Productions - Central Park Players

Central Park Players has a rich history of mounting productions that have been both artistically and financially successful. New to CPP? Take a look at what we’ve done over the past 50+ years, we hope it will inspire you to join us!

Complete List of CPP
Productions Since 1959

Please stay tuned as we go back in time and share details, photos and news articles related to our rich history of productions on our new website.

Upcoming Productions

You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

March 4 & 5 @ 7:30 PM
March 6 @ 2PM
March 11 & 12 @ 7:30 PM

A Piece of Your Heart

May 13 & 14 @ 7:30 PM
May 15 @ 2 PM
May 20 & 21 @ 7:30 PM

Past Productions

63rd Season | 2021-2022 Season

It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

This one night only fundraiser featured talent and leadership from 92.1 FM WGHN and Central Park Players, as well as other local community leaders.

Aired live in front of a “studio audience” on December 17, 2021.

Holiday Chestnuts: A Festive Collection of Seasonal Shorts

This festive original production featured a variety of fun holiday plays.

Poinsettia vs. the Christmas Cactus: A Yuletide Smackdown, by Jonathan Grahm
How I Met Your Santa, by Daniel Guyton
Death of a Snowman, by Daniel Guyton
A Christmas Chaos, by Michael Wehrli
Oy Vey Maria, by Mark Harvey Levine
Christmas Breaks, by Patrick Gabridge
A Tree in the House, by Kari Catton
Elf Break Room, by Natalie Carmolli

Director: Natalie Carmolli
Assistant Director: Tammy Shake
Producer: Joy Lamphere

Performed December 8, 9, 10 & 11, 2021

Clue

It’s a dark and stormy night, and you’ve been invited to a very unusual dinner party. Each of the guests has an alias, the butler offers a variety of weapons, and the host is, well . . . dead. So whodunnit?

Join the iconic oddballs known as Scarlet, Plum, White, Green, Peacock, and Mustard as they race to find the murderer in Boddy Manor before the body count stacks up. Based on the cult classic film and the popular board game, Clue is a madcap comedy that will keep you guessing until the final twist.

Director: Darcie Beekman
Assistant Director: Tammy Shake
Producer: Joy Lamphere

Performed October 15, 16, 17, 22, & 23

62nd Season | 2020-2021

Godspell, Jr.

A group of disciples help Jesus Christ tell different parables by using a wide variety of games, storytelling techniques and a hefty dose of comic timing. An eclectic blend of songs, ranging in style from pop to vaudeville, are employed as the story of Jesus’ life dances across the stage. Dissolving hauntingly into the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, Jesus’ messages of kindness, tolerance and love come vibrantly to life.

Director: Peter Drost
Assistant Director: Laurie Strait
Producer: Richard Millman
Music Director: Lauren Mixter

Performed July 29, 30 & 31, 2021

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this season was canceled. During this time, CPP stayed in touch with its patrons through virtual theatre, social media and instructional videos.

Homebound Holiday Extravaganza Fundraiser

This video compilation, edited and published by Joe Andersen, brought together many familiar faces through a virtual platform. Published on December 18, 2020; the free event was available through the holiday season on YouTube.

The Night Before Christmas – Read by Bruce Baker
Mele Kalikimaka – Mike Hassett
Santa Baby – Michaela Kerkstra
Santa Tell Me – Rory Ponce
Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Lyric Ponce
We Need a Little Christmas – Holmberg Sisters (Abbie, Emily & Maggie)
Silent Night – Cameron and Taylor McKinnon
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Jingle Bell Rock Mash-up – Kristopher and Lena Arnold
Polar Express When Christmas Comes To Town – Keagan Welty
O Holy Night- Mark Martin
Joy To The World – Michelle, Kevin, and Anna Prince Family
Winter Wonderland – MyKenzie Miller – Board Member of Central Park Players
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – Staley Singers (Rob & Emily with children, Brenna, Keira, Rowynn & Emmett)
Let it Snow – Shannon Barnard and Madelyn Jackson
All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth – The DeBoers (Ray, Shelby & Olivia)
Holly Jolly Christmas – Andrew Kitchka – Board Member of Central Park Players

61st Season | 2019-2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this season ended early and we were unable to stage our final show of the season, Alice in Wonderland.

Old Ringers

In this adult bawdy comedy, four senior women try to fight the shrinking economy and their shrinking pocketbooks by opening up a home phone sex service after receiving an unsolicited obscene phone call!

Director: Andrew Kitchka

Performed March 6, 7, 8 13, & 14, 2020

Little Women

Director: Lisa Hilliard

Into the Woods

Director: Peter Drost

60th Season | 2018-2019

Lion King, Jr.

Based on the 1994 Disney animated feature film of the same name and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Lion King is the story of Simba, an adventurous and energetic lion cub who is next in line to be king of the Pride Lands, a thriving and beautiful region in the African savanna.

Director: Trudi Kerkstra
Assistant Director: Andrew Kitchka
Producer: Barb DeVries

Sylvia

Greg and Kate have moved to Manhattan after twenty-two years of child-raising in the suburbs. Greg’s career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate’s career, as a public-school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park—or that has found him—bearing only the name “Sylvia” on her name tag.

A street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife. She offers Greg an escape from the frustrations of his job and the unknowns of middle age. To Kate, Sylvia becomes a rival for affection. And Sylvia thinks Kate just doesn’t understand the relationship between man and dog.

The marriage is put in serious jeopardy until, after a series of hilarious and touching complications, Greg and Kate learn to compromise, and Sylvia becomes a valued part of their lives.

Director: Peter Drost

Performed May 10,12, 17 & 18, 2019

A Delicate Ship

A haunting love triangle triggers an unexpected chain of events in this poetic play. In the early stages of a new relationship, Sarah and Sam are lovers happily discovering each other. Sarah and Nate know everything about each other, best of friends since childhood and maybe something more.

But when Nate shows up unannounced on Sarah’s doorstep, she’s left questioning what and who she wants in this humorous and heartbreaking look at love, memory, and the decisions that alter the course of our lives.

Director: Lisa Hilliard

Performed March 1, 2, 3, 8 & 9, 2019

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

Inspired by the American classic film, this production is performed as a 1940s live radio broadcast in front of a live studio audience. Back before the internet, cell phones and television were popular yet, families gathered around the radio for their entertainment. They didn’t watch shows; they listened to them, mostly.

13 actors performed over 40 different character voices in this show that brought Frank Capra’s iconic film to the stage. Set in a radio station, complete with sound effects creatively performed on stage with fun commercial breaks too. This play captured all the warmth and magic of Christmas when a loving, frustrated business man viewed what life would be like for his family, friends and community if he had never been born.