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The Merc Playhouse invites you to the Tom Zbyszewski Children's Theater production of
Fantastic Mr. Fox Roald Dahl's Fantasy Adventure for Children Dramatized by Sally Reid Directed by Jane Orme Presented by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois March 18 - 20 & March 24 - 27 Thur-Sat @7:00pm • Sun @2:00pm Doors open 30 minutes prior to showtime Thur March 24th is Admission by Donation Adult: $18 • Youth: $5 Ticket Sales Open March 1. Advance ticket sales only due to reduced capacity audience size. Please check back here when ticket sales open for covid guidelines. ABOUT THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX Boggis and Bunce and Bean One fat, one short, one lean These horrible crooks So different in looks Were nonetheless equally mean And so begins another enchanting Roald Dahl tale concerning the extraordinary adventures of three nasty farmers, two curious creatures, a family of foxes, and our hero—a most fantastic fellow! Come cheer on Mr. Fox and his friends, the Badgers, Moles, Rabbits and Weasels, as they refuse to be thwarted by Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. Mr. Fox will serve up a feast perfectly fitting for Mrs. Fox’s proclamation, “My husband is one fantastic fox!” The Merc is seeking submissions for We are planning our first post-pandemic production at The Merc and we want stories!
YOUR stories. What did 2020 mean to you? What made the greatest impact on your life? What did you learn? What would you like to share with an audience? We plan to bring audiences back together in the theater to hear what happened in different corners of our community during the pandemic. We hope your stories connect, inspire, entertain, and teach us. Submit your writing, video, or sound recording via email by August 30th OR, don't like email? In-person submissions: Wed, August 11th or Wed, August 25th 6:00 - 8:00 PM @Yourspace in Building N on Twispworks Campus Submissions must be less than 5 minutes. Submissions will be curated and directed and then presented in a multi-media Reader’s Theater performance the weekend of October 14th – 17th. Participants will work with the director to edit submissions and/or rehearse as necessary for final presentation. The director will use his artistic vision while collaborating with participants to create an engaging production for audiences to experience: LIVE theater with some bells and whistles thrown in. Accepting submissions from all ages, backgrounds, and corners of the community. We seek a wide range, so don’t be afraid to submit! Submission Deadline: August 30, 2021 or in-person on designated dates Submission Length: 5 minutes or less Format: Written words, sound recording, or video recording Performance Dates: October 14th – 17th Rehearsals and final editing will be one-on-one with the director during September, then full cast tech rehearsals October 9th and 10th. Performances the following week. Send email submissions here Call 509-997-7529 or email with questions.  It feels like it's been ages since we've seen audiences and friends in our theater! We miss you and we know you have questions about what's going on: When will we be back? We don't know. What will we produce when we return? We don't know. Okay, is live theater in the Methow Valley doomed for all eternity?! …um, NO! We might be writing this message to a bunch of theater aficionados, but we still gotta say: There’s no need to get dramatic about it. ;) Here's a small update: we hope to receive guidelines from the Governor's office for reopening in the not-too-distant future. ArtsWA made the proposal for the theater sector to reopen, and now we are waiting. Once they arrive, these guidelines will help us make our business plan. BUT before all that happens, we want to hear from YOU. Please share your thoughts about coming together in our space (or outside of it) by completing a short survey. Your feedback will help us make plans. Click the button below to begin. It should take less than 5 minutes to complete. So, that’s where we are. We’re hopeful, we’re keeping creative, and we’ll be here for your entertainment as soon as possible. Remember:
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts. Thank you for playing your part in keeping the Methow Valley safe, sane and healthy. You'll hear from us again soon with some results from the survey and with additional plans about our future.  Happy New Year! We are very excited to announce our 2020 season which includes four center-stage productions, a partnership production with Liberty Bell High School Drama Company, three Reader's Theater productions PLUS Summer Camp in July. We launch this busy season in less than two weeks with the January 10th opening of Breaking Legs. Find out more about this hilarious comedy and get your tickets here.
Did you hear about our season ticket option? Save a few bucks and buy reserved seats to all four of our center stage productions. Buy now & come back later to reserve your preferred performance date and select your seat. Pricing info: Regular Price Season Ticket $72 per person - includes one reserved ticket to all four center-stage productions Friend of the Merc Season Ticket (purchased with a minimum donation of $300) $60 per person - includes one reserved ticket to all four center-stage productions Buy 2020 Season Tickets Here! Email for more information or call 509.997.7429 Other ways to save money on ticket costs include buying your ticket online in advance of the performance. Online ticket sales close 60 minutes before showtime and save you $2 plus you get through the ticket line much faster! You can also check out our page on Volunteer Methow each month for concessions volunteer opportunities. Each concessions volunteer receives free admission! It's fun & super easy, and a great way to help us out while seeing a show for free.
The Merc invites all students ages 8 and up to audition for the enchanting Roald Dahl tale concerning the extraordinary adventures of three nasty farmers, two curious creatures, a family of foxes, and our hero—a most fantastic fellow!
