July 2022
Arsenic and Old Lace Opens our 2022-2023 Season
Auditions Start Monday, August 1
Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring opens our 2022-2023 season, with performances starting on Friday, October 28 and concluding on Saturday, Nov. 12. We will hold our usual Sunday matinee on Nov. 6. All performances will be in the Penfield Recreation Center, 1985 Baird Rd. in Penfield. The production will be directed by Jean Gordon Ryon and produced by Andrea Daszkiewicz.
Auditions for the show begin Monday, August 1, at 7 p.m. in the Penfield Recreation Center and continue Tuesday, August 2, at 7 p.m. The cast includes 14 characters (3 women; 11 men), some of which may be double-cast. Call-backs, if necessary, will be held Wednesday, August 3 at 7 p.m. If you're interested in auditioning, e-mail penfieldplayers@gmail.com for complete details.
Arsenic and Old Lace is a screwball comedy described by the Dramatists Play Service this way: “Drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunts’ window seat. Mortimer rushes to tell Abby and Martha [his aunts] before they stumble upon the body themselves, only to learn that the two old women aren’t just aware of the dead man in their parlor, they killed him! Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police—not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage—it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic black comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family.”
The second of our 2022-23 main stage productions will be Almost, Maine, directed by Tom Bigongiari. It will run Apri 28 to May 13, 2023.
Penfield Players Picnic on August 21, 2022
The Penfield Players will be holding their reunion picnic again this year on Sunday, August 21, from noon to 3 p.m., rain or shine. We will gather at the picnic shelter at Veterans Memorial Park in Penfield (3100 Atlantic Avenue, behind the Penfield Town Hall) starting at noon. Lunch will be served at 1 p.m. You may bring your own or order a catered lunch for $12. A short program will begin at 2 p.m. Alcoholic beverages are permitted, but no glass containers, please.
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This year, we’re using the Penfield Recreation Department’s WEBTRAC system for taking picnic food orders. The link is below. You can either create an account for future use (this is the same system we use to sell tickets to our shows), or you can log on as a guest. Very easy.
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Or you can call the Rec office and order over the phone Monday through Friday during regular business hours. The number is 585-340-8655. We look forward to seeing you in August. Please RSVP no later than August 13, 2022.
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From l to r: Larry Ploscowe, Justin Rielly, and Ron Dufort at the 2021 Penfield Players picnic. Photo by Liz Gill.
Graphic design by Carol Bassett
Penfield Players at the Rochester Fringe Festival on September 18, 2022
Karen as Mother Magee in our spring Reader's Theatre, Cinderella Waltz
The Penfield Players are very excited to announce that we will be appearing in the 2022 Rochester Fringe Festival with our offering, The Thanksgiving Play, by Larissa FastHorse.The show, directed by Jacqueline Moe, will be on Sunday September 18, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. at the Multi Use Community Cultural Center (MUCCC) 142 Atlantic Avenue, Rochester, NY.
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The cast includes three Penfield Players veterans, Andrea Daszkiewicz, Mike Tedone, and Elizabeth Saunders along with newcomer J. P. Peralta.
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A comedy with a timely message, The Thanksgiving Play is a thought-provoking satire “ripped from the headlines.” Join three well-meaning white teachers, and the "professional actor" they've hired as a consultant, as they try to put together a "politically correct" elementary school play about the "first Thanksgiving." Whose perspective is missing? Is “wokeness” enough to pull this off? Or will their blind spots be their undoing?
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Changes to the Penfield Players
Board of Directors
There have been a number of changes to the Penfield Players board over the last several months. Several board openings were created as the terms of some of our board members came to an end. Richard Kendrick’s term as President ended, and Liz Gill is our new President. (Liz was our Vice President and President-Elect for the last two years.) Andrea Daszkiewicz stepped into Liz’s role as Vice President and President-Elect. Andrea has served as a Logistics Director for the past year and she produced our most recent show, Art of Murder. Mike Tedone, who has appeared in a number of Penfield Players productions, has agreed to fill Andrea’s role as a Logistics Director, joining our other two Directors, Sandy Lowe-Dusel and Nick Daszkiewicz.
Vicki McElroy stepped down from the board, although she remains active with the Penfield Players in other ways. We appreciate her many years of service as one of our Logistics Directors and then as our Digital Media Director. Richard Kendrick has assumed her responsibilities as Digital Media Director.
Penfield Players Board Members at the Town of Penfield's Fourth of July holiday parade. L to R: Nick Daszkiewicz, Sandy Lowe-Dusel, Lee Kirk, Wendy Webster, and Andrea Daszkiewicz. Photo by Liz Gill.
Lee Kirk, who has been our Publicity Director, has announced plans to leave his position on the board after many years of invaluable service. We are seeking a replacement for him. He has agreed to help train the new Publicity Director. The Publicity Director is in charge of all publicity activities for each of our productions, which include press releases, publicity materials (such as flyers, posters, and post cards), and mailings for our main stage productions. The Publicity Director chairs committee meetings of the publicity team as needed, and they maintain and update our community bulletin board in the Penfield Recreation Center. Anyone interested can e-mail us regarding their interest.
