Theatre Company of Saugus

We have selected probable performance dates for our upcoming 2015-2016 season.

• The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 October 2015.
• The Nunsense Mega Musical.  11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 December 2015.
• The Laramie Project.  26, 27. 28 February and 4, 5, 6 March 2016.
• Urinetown.  13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22 May 2016.

We are now taking applications for the artistic staff for these shows, including Directors, Musical Directors, and Choreographers.  Send a resume with a letter indicating what shows you are interested in, to TCSaugus@gmail.com.  The deadline is March 31, 2015.  We will ask all candidates to answer a questionnaire, and to come to an interview during April 2015.

The Play Reading Committee  proposed a draft plan for the shows that we would like to present for the next season.  At their meeting on 11 December 2014, the Board of Directors modified the plan.  At the meeting/holiday party on 18 December 2014, the general membership gave final approval to the modified plan.

Below we show the approved modified plan, listing our first choices for each part of the season, and some back-up shows, in case our first choice is unavailable.  All of these shows would be presented at ESUMC.

Summer 2015:  The fifth annual Summer Youth Theatre Workshop, presenting a junior version of a popular musical.  Under consideration are Annie Jr. and Once Upon This Island Jr.  We will also continue our series of Workshops on Theatre Skills that we began in the summer of 2014.

October 2015:  The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a musical mystery.  Alternates: Batboy, a musical thriller, or Little Shop of Horrors.

December 2015:  The Nunsense Mega Musical.  This is the first Nunsense show, but with a bigger cast other additions.  We may want to do one of the Nunsense shows at every Christmastime.  Alternates:  The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, a comedy with adults and children, or return engagements of our popular musical revues A Very Christmas Christmas, or of A Storybook Christmas.

Winter 2016:  The Laramie Project, a serious drama.  Alternate:  God of Carnage.

Winter 2016:  Winter Youth Theatre Workshop, meeting on Sunday afternoons.

Spring 2016:  Urinetown, a satiric comedy musical.   Alternates:  25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a musical comedy.

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.