Chester Theatre Group

The Chester Theatre Group is proud to present two one-act comedies on September 24, 25 and 26 at the Black River Playhouse.

Kicking off the evening is Christopher Durang’s “An Actor’s Nightmare” directed by Stephen Catron.  Heading up the cast is Steven Nitka as the hapless George Spelvin, an actor thrust onto stage without knowing the play or his lines.  Rounding out the cast are Kathy Biehl, Noah Stanzione, Ericka Traugh and Roxanna Wagner.

After a brief intermission, we’ll present Jonathan Rand’s “Check, Please” directed by Jeff Jackson.  Chris Mortenson and Christina Pirog travel thru the world of blind dinner dates meeting up with potential mates among them schizophrenic, a bigamist and a mime, all brought to life by Gil Brady, Rhyn McLemore, Michael Rhett, Sky Spiegel, Noah Stanzione, Ericka Traugh, John Trumbull and Roxanna Wagner.

The fun starts at 8 pm, except for Sunday when it starts at 7.  Tickets are $15 and reservations can be made by calling 908.879.7304.  Since this is a special event with already discounted tickets, our usual senior/student discounts do not apply.

Check out the invitation on Facebook.

Hot on the heels of the auditions for Fiction (thanks to everyone who came out!) we have auditions for an evening of one acts to be performed September 24-26, 2010.

On August 15 and 17 at 7 PM, Stephen Catron and Jeff Jackson will be holding auditions for the one acts, “Check, Please” and “The Actor’s Nightmare”, at the Black River Playhouse.  Auditioners will be asked to read from the provided scripts.

The plays:

CHECK, PLEASE by Jonathan Rand – directed by Jeff Jackson

Cast Breakdown: 4-8 men, 4-8 women, all mid-20s to mid-40s

Synopsis: Dating can be hard. Especially when your date happens to be a schizophrenic, a bigamist, or a mime. CHECK, PLEASE follows a series of blind dinner dates that couldn’t get any worse—until they do. Could there possibly be a light at the end of the tunnel?

 An extremely funny collection of short, SNL-style skits that present a fantastic—and rare—opportunity for actors to really explore their comic chops with fun, smart, hip material. Each is only 2-3 minutes long, so for actors who only want to tackle one character in one vignette, it’s a very easy, manageable undertaking that still offers a great payoff. But we may also cast actors as multiple characters, so if you want to take on more, there’s an opportunity for that, too!

 THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE by Christopher Durang – directed by Steve Catron

 Cast Breakdown:  2 men, 3 women (ages mid-20s to 50s)

 Synopsis: Anyone who’s involved in theatre knows the dream:  you find yourself on-stage, ready to perform, only you don’t know what the play is – you’ve never rehearsed  - you don’t know the plot, let alone the lines!   George finds himself on stage, uncertain of where he is or how he got there – suddenly he’s thrust on stage, it’s HAMLET?!? – a glamorous actress appears to be doing PRIVATE LIVES by Noel Coward?!?  Shakespeare??WAITING FOR GODOT??  A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS??   This hilarious spoof is a classic!