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 60+ years, we hope it will inspire you to join us!

Current Season
Productions

Past Productions

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.

64th Season | 2022-2023 Season

Witch

Mischief is afoot in the sleepy village of Edmonton and the fate of the world is at stake in this smart modern fable.
When the emotionally conflicted son of the local lord and an ambitious newcomer come into conflict, help presents itself to both of them in the same guise—as the Devil himself.

But while these two young men take advantage of the Devil’s bargain to accomplish their own questionable ends, someone else in town stands her ground—Elizabeth, an outcast whom everyone believes to be a witch.

Jen Silverman boldly transforms this classic play by Jacobean playwrights William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford, using a contemporary lens to make the machinations of the distant past strikingly relevant to today.

This play was brought to life by:

Trudi Kitchka as Elizabeth Sawyer
Michael Hassett as Scratch
Richard Holmberg as Sir Arthur Banks
Aaron Poncé as Cuddy Banks
Dustin Day as Frank Thorney
Aurora Shewmake as Winnifred

Performed October 7, 8, 9, 14 & 15, 2022

View the Program

Directed by Andrew Kitchka
Assisted by Kevin Smith
Produced by Darcie Beekman

Newsies, Jr.

When powerful newspaper publishers raise prices at the newsboys’ expense, the charismatic Jack Kelly rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions. Together, the newsies learn that they are stronger united and create a movement to fight for what’s right.

Disney’s Newsies JR. is a 60-minute version of the 2012 Broadway musical, based on the 1992 film. Inspired by the rousing true story of newsboys in turn-of-the-century New York City, Newsies JR. features a Tony Award-winning score by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman and a book by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein.

Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Jack Feldman
Book by Harvey Fierstein
JR. Script Adaptation by David Simpatico
Based on the Disney film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White.

Photographs by Katy Wolffis.

This play was brought to life by:

Jack Kelly: Evan Bolla
Katherine Plumber: Sophia Kelley
Crutchie: Rory Ponce
Davey: Jordan Smaka
Joseph Pulitzer: Kyle Penland
Les: Marissa Roll
Medda Larkin: Hannah Reier
Wiesel: Charlie Beute
Morris Delancey: Jonah Beute
Oscar Delancey: Keith Woolery
Teddy Roosevelt: Ace Treat
Darcy: Maggie Holmberg
Race: Emily Drost
Hazel: Julia Bolla
Specs: Darion Fearnley
Romeo: Marshall McCasky
Albert: Tyler Anderson
Tommy Boy: Joy Taylor
Pigtails: Morgan Sahr
Nancy: Shannon Walsh
Muriel: Kendall Haynes
Jojo: Lyric Ponce
Spot Conlon: Marin Keeler
Ada: Emily Stefanits
Ethel: Eden Navis
Olive: Ella Chasco
Bunsen: Keegan Troccko
Seitz: Cohen Ketner
Hannah: Shelly Marsh
Snyder: Ashley Tesmer
Dorothy: Alyssa McCasky
Bill / Pat: Doniela Arias
Police Chief: Oliver Shunta
Woman: Amanda Leany
Scab 1: Charlotte Clover
Scab 2: Hope Shunta
Scab 3: Sevanah Clover
Ensemble: Artison Fearnley, Madelyn Jackson, Josiah Van Engen
Offstage Chorus: Grace Pearce

Performed July 29-30, 2022

Directed by Amy Lalick-Prinzi
Assisted by Meg Sebastian
Produced by Diane Reeths
Music Directed by Gabi Tomes
Choregraphed by Samantha Farrar

View the Program

63rd Season | 2021-2022 Season

Bess Z Awards

Best Show: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,
Trudi Kitchka, Director | Lisa Hilliard, Assistant Director | Darcie Beekman, Producer | Karen Fredericksen, Music Director | Rachel Fetterley, Choreographer
Lead Male Performance: SCOTT MURPHY, Wadsworth in Clue
Lead Female Performance: EMILY KINDERVATER, Mary Jo in A Piece of My Heart
Major Supporting Male Performance: MICHAEL HASSETT, Snoopy in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Major Supporting Female Performance: KELLENE ARNOLD, Sally Brown in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Minor Male Performance: BRUCE BAKER, Multiple roles in Holiday Chestnuts: A Festive Collection of Seasonal Shorts
Minor Female Performance: DIANE REETHS, Poinsettia in Holiday Chestnuts: A Festive Collection of Seasonal Shorts
Cameo Performance: EMILY DROST, Singing Telegram Girl in Clue
Outstanding Design: SCOTT MURPHY, Set Design for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Family Theatre Student: Evan Bolla
Family Theatre Phyllis Pelligrino: Darcie Beekman
Outstanding Dedication: Laurie Strait & Susan Maxwell
Volunteer Service: Michael Baribeau
Presidential: Karen Frederiksen
Cron Lifetime Achievement: Barb DeVries (posthumously awarded)

See all 2022-2023 Nominees

Photos by Katy Wolffis.

A Piece of My Heart

A Piece of My Heart is the inspiring true stories of six courageous women sent to Vietnam, and their heart-wrenching struggle to make sense of a war that irrevocably changed them, and a nation that shunned them.

The drama centers on a career Army woman, an American Red Cross volunteer, a Navy Nurse, two Army nurses, an entertainer, and the men that surround their lives.

The play portrays each woman before, during, and after her tour in the war-torn nation and ends as each leaves a personal token at the memorial wall in Washington.

Director: Margo Walters
Assistant Director: Lisa Hilliard
Producer: Diane Reeths

Performed May 13, 14, 15, 20 & 21, 2022.

This play was brought to life by:

Steele: Cathy Gartland
Whitney: Robin Beebee
Martha: Julie Bratton
Sissy: Jennifer Reeths
Lee Ann: Lydia Amaya
Mary Jo: Emily Kindervater
American Men #1 Adam Bell
American Men #2 Scott Murphy

Photos by Katy Wolffis.

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang explore life’s great questions as they play baseball, struggle with homework, sing songs, swoon over their crushes, and celebrate the joy of friendship.

Director: Trudi Kitchka
Assistant Director: Lisa Hilliard
Producer: Darcie Beekman
Music Direction by Karen Fredericksen
Choreography by Rachel Fetterley

Performed March 4, 5, 6, 11 & 12, 2022.

This musical was brought to life by:

Charlie Brown: Andrew Kitchka
Linus Van Pelt: Kristopher Arnold
Schroeder: