Category Archives: Announcements

The Board of Directors of the Theatre Company of Saugus has nine regular voting members.  Three members are elected each year to staggered three-year terms.  We also have Alternate Members who attend meetings and may vote if needed to make up a quorum.

An election was held at our Annual General Membership meeting on Monday 24 November 2014.  There were a total of five seats open seats, three with terms expiring at the end of 2017, and two terms that expire at the end of 2016.  Three board members have terms expiring at the end of 2014.  They were nominated and elected for new terms.    They are:

• Sherri Raftery
• Larry Segel
• Jessica Stockton

Amanda Allen was also nominated and elected, returning to the board after a year off.

This left one seat still open.  It was filled at our general meeting on 18 December 2014, at which we elected Mary Moffett.

All of the Alternate Member seats are still open.

Board of Director members with continuing terms include:  Brittnay Mitchell, Leo Nickole, Nancy Welch, Stacey Wilson.  See our Board Members page.

In addition to the full-length performances of our holiday show Nuncrackers, you can also catch free previews of bits of the show:

• At the Saugus High School Art Festival, on Saturday, November 22, 2014.  The Art Festival runs from 10 AM until 4 PM.  We perform at 12:00 noon.  See flyer below.
• At the Barnes and Noble bookstore on route 1 in Saugus, on Wednesday, December 3.  At our Bookfair fundraiser, which runs from 3 PM until 9 PM.  We perform at 7:00 PM.
• At Cliftondale Congregational Church, on Saturday, December 6 at 11:00 AM, as part of the town of Saugus annual Holiday Stroll.

Theatre Company of Saugus is pleased to announce the artistic staff for our productions in the 2014-15 season.

Charlotte’s Web – October 2014

• Director … Julia Short

Nuncrackers – December 2014

• Director … Becky Rush
• Musical Director … Thom Lissey
• Choreographer … Kim Misci

The Underpants – February/March 2015

• Director … Larry Segel

Clue, the musical – May 2015

• Director … Harriet Friedman
• Musical Director … Thom Lissey

Becky Rush, our director for Nuncrackers, has been actively involved with various theatre programs throughout southern NH since 2003, both on stage and behind the scenes. In the last five years, Becky has directed 28 youth and adult main stage shows and she has performed in 18 main stage productions at various community theatre companies in southern NH and in the Boston area. Her directorial and choreography credits include Annie Jr., A Year with Frog and Toad, Dear Edwina Jr., You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown!, Seussical, Grease, Adventures of a Comic Book Artist, The Wizard of Oz (Young Performers’ Edition), Honk Jr. and many others. Becky currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Majestic Theatre in Manchester, NH where she is the Advisor to the Teen Board. She has taught various acting classes and summer theatre camps for youth with the Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts. She has been a voice actor for commercials, and was also featured as a vocal performance expert on a local NH cable television series. Becky is the founder of a flourishing Drama Program at Northwood School in Northwood, NH, where she currently produces four shows every school year for students in grades 1-8, with an average cast size of 36 students per show. She was also honored as World Language Teacher of the Year in 2013 for the state of NH.

This is Becky’s second time directing Nuncrackers for the main stage, and her first time working with The Theatre Company of Saugus. She has played the roles of Sisters Amnesia and/or Robert Anne in 7 different chapters of the Nunsense series (Nunsense, Nunsense II, Nunsense Jamboree, Nunsensations, Meshuggah-Nuns, Nunset Boulevard, and The Nunsense Mega Musical), and is excited to bring her passion for the Nunsense series and its characters to the TCS stage. She has had the pleasure of meeting and working directly with the creator of the series, Dan Goggin during her 2013 run of Nunset Boulevard. She looks forward to celebrating the Christmas season – Nunsense-style – with the cast, crew, and patrons of the Saugus area.

Thomas Lissey is looking forward to his first season with Theater Company of Saugus and to working as the Music Director on both Nuncrackers and Clue, the Musical.

Other recent credits include The Full Monty (ACT Andover), Evita and Cabaret (Wakefield Repertory Theater), King of Hearts (Colonial Chorus Players) and Pippin (Northeastern University Theater Department).  During the summer of 2009, Thom conducted a high-school cast in The Who’s ‘Tommy’ with the Stoneham Theater Young Company.

Thom has won four EMACT awards, including the 2004 DASH award for Best Music Direction for his work on Ragtime at the Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain.

A native of New Haven, Connecticut and graduate of Wesleyan University, Thom is the music director at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover, and is a studio accompanist for The Boston Conservatory.

Each year the town of Saugus holds the Founders Day street fair.  Vendors, organizations, food, kiddie rides, performances.  This year it will be on Saturday 6 September 2014.  The location is Central Street north of the monument at Main Street, between the Library and Town Hall.

The kids from the Theatre Company of Saugus’ Summer Youth Theatre Workshop performed at 9:30 AM.  Including selections from their production of Into The Woods Jr.  On the stage on the front steps of the Town Hall.  Come on out and give them a hand.

You could also visit the TCS table for raffles and info about our upcoming season.  And to buy tickets for Charlotte’s Web, at a special early purchase price.  Or admire our recent DASH award.  See you at the fair!

We can also use help manning the TCS table for part of the day.  To volunteer, please Contact Us.

