JIMMY BUFFETT MUSICAL COMES TO CT

Escape to Margaritaville to run three weekends in July

The Cumberland Theatre continues their 35th Main Stage Season with the juke box musical Escape to Margaritaville featuring the song catalogue of Jimmy Buffett. The show will run July 6th – 23rd.

Written in 2017 by Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley, based on the songs of Buffett, Escape to Margaritaville is a musical comedy featuring the singer’s most-loved classics, including “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “Margaritaville,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Fins,” “Volcano,” and many more. The story revolves around Tully, a part-time bartender, part-time singer, and full-time charmer who thinks he’s got life all figured out—until a beautiful tourist steals his heart and makes him question everything.

Heading the cast as Tulley will be actor Patrick O’Konis who is making his Cumberland Theatre debut. Originally from Massachusetts, O’Konis is now based in NYC and was most recently seen in The Stranger Things Experience. Also appearing at CT for the first time will be Emily Flack as Rachel. A graduate of William and Mary College with a degree in Theatre and Music, Flack was most recently seen as Frenchy in Grease at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Also appearing in principal roles are Josh Ruppenkamp as Brick and Tori Weaver as Tammy. Ruppenkamp has been seen in several CT shows including The 25th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee, Sweeny Todd, Assassins and, most recently, A Christmas Carol. Weaver is making her CT debut. A Maryland, native, she graduated from AMDA in New York and performs frequently with the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick where she is a company member.

Playing the staff of the Margaritaville hotel are Krystal Pope as Marley, Zye Reid as Jamal and Mikey Virts as J.D.. Pope hails from Arizona and has appeared at CT in American Son and The Haunting of Hill House. Reid made his CT debut in this season’s production of The Prom. Virts resides in Oakland, where he serves as Artistic Director of the Our Town Theatre. He was recently seen on the CT stage as Steve in August: Osage County and Tally-ho Thompson in The Wisdom of Eve.

Rounding out the cast are Kassidy Andris, Morganne Chu, Caleb Friend, Kiersten Gasemey, Grace Lacount, Brendon McCabe, and Brian Records.

The show's creative team includes Bill Dennison (director), Kimberli Rowley (choreographer), Mikayla Dodge (vocal coach), Laura Godfrey (rehearsal pianist), Rhett Wolford (scenic designer), Reed Simiele (lighting designer), Cody Gilliam (costume designer), and Eric Ringler (props designer). The run crew is comprised of Marty Jellison (stage manager) and Kiersten Gasemy (dance captain).

The show runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows begin at 8:00 pm and Sunday performances at 2:00 pm, for the exception of Saturday, July 8th when the show begins at 2:00 pm and will be followed by the annual block party, which will be parrot-head themed. The block party will include games, prizes, a Buffett cover band and options to purchase food items. All proceeds benefit the theatre.

There will be eight VIP bar seats available for each performance which include swag bags, front row seating and beverages. Each Friday, Western Maryland Distributing will host a happy hour from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm in the lobby prior to the performance featuring discounted beverages. There will be a complimentary wine and cheese reception following the official opening on July 7th.

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

PERFECT WEDDING OPENS AT CT THIS WEEKEND

Popular farce has been performed all over the world

The Cumberland Theatre continues their 35th Main Stage Season with the tour-de-force comedy PERFECT WEDDING, which will run June 8th – 18th.

Written by Robin Hawdon, fast-paced farce has provoked waves of laughter in literally hundreds of productions around Europe and across America, and is due to be made into a Hollywood film. The show has been performed in over 30 different countries and translated into over 20 different languages. “It is that rare combination - a riotous comedy and a touching love story at the same time,” said a CT spokesperson.

The plot revolves around an appalling situation. A bridegroom wakes on his wedding morning in his own bridal suite, with his bride-to-be about to arrive any moment, and finds a strange girl in bed beside him. What's more an extremely attractive girl whom, in the depths of his post stag-night hangover, he can't remotely remember even having been introduced to. Worse - during the ensuing panic to get the stranger dressed and out of the way, the bride arrives and the girl is trapped in the bathroom. The only way out of the dilemma is to persuade the best man to pretend that the hidden girl is his girl friend. Then the problem is that the best man’s real girl friend has to be kept ignorant of the fact. By the time the bride's parents and half the hotel staff get in on the act, the chaos reaches nuclear proportions!

