THE EVIL DEAD IS COMING TO CT

Musical based on 80’s horror classic features fresh-faced young cast

The Cumberland Theatre will continue its 35th Anniversary Season with Evil Dead the Musical, a stage parody of the horror movie franchise of the same name. The show will run October 12th – 29th with Thursday – Saturday performances at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm.

While the Evil Dead films are the definition of cult movies, as a stage show, Evil Dead The Musical has become a cult sensation of its own. The show played Off-Broadway in New York, has broken records in Toronto, has won awards in Korea, launched three North American tours, and has had over 500 productions mounted across the globe.

The musical takes all the elements of the cult classic films, The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness and combines them for a crazy, funny, and bloody theatrical experience. Five college students go to an abandoned cabin in the woods, and accidentally unleash an evil force that turns them all into demons. It’s all up to Ash (a housewares employee, turned demon-killing hero), and his trusty chainsaw to save the day. Blood flies. Limbs are dismembered. Demons tell bad jokes… and all to music. The songs in the show are completely off the wall as well with titles like “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons” and “What the F**k was That?” The show also includes a “Splash Zone” – a section of the audience that gets covered in fake blood.

The show features many new faces to the Cumberland Theatre as well as a few local veteran performers. Making his CT debut as Ash will be Donovan McDonald. From Philadelphia, McDonald graduated with a Musical Theater BA from Temple University (2019) with credits such as: SpongeBob in The SpongeBob Musical, Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, Prof. Plum in Clue! On Stage, and Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Also appearing at CT for the first time will be Aimee Lyn Meunier (Cheryl), Skye Lindberg (Linda), Tyler Egesdal (Scotty) and Jacob Miller (Jake). Meunier hails from Connecticut and has a degree in musical theatre for Rhode Island College. She has recently finished James and the Giant Peach as Ladybug and has just returned from Hawaii where she performed Into the Woods as Lucinda and Little Red U/S. Lindberg currently resides in New York City. She spent the past year touring with the National Theatre for Children, performing plays about energy conservation for students all over North Carolina and Florida.

Egesdal is based in Northern Illinois and studied musical theatre at AMDA in New York. Recent credits include Player in Pippin, Ensemble in Bliss Street and Ted Teryl in House Of Eerie Figures. Miller is a local actor currently pursuing a degree in musical education at Frostburg State University. Recent credits include Sydney Chaplin in Chaplin: The Musical, and Bobby Leach in Niagara: The Musical.

The cast also includes local actors Savannah Tagliaferro (Annie), Emily Snyder (Shelly) and Briand Records (Ed). Tagliaferro was last seen on the CT stage as Jovie in Elf the Musical. She has also appeared in Night of the Living Dead Live, Closer and Carrie the Musical. Snyder has been seen in The Prom, The Outsiders, Company and The Wisdom of Eve. Records recently appeared as Kendrick in A Few Good Men. Other CT credits include The Prom, Escape to Margaritaville and The Taming of the Shrew.

Rounding out the cast, playing a variety of roles are Timothy Bambara, Grace LaCount, Caleb Friend and Ava Breighner.

The show is under the direction of Kimberli Rowley with music direction by Kelly Schrecengost, choreography by Kiersten Gasemy and stage management by Jennifer Mathie. The creative team consists of Darrell Rushton (fight director), Rhett Wolford (set/sound design), Ken Phillips (lighting design), Jennifer Constable (costume design) and Briand Records (assistant stage manager/fight captain).

Performances are Thursday – Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. There will be a complimentary opening night reception following the performance on Friday, October 13th. A Halloween wine tasting is scheduled for October 20th at 5:30 pm for an additional ticket charge. There will be 20 splash zone seats available for each performance. These seats include a swag bag, drink tickets and more. For tickets and more information, visit www.cumberlandtheatre.com or call 301.759.4990.

A FEW GOOD MEN TO OPEN AT CT

Stage version of popular film starring Tom Cruise & Jack Nicholson will open in September

The Cumberland Theatre continues their 35th Main Stage Season with the courtroom drama A Few Good Men based on the film of the same name. The show will run September 7th – 17th for a limited run of eight performances.

A Broadway hit – playwright Aaron Sorkin’s groundbreaking debut – A Few Good Men tells the story of a group of military lawyers assigned to defend two Marines in Guantanamo Bay. During the course of the trial, they uncover a high-level conspiracy designed to eliminate weaker soldiers in the name of patriotism. The play was made into an award-winning film in 1991 starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson.

The Navy lawyer, Daniel Kaffee, a man more interested in softball games than the case, expects a plea bargain and a cover-up of what really happened. Prodded by a female member of his defense team, the Kaffee eventually makes a valiant effort to defend his clients and, in so doing, puts the military mentality and the Marine code of honor on trial.

Heading the cast as Kaffee will be actor Seth Thompson who most recently appeared with CT as Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew and Clem in The Wisdom of Eve, which he also directed. Also playing lead roles will be Kimberli Rowley as Commander Joanne Galloway and Bill Dennison as Sam Weinberg. Rowley serves at the Artistic Director of the theatre and was last seen as Katherina in Taming of the Shrew. Dennison recently directed Escape to Margaritaville and was last seen on stage in The Wisdom of Eve.

