Nettle Creek Players Announces 2022 Summer Season

Nettle Creek Players, a 501c3 not-for-profit arts organization in Hagerstown, Indiana, has announced its 2022 troupe of visiting professional theatre artists who will live in the community for nine weeks as they prepare and present the Nettle Creek Players 2022 Summer Stock Tent Theatre Season featuring productions of OLIVER!, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, and THE GIN GAME.

Performances of OLIVER! will be at 7:00pm on June 24, 25, 30 & July 1 & 2 and at 2:00pm on June 26 with A FUNNY THING...FORUM at 7:00pm on July 8, 9, 14, 15 & 16 and at 2:00pm on July 10, and THE GIN GAME at 7:00pm on July 22, 23, 28, 29 & 30 and at 2:00pm on July 24.

All performances will take place in the Nettle Creek Players Show Tent at 150 N. Plum Street in historic downtown Hagerstown, Indiana.

Tickets are $18 per person for adults and $15 per person for students and seniors. Tickets and more information are available at www.nettlecreekplayers.com, at Facebook/NettleCreekPlayers and by phone at 765-914-7828.

"Oliver!" is Lionel Bart's classic musical based on the Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist. The Tony and Olivier Award-winning show is one of the few musicals to win an Academy Award for Best Picture and is widely hailed as a true theatrical masterpiece by audiences around the world. The streets of Victorian England come to life as Oliver, a malnourished orphan in a workhouse, becomes the neglected apprentice of an undertaker. Oliver escapes to London and finds acceptance amongst a group of petty thieves and pickpockets led by the elderly Fagin. When Oliver is captured for a theft that he did not commit, the benevolent victim, Mr. Brownlow takes him in. Fearing the safety of his hideout, Fagin employs the sinister Bill Sikes and the sympathetic Nancy to kidnap him back, threatening Oliver's chances of discovering the true love of a family.

"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" with book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart and Music by Stephen Sondheim takes comedy back to its roots, combining situations from time-tested, 2000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright, Plautus, with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville. Pseudolus, a crafty servant, struggles to win the hand of a beautiful, but slow-witted, courtesan named Philia for his young master, Hero, in exchange for freedom. The plot twists and turns with cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors and a showgirl or two. The classic Broadway musical romp through Rome has desperate lovers, scheming neighbors and secrets behind every toga.

"The Gin Game," a play by D.L. Coburn, is the winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, uses a card game as a metaphor for life. Weller Martin is playing solitaire on the porch of a seedy nursing home. Enter Fonsia Dorsey, a prim, self-righteous lady. They discover they both dislike the home and enjoy gin rummy, so they begin to play and to reveal intimate details of their lives. Fonsia wins every time, and their secrets become weapons used against one another. Weller longs for a victory to counter a lifetime of defeats, but it doesn't happen. He leaves the stage a broken man, and Fonsia realizes her self-righteous rigidity has led to an embittered, lonely, old age. Both laugh-out-loud funny and heartfelt, it has been a favorite of audiences for over four decades.

The visiting artists will live in the community, most in the homes of local volunteers. They will rehearse the shows for 2 1⁄2 weeks and perform for six weekends. The professional actors and visiting artists-in-residence that will form the 2022 core company include the following:

James Stover, an Assistant Professor of Theater at Purdue University Fort Wayne is an actor, director, writer and producer having worked at notable theatre across the country, on television and in independent film. He holds an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA in Musical Theatre from Otterbein University. He will play the role of Pseudolus in "...Forum.";

Barry McMullen is from Muncie, Indiana and is the co-owner of Think Dog! Productions. Barry performed with Nettle Creek Players in the 1990's. He will play Senex in "...Forum" and Weller in "The Gin Game.";

Jordan Wolfe originally comes from Richmond, Indiana and is a graduate of Earlham College. Jordan previously appeared with Nettle Creek Players in 2018 and 2019. He will play Mr. Bumble in "Oliver!" and Hero in "...Forum.";