Taking on the roles of Bill (the groom) and Rachel (the bride) will be visiting actors Pierce Bunch and Amanda Talero. Bunch was last seen on the CT stage as Harvey in The Wisdom of Eve. Talero, a native of Queens, NY, is making her Cumberland Theatre debut.

Returning to CT are actors Matt Baughman and Brenna Peerbolt. Baughman has been seen frequently on CT’s stage – most recently, as Bill in August: Osage County. Peerbolt made her debut in this season’s opener, Murder on the Orient Express playing Mary Debenham. Rounding out the cast are Katie Zimmerman, who recently starred as Emma in The Prom and JoAnn Peterson, who is returning the Cumberland stage after recently moving back to the area.

The show's creative team includes Jordan Kline (director), Rhett Wolford (scenic designer), Elizabeth Mudge (costume designer), Brendon McCabe (lighting designer) and Kimberli Rowley (props designer). Hayden Kline is serving as the stage manager and Kyle Wolford will serve as wardrobe assistant.

The show runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows begin at 8:00 pm and Sunday performances at 2:00 pm. There will be a complimentary wine and cheese reception following the official opening on June 9th. A Sparkling Wine Tasting will be held on Friday, June 16th before the performance for an additional ticket cost. Mimosa packages are also available as well the VIP star box.

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

Andy Darling: Life’s a Drag Premiers at Cumberland Theatre

CT kicks off Pride Month with celebration of music, cabaret, love and drag

The Cumberland Theatre Season Too! will help kick off Cumberland Pride week with the premiere of Andy Darling: Life’s a Drag - a fabulous celebration of music, cabaret, love, and yes honey…drag! Starring real-life husbands and showbiz extraordinaires, Andy Crosten and Mason Griffin! The show will be presented Saturday, May 27th at 8:00 pm.

In this compelling evening of stories and live singing, Andy Darling invites you into their world of pure imagination; taking us on a journey over the rainbow. Will we finally find the pot of gold?? The glittering duo parade through a mix of jazz, golden age standards, musical theater and pop. Together with the audience they search for the truest meanings of connection, compassion, and acknowledgement of the truth of our existence; with a lot of laughter along the way!

A Maryland native and veteran of the Cumberland Theatre stage, Crosten is a pioneer for queer art and activism in Western Maryland. After first performing at CT as a teenager leading the cast of Big River in the role of Huck Finn, he went on to graduate from Shenandoah Conservatory, and now resides in New York City. Crosten’s eclectic career as an actor, drag artist, producer, and director, spans Off-Broadway, cabaret, regional theater and beyond. Currently, he is running the infamous Triad Theater in Manhattan where he also produces and performs in his hit monthly showcase, Bound For Broadway.

Griffin is a musical theater accompanist, coach, conductor, and music director. He resides in New York City where he has performed at 54 Below, The Duplex, The Laurie Beechman, The Green Room 42 and Triad Theatre, among others. Griffin teaches at The Institute for American Musical Theater (IAMT) and is the music minister at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church on Long Island. Griffin is delighted to return to the CT stage after music directing last season’s production of the musical Company.

Tickets are $20 and are available at the door or on the theatre’s website: cumberlandtheatre.com.

The show continues the new series of programming at the Cumberland Theatre appropriately called “CT Season Too!”. The series features pop-up supplemental programming that will play for limited engagements of one or two evenings and feature cabarets, one-man shows, readings, murder mysteries and more. The theatre is now taking ideas and submissions for these types of programs. Proposals can be emailed to kim@cumberlandtheatre.com.

Cumberland Theatre is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council, Allegany Arts Council, Allegany County and the city of Cumberland.

For tickets and more information, visit cumberlandtheatre.com or call the theatre at 301.759.4990.