Our production of [title of show] garnered several DASH nominations.  Most impressively, Nicholas Meunier won the award for Best Direction of a Musical, (There was a tie; another show also won.)  And, it was one of the nominees for Best Musical.  Which means our cast had the opportunity to put on an excellent reprise performance of a number from the show at the DASH Gala!   In addition to Best Musical and Direction, [title of show] also got nominations for:

• Best Supporting Actress in a Musical – Rebecca Schneebaum
• Best Lighting Design for a Musical – Larry Segel
• Best Musical Direction – Suzanne Jalbert
• Best Ensemble in a Musical – the cast, including Stephen D’Amico, Bobby Imperato, Andrea Lyons, Rebecca Schneebaum

Here is an article about the show and our nominations in the Saugus Advertiser by Kate Evans.

TCS members who got DASH nominations for other companies include:

• Best Supporting Actor in a Musical – Bobby Imperato in Spamalot at Marblehead Little Theatre
• Best Make-Up & Hair Design in a Musical – Amanda Allen for The Music Man at Spotlight Playhouse
• Best Stage Management of a Play – Jen Ryan Gelzleichter for Next Fall at the Wellesley Players
• Best Musical Direction – Shawn Gelzleichter for Company at The Footlight Club

Congratulations to all!  Click here for the complete list of winners and nominations.

TCS participates in the DASH program (Distinguished Achievement and Special Honors) run by EMACT (Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatre).  Most of our shows are evaluated and compared with the few hundred other shows by all the EMACT member groups.  We are eligible for a variety of awards.  Six persons or groups are nominated for each award.

The DASH nominees for the 2013-2014 season were announced on Tuesday 15 July 2014, starting at 8:00 PM.  The announcement was made by way of a live-streaming webcast.  Here is the link to the webcast:   http://new.livestream.com/emact/events/3115103

The annual EMACT Gala, at which the DASH awards werel given out, was on Saturday 16 August 2014, starting at 6:00 PM.  The location was the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts.  Visit the EMACT website for complete details about the Gala and to buy tickets.

Theatre Company of Saugus brought a cutting of its production of Macbeth, the tragedy by William Shakespeare, to the 2014 EMACT Festival.  Organized by the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres, five groups brought shows to the festival, held at Tewksbury Memorial High School on Saturday & Sunday 28 & 29 June.

Here is the link to the photos taken of the cutting of the show presented at the EMACT Festival.  Photography by Rik Pierce.

The adjudicators admired the show; they were fascinated by the director’s concept.  We also heard many nice comments from the audience.

TCS won the Adjudicator’s Special Award for Excellence in Risk Taking.  This award is sponsored by Centre Stage Theatre, Harriet Friedman, and Ron Godfrey, and is given in recognition of notable theatrical risk taking.

Although that was the only award we won, TCS did garner nominations for seven other awards:

• Lexi Deschene for Best Supporting Actress, as Banquo
• William Fafard, Jr. for Best Supporting Actor, as Fleance and Macduff’s Child
• Amanda Allen and Nicholas Meunier for Outstanding Costume Design
• Larry Segel for Outstanding Lighting Design
• Amanda Allen, Nicholas Meunier, and Larry Segel for Outstanding Scenery Design
• Nicholas Meunier for Best Actor, as Macbeth
• The company for Best Ensemble

Congratulations to the two Outstanding Productions, who will both go on to the New England Regional Festival:  Hovey Players with Rabbit Hole, and Lexington Players with Spring Awakening.

EMACT also held a Design Exhibition at the festival, showcasing technical production designs from member groups.

• Amanda Allen was recognized with High Honors in Costume Design, for her designs for the TCS presentation of A Year With Frog and Toad.

Here is the link to the complete list of Festival 2014 Nominees and Winners.

TCS previously won the Risk Taking award at the 2007 EMACT Festival, for our production of the The Marriage of Bette and Boo.

This photo shows our director Nicholas Meunier accepting the Risk Taking award trophy at the EMACT Festival awards ceremony on Sunday 29 June 2014 at Tewksbury High School.  Awards were presented by cast members of the Burlington Players’ Radium Girls, which won the national AACT festival in 2013.

Here we see Amanda Allen (left) accepting her recognition of High Honors in the design competition for her costuming of Frog and Toad.  It was presented by Susan Harrington (right), EMACT board member.

EMACT (Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres) will hold their biennial Festival on Saturday & Sunday, June 28-29, 2014.  Theatre Company of Saugus will present a shorter version of our recent full-length production of Macbeth, the tragedy by Shakespeare.

Our performance is on Saturday 28 June 2014 at 1:00 PM. There are two other shows after us in the Saturday afternoon session.  And two more shows in the Sunday afternoon session.  Awards are given Sunday evening.  For more information, see the EMACT website:  www.emact.org

They have secured a new and exciting venue.   The festival will move to the Dr. Christine L. McGrath Performing Arts Center at the two-year old Tewksbury Memorial High School.  It has a state of the art sound and lighting system.  The Performing Arts Center was built as a theatre with fine acoustical baffling and a Marly dance floor.  There is ample parking and great access for load-in and set storage.  To find Tewksbury High School, look on the location list on the left side of the View Larger Map on our Directions page.

TCS has participated in most of the recent festivals, most recently in 2012 when our production was The Proposal, a one-act comedy  by Anton Chekhov.