Returning to CT in the role of Colonel Nathan Jessup will be Ken Griggs. Griggs was last seen as Herbie in Gypsy and Sam in Mamma Mia. Also returning the CT stage will be Jim Wicker (last seen in August: Osage County) as Markinson, Brian Records (recently seen in Taming of the Shrew and Margaritaville) as Kendrick, and Jace Courrier (last seen in The Prom) as Downey.

Debuting on the local stage are visiting actors Johnny Anthony as Dawson, Cameron McBride as Captain Ross and Josh Rosenzweig as Santiago. Anthony is a New York based actor who has appeared at DC’s Arena Theatre as well as several films. McBride is a resident of Alexandria, VA and Rosenzweig hails from New Jersey and is a graduate of Rutgers University.

Rounding out the cast are Erik Alexis, Andy Duncan, Sawyer Jenkins Connor McCabe, Brendon McCabe and Tom Peterson.

The show's creative team includes Nicole Mattis (director), Rhett Wolford (scenic designer), Reed Simiele (lighting designer), Sarah Constable (costume designer), Darrell Rushton (fight director) and Trevor McCabe (props designer). The run crew is comprised of Trevor McCabe (stage manager), Lexus Middleton (assistant stage manager), Kyle Wolford (board operator) and Brian Records (fight captain).

The show will be performed at 8:00 pm on September 7th, 9th, 14th, 15th and 16th and at 2:00 pm on September 10th, 16th and 17th. Please note there will be no performance on Friday, September 8th in the support of the Whiskey Rebellion and Allegany County Museum.

There will be complimentary opening night party following the performance on Saturday, September 9th. A Hudson Whiskey tasting will be held on Saturday, September 16th in the lobby prior to the show and during intermission for a nominal fee. All proceeds benefit the theatre. The theatre will also be a stop on the 1st Annual Cumberland Whiskey Walk.

Tickets to the show may be purchased online at cumberlandtheatre.com or by calling the box office at 301.759.4990.

Free Shakespeare in the Park Returns to Western Maryland

Cumberland Theatre teams with the Embassy and Our Town Theatres to create month-long festival

The Cumberland Theatre is proud to once again be presenting free Shakespeare in the Park to local residents. This year, the theatre has partnered with the Embassy Theatre in Downtown Cumberland and Our Town Theatre in Oakland to create a month-long festival of events centered around the works and styling of William Shakespeare. The festival is receiving support from the Community Trust Foundation with hopes of adding more activities and organizations each year.

The Cumberland Theatre’s production of Taming of the Shrew will take place at the Gilchrist Gallery Garden on August 11th and 12th at 7:00 pm. Admission is free and residents are welcome to bring their own blankets and chairs to enjoy a relaxing evening.

The Taming of the Shrew is one of the Bard’s most popular comedies, originally written in the 1500s. The Cumberland Theatre production takes the show out of Elizabethan England and sets it in the American Old West.

The ‘shrew’ of the story is Katherina, the wilful and obstinate eldest daughter of Baptista Minola. Baptista refuses to let his younger daughter, Bianca, wed any of her suitors, unless Katherina also marries. The intricate comic plot – full of deception and disguise – revolves around competition between Hortensio, Gremio and Lucentio to win Bianca’s hand in marriage. But at its center is the attempt of one man, Petruchio, to tame the wild Katherina, and turn her into an obedient and doting wife.

The Taming of the Shrew has been adapted numerous times for stage, screen, opera, ballet, and musical theatre, perhaps the most famous adaptations being Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate; McLintock!, a 1963 American Western comedy film, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara; and the 1967 film of the play, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The 1999 high-school comedy film 10 Things I Hate About You, and the 2003 romantic comedy Deliver Us from Eva are also loosely based on the play.

The cast features a diverse group of actors including several veterans from CT. Playing the roles of Petruchio and Katherina will be Seth Thompson (last seen in The Wisdom of Eve) and Kimberli Rowley (last seen in The Prom and CT’s current Artistic Director). Playing the roles of Lucentio and Hortensio are Pierce Bunch and Joe Staton. Bunch has appeared in this season’s The Wisdom of Eve and Perfect Wedding. Staton was seen in Murder on the Orient Express and 2022’s main stage production of Macbeth. Brenna Peerbolt (last seen in Perfect Wedding) returns to play Bianca and John DeFilippo (last seen in Macbeth) will play Tranio.

Others returning to CT are Reiner Prochaska (Baptista), Michael Sullivan (Gremio) and Krystal Pope (Biondello/Widow). Prochaska and Sullivan both last appeared in Murder on the Orient Express. Pope was recently featured as Marley in Escape to Margaritaville. Also, returning from Margaritaville is local actor Brian Records as Grumio.

The cast is rounded out by Katie Zimmerman, Grace LaCount, Finn Mannochio, and Tim Bambara as Vincentio.

The show is under the direction of Darrell Rushton. Elizabeth Mudge serves as the stage manager. The design team consists of Cody Gilliam (costume design) with assistance from Mannochio and props and set design by Rhett Wolford.

The show is performed with one short intermission and is appropriate for all ages. More information on The Taming of the Shrew as well as the offerings from The Embassy Theatre and Our Town Theatre can be found at cumberlandtheatre.com, embassytheatrecorp.org and ourtowntheatre.org.