No previous experience necessary. All readings and materials to be handed out at auditions. Bring a parent with a calendar to auditions - casting will not be complete until all rehearsal conflicts have been turned in. Rehearsals will begin after holiday break, the week of January 6th. Performances run March 20th - 29th. Call 509.997.7529 or email for more information.  More about the show: Boeing Boeing, a hilarious French comedy by Mark Camoletti and adapted to the English stage by Beverly Cross, is a fast-faced romp.
The play features self-styled Parisian lothario Bernard, who has Italian, German, and American fiancées, each a beautiful airline hostess with frequent layovers. He keeps “one up, one down, and one pending” until unexpected schedule changes bring all three to Paris, and Bernard’s apartment, at the same time.
To say Dean's contribution to live theater is outstanding does not even begin to scratch the surface. He has participated on our production team in a number of ways over five years. He's gone way beyond pushing the "GO" button behind our sound board. Dean has composed music and created sound cues for a number of shows, most notably Bike America, for which he composed the full soundtrack as his senior project. Our 2018 summer production required Dean to commit countless hours of composing, editing, and working with the rest of the cast and tech crew through rehearsals and performances. Missi Smith, the show's director, was thrilled with Dean's artistic interpretation through music, and she loved how his work enhanced the production.
Though he has typically remained behind the scenes in the tech booth, Dean recently went in front of the audience in our Reader's Theater production of A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Adding another whole level of risk, and stepping even further out of his normal comfort zone, he became a strong advocate for those living with autism while teaching his fellow cast members about his own experiences with it. His participation on stage, for the first time ever, greatly enhanced the production. The guy can act, too! Our founders, Carolanne and Egon Steinebach took huge risks to begin The Merc Playhouse Society. They committed to building a theater that has grown into a community gem over the past 20 years. Without their countless hours of work, their dedication to live performing arts, and their inspired vision, we wouldn't be the organization we are today. We are happy to honor people in our theater community who show the same type of dedication to live performing arts, and Dean could not be more deserving of the award this year. Dean is graduating from Liberty Bell High School in May. He will be greatly missed at The Merc while he bravely ventures out into his future, but we are certain he has many successes ahead of him. We just hope he comes back to see us once in a while, and maybe work on some more shows... Big News: We're adding a special, holiday show to wrap up our 2017 Season! Announcing auditions for children’s roles in
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Directed by Jane Orme Tuesday, September 19th Wednesday, September 20th 4:00 at The Merc Children ages 8 and up are invited to audition. No experience or prepared readings necessary. Pages will be handed out at auditions. 16 children's roles available. For more information, email Jane Orme or call 509-997-7529. The Details: Rehearsals are scheduled to begin mid-October. Performances run Dec. 8th—17th. All cast members must be available for rehearsals over the Thanksgiving weekend. Adults interested in roles should email Jane Orme or call 509-997-7529 to schedule audition.   We have great plans for 2017! We will further our mission to connect curious seekers through live theater with some very exciting selections. Here is the run-down: Getting Through, a festival of one-act plays specially curated and directed by Artistic Director Ki Gottberg, opens our season with clever and touching scripts centered on the theme of new beginnings for our New Year. Next, in March, we will produce The Miss Firecracker Contest, a full-length comedy set in the South about a gal trying to refurbish her reputation through a beauty contest, and directed by former Liberty Bell High School teacher, Jane Orme. In May, our Tom Zbyszewski Children’s Theater Production will be...wait for it...the beloved Peter Pan, directed and choreographed by Missi Smith. We are looking forward to this beautifully staged version of the story that will involve music, dance, Lost Boys, plus the magic of Tinkerbell! Check our website, facebook, or sign up for our email list to get important information about auditions coming toward the end February. Later in May, over Memorial Day Weekend, we have the honor of hosting a performance of Words that Burn, a dramatic performance first produced in Portland, which uses the words of William Stafford, along with others, surrounding the theme of war. After that, our summer production of The Real Inspector Hound, a parody of a “parlor mystery” in the style of an Agatha Christie Murder Mystery, once again directed by Ki, will bring us through August.  Typically, the summer production marks the end of our season, but to better align our season planning with budget planning for our fiscal year, we’ve made the change to a January through December season, beginning in 2017. So, continuing the season into the Fall, we are excited to reprise The Last Salmon in October. Back by popular demand, we are delighted to present this all-ages, all-original, all-locally inspired chamber musical about the life cycle of salmon.
We are then approaching the close of 2017 when we hope to present a very special holiday event that is, at the moment, still in the initial planning phase. Shhh...it's still a secret. Stay tuned for future announcements. Between and amongst these full productions will be Reader’s Theater productions, plus workshops and children’s theater camps. We plan to continue working with Seattle University to bring their productions to The Merc and we will host all of our usual rental events throughout 2017. We hope to see you at The Merc for any or all of these offerings throughout 2017. |
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The Merc Playhouse | 101 S. Glover Street | PO Box 425 | Twisp, WA 98856 | 509.997.7529 | [email protected]
The Merc Playhouse is a registered 501(c)3.
The Merc Playhouse is a registered 501(c)3.