Want to Work on a Community Players Show Next Season? Still Time to Apply!

Last month, Community Players made the big announcement of what they'll be putting on stage for their 2015-16 season. Next month -- March 2, to be exact -- is the deadline to send in a staff application if you're interested in playing a part backstage for one (or more) of those shows.

First, let's take a look at what's up in 2015-26.

Players will start off their fall season with the backstage farce Noises Off, a 1982 play by Michael Frayn.  Noises Off involves a hapless troupe of terrible players whose show only gets worse -- on and off-stage -- when they take it on the road. Players'  production is scheduled for performances from September 3 to 13, 2015.

Next up is the musical Legally Blonde, based on the popular Reese Witherspoon movie about a seemingly ditsy California sorority girl whose boyfriend dumps her for a smarter woman when he takes off for Harvard Law School. So the blonde decides to follow him to law school to get him back. Legally Blonde will hit Players on November 5 and stick around until the 22nd.

Turning the corner on the new year, it's time for The Crucible, Arthur Miller's version of the Salem witch trials, often considered an allegory of the anti-Communist witch hunts of the 1950s, from January 14 to 24, 2016.

Little Shop of Horrors, the musical about a man-eating plant and a sweet flower store clerk named Seymour who tries to keep it supplied with people, is up in March, 2016. You may remember the original, non-musical Roger Corman movie from 1960, some of the more memorable songs from the stage musical, like the one about a sadistic dentist, the one where the plant demands "Feed Me, Seymour," or the pretty ballad another where Audrey, the girl Seymour wants, sings about finding "Somewhere That's Green." Look for Little Shop in performance from March 10 to 27, 2016.

Then there's the oldie but goodie thriller Dial M for Murder from May 5 to 15 and the musical about the wide-eyed comic strip orphan with the dog -- Annie -- July 8 to 24, 2016.

It's a pretty varied season, with a flat-out comedy, a flat-out drama, a scary mystery, and a trio of musicals that range from pink, pop and peppy (Legally Blonde) to a horror comedy with an ironic edge (Little Shop) and a show with a whole chorus of adorable orphans singing about their "Hard-knock Life" in Annie.

If one or more of those shows is just what you want to work on -- working on anything from costumes or props to lights, sound, set design or construction or run crew, or even directing or producing -- this is your chance to get your application in. You'll find the application here and more info about the process here.

What's Coming Up at Community Players in 2014-15

Community Players is the first local theater out of the box with plans for their 2014-15 season. As usual, Players will combine American classic stage plays with big, boffo Broadway musicals to create their season.

The Philadelphia Story, the Philip Barry comedy about the privileged classes enjoying their privileges, created a comeback on stage and on film for Katharine Hepburn, who played Philadelphia socialite Tracy Lord. Tracy is set to marry "man of the people" George Kittredge, but temptation in the form of newsman Macauley Connor and her ex, C. K. Dexter Haven, looms large as the wedding nears. Community Players will present The Philadelphia Story as their September 2014 show, with performances September 4-7 and 11-14.

Next up will be Rent, the Broadway musical that transfers La Bohème to Alphabet City in Manhattan in the late 80s. Rent composer Jonathan Larson passed away unexpectedly at the age of 35 just before the show's first off-Broadway preview, but his creation lived on in the hearts of countless fans. This story of young artists trying to live the Bohemian life in the wake of AIDS, drugs and landlords ended up with three Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. Rent will open November 6, with performances continuing through the 23rd.

After that, it's back to the American classics. Of Mice and Men, the John Steinbeck drama from 1937, is scheduled for January 15 to 25, 2015. Steinbeck focused on migrant workers Lennie and George, two sad souls looking for a place in the world during the Great Depression. Broderick Crawford and Wallace Ford were the first stage Lennie and George, while Lon Chaney, Jr. and Burgess Meredith were unforgettable in the 1939 film and Steppenwolf Theater's John Malkovich and Gary Sinise brought Of Mice and Men and these two wounded characters back on stage and on film.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a Broadway musical based on a non-musical film, comes to community Players from March 12 to 29, 2015. With music and lyrics by David Yazbeck and a book by Jeffrey Lane, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels tells the tale of two con men plying their trade fleecing rich women on the French Riviera. Freddy and Lawrence are competitors turned partners, but a beautiful mark may just turn the tables on them. Marlon Brando and David Niven were the first actors to play the roles in 1964's Bedtime Story, but Steve Martin and Michael Caine were the ones who started the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels tradition. On Broadway, with musical additions, it was Norbert Leo Butz and John Lithgow.

A less familiar Neil Simon play, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, is up in May. It's autobiographical, which you might expect from Simon, but about the part of his life when he worked as a comedy writer for Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows in the 1950s. Caesar and his Show are translated into Max Prince and a weekly comedy show bearing his name, with other real comedy writers like Mel Brooks and Larry Gelbart showing up loosely disguised on the cast list. Expect Laughter on the 23rd Floor in performance from May 7 to 17.

Finishing up the season is Annie, that barnburner of a musical about a red-headed orphan that opened on Broadway in 1977 and didn't close till 1983. A new, updated version of Annie is filming in New York right now with Quvenzhané Wallis as the title girl, so there should be plenty of buzz for the original by the time it hits the stage at Community Players in July. There are lots of roles for kids in this one, too, which makes it different from Rent and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which have much more mature themes.

And that is what Community Players is showing for the latter part of 2014 and the first half of 2015. It's a little early to plan ahead, but Rentheads may be doing just that for their beloved show. Players is offering all the details here.