Author Archives: lsegel

Theatre Company of Saugus (TCS) is a member of the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres (EMACT).  EMACT runs the DASH program (Distinguished Award and Special Honors) that evaluates many of the shows done by its member groups.  Many aspects of each show and the performers are rated, and those with the best ratings are Nominated for DASH Awards.  The nominations for the 2015-2016 season were announced on a webcast on Wednesday 20 July 2016.

The award winners were revealed at the annual DASH Gala, which is very much like the Tony Awards, but local.  This year the DASH Gala was on Saturday 27 August 2016.

TCS had a nomination for one of its productions in the 2015-2016 season:

• Evelyn Holley for Best Lead Actress in a Play for The Laramie Project 

There are many other TCS members who were nominated for their work with other companies.  Many of these are for the Winthrop Playmakers production of The Shadow Box, which was also nominated for Best Ensemble in a Play, and for Best Play:  The show was the winner of the award for Best Ensemble in Play.

• Nicholas Raponi for Best Director of a Play.  He was the winner of this award.  Nick was in the TCS production of The Producers, and will appear in our next show Heathers the Musical.
• Lauren Amaru for Best Makeup and Hair Design for a Play
• Anthony Turilli for Best Youth Actor in a Play
• Brian Dion for Best Supporting Actor in a Play
• Nicholas Raponi for Best Set Design for a Play

For other productions, TCS members earned these nominations:

• Amanda Allen for Best Makeup and Hair Design for a Play for The Man Who Came to Dinner at Spotlight Playhouse
• Shawn Gelzleichter for Best Musical Director for The Rocky Horror Show at The Footlight Club
• Kai Chao for Best Choreography for The Great American Trailer Park Musical at The Burlington Players
• Gabriel Clark for Best Youth Actor in a Musical for Seussical at Wakefield Repertory Youth Theatre
• Lauren Amaru for Best Specialty Ensemble in a Musical as one of the Strippers in the Winthrop Playmakers production of Gypsy.

Anthony Turilli was nominated for the same award last year, for the TCS production of Charlotte’s Web.

The complete set of nominations and winners is here.  Congratulations to all the nominees.

Something old, something new,
something tried, and something fun to do!
That is what our new season brings to you!
TCS is proud to announce its 2016-2017 season!

Planning for the next Theatre Company of Saugus season had been delayed.  Since we didn’t have a new permanent home during the first half of 2016, we didn’t know where we would be performing or rehearsing.

Now we are pleased to announce that we have a home for the first show of our season (at least).  We will be at the American Legion Hall in Saugus.

Despite the uncertainty, the board of directors came up with a slate of shows that we think can be performed in a smaller venue and rehearsed wherever.  The exact timing of each some of the shows is to be determined.

The general membership approved the plan at our General Membership Meeting on Wednesday 29 June 2016.

• Heathers, a recent musical based on the cult movie from the 1980s.  (We had also been consdidering Pippin but rights to it are restricted now.)  We will do this during the Halloween season, the last two weekends of October 2016.
• A Miscast Musical Revue.  This is your opportunity to perform a song that you would normally never get to do.  Cast yourself against type.  In early December 2016.
• Lost In Yonkers.  The Pulitzer Prize-winning comic drama by Neil Simon, in winter 2017.
• Nunsense 2, The Second Coming.  The second in our planned series of musical comedies about funny nuns, in spring 2017.
• An entry in the EMACT Drama Festival, to be determined.  Propose a show to us, that runs under an hour long.

If you have comments or suggestions, please Contact Us.

During 12-14 May 2016, the Saugus High School Drama Club presented the comic musical Shrek.  Based on the animated film.

The production was directed by Steve Black, the drama teacher at Saugus High.  Steve has been a helpful collaborator with TCS.  Shrek was performed in the Lemoine-Mitchell Performing Arts Center at Saugus High, just two weeks after the TCS production of Urinetown.  Half of the Urinetown set was left in place for Shrek.  All of the lighting equipment was rented for an extended period and used for both shows.

Several TCS members participated in Shrek.  Gabby Silva (a teaching assistant for the 2015 Youth Theatre Workshop) played the leading role of Fiona, the princess rescued by Shrek the ogre.

Two students who have been on the TCS stage multiple times since they were little were featured as some of the many fairy tale characters who invade the ogre’s swamp home.  Autumn Dion played Mama Bear, and William Fafard Jr. played Humpty Dumpty and the Pied Piper.  Both were also in the dance ensemble.

Elvira Schoenthal (who appeared in our recent production of The Laramie Project) was the costume designer for Shrek.  TCS president Amanda Allen was the makeup designer; providing the prosthetics for Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona.  Larry Segel was the lighting designer.  James Wlodyka was the Sound Designer and Operator.

Local reporter Neil Zolot of the Saugus Advertiser has written an article about the production, including quotes from some of the TCS participants.