speed-the-Plow” garnered three Tony Award nominations including Best Play.

“When the curtain falls on this unsparing study of sharks in the shallows of the movie industry, it’s as if you had stepped off a world-class roller coaster. The ride was over before you knew it, but you’re to dizzy and exhilarated to think you didn’t get your money’s worth.”
New York Times

“Crammed with wonderful, dazzling, brilliant lines like a plum pudding with fruit, like a gagbook with jokes. Mamet here is so damned entertaining – I laughed and laughed.”
New York Post

“Sizzling, savage and surprising!”
Associated Press

June 4-June 27: The Waiting Room, by Samm-Art Williams. Directed by Amini Courts.

Laughs fly fast and furious in a most unlikely setting (the Waiting Room of Memorial Hospital in Bend River, North Carolina) as friends and family members gather to learn the fate of patriarch Pullen Innes, who has just suffered a heart attack. As human drama swirls around them, the African-American Innes clan tries to deal with the "shocking" family secret which has just been divulged. Their lives will never be the same! The Vagabond Players is pleased to present this area premiere by an award-winning playwright who was featured last season at Center Stage.

"If there's No Church Nearby, Confess Your Sins at the Hospital."
"At heart, The Waiting Room is a comedy, and it has its share of laughs. But Mr. Williams also has things to say about the generation gap dividing young African-Americans today and their forbears who lived before Rosa Parks took a seat in the front of the bus, and about the importance of being family, whether black, white, or any shade in between. He says it all with grace and humor and without making it sound like a sermon."
--The New York Times