Patrick Vaughn of Louisville, Kentucky and has been seen on stage at Actors Theatre of Indiana, Commonweal Theatre in Minnesota and at Dollywood. He will play the role of Bill Sykes in "Oliver!";

Michael Bartkiewicz is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana and has performed Off-Broadway, at the Vineyard Theater and for Paw Patrol Live. He will play Hysterium in "...Forum.";

Zoe O'Hailin-Berne is from Shelbyville, Indiana, studied theatre at Ball State University and has performed regionally and on national tours. She will play Lycus in "...Forum.";

Rebecca Lea Evans comes to Hagerstown from St. Louis and is a graduate of Ball State University. She will play The Widow Corney in "Oliver!" and Domina in "...Forum.";

Nicole Leis is originally from Ansonia, Ohio and graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University. She will play the role of Nancy in "Oliver!";

Abigail Johnson is studying musical theater at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. She will play Bet in "Oliver!" and Philia in "...Forum.";

Evan Snaufer is from Fort Wayne, Indiana where he is a theater major at Purdue University Fort Wayne. He will play Noah in "Oliver!" and Protean in "...Forum.";

Audrey Shockett is a student at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and will play The Artful Dodger in "Oliver!" and a Courtesan in "...Forum.";

Justin Amellio-Ashbrook is an award-winning director and Associate Professor of Theater at Indiana University South Bend. He will play Miles Gloriosus in "...Forum.";

Sara Breeze is from Kansas and will play Fonsia in "The Gin Game.";

Susannah Briscoe has been performing, teaching and choreographing for over thirty years and is currently enrolled in a two-year Meisner Acting Program at The Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis. She will play Mrs. Sowerberry in "Oliver!" and a Courtesan in "...Forum" and will serve as choreographer for the season.;

Several local performers and Nettle Creek Players from years past will also join the company. They include the following:

Larry Beck is originally from Elkhart, Indiana. He now lives in Muncie where he is host and producer of BlueNotes Classic Jazz at Indiana Public Radio and Associate Director Emeritus for the Career Center at Ball State University. He will play Mr. Brownlow in "Olvier!";

Brad Dale is from Hagerstown. He is a Nettle Creek Player alum from the 1970's and is a current board member of the organization. He will play Erronius in "...Forum."

Elizabeth Stracener is a native of Richmond, Indiana and teaches in Hagerstown. She will play Sissy Sowerberry in "Oliver!";

The roles of Oliver and the children's chorus will be played by local students Eli Daniel, Josephine Daniel, Grace Bruns, Natalie Hobbs, Maycee Favorite and Charley Rinehart..

Music Director for the season will be Gilda McClure Lewis who is a native of Connersville, Indiana, is an NCP alum from the 1980's and will play Mrs. Bedwin in "Oliver!" and a Courtesan in "...Forum." She will be assisted in Music Direction by Accompanist Lisa Ginn.

The artistic quality of the project is overseen by Artistic Director Greg Gasman, former Technical Director at Muncie Civic Theatre and former Artistic Director for several theatres in Minnesota. Gasman will direct all three productions, oversee all technical aspects of the project and play the role of Fagin in "Oliver!" He will be assisted over the summer by Production Stage Manager Sarah Hobson.

Nettle Creek layers is a 501c3 non-profit organization and is grateful to its corporate and foundational sponsors for underwriting some of the costs associated with presenting the 2022 Summer Season. Among the sponsors and supporters of Nettle Creek Players are the following: The Indiana Arts Commission, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Randolph Community Foundation, Meridian Health, The Wayne County Foundation, The Town of Hagerstown, Greenfield Tent Company, The Nettle Creek School Corporation, CJD Enterprise, Inc., The Hagerstown Library, and Earlham College.

For tickets and information visit www.nettlecreekplayers.com and Facebook/NettleCreekPlayers or call 765-914-7828. Photos of the cast are available on the web site and Facebook page and can be emailed by request. The cast and artistic company are also available for interviews or special performances by request at 765-914-7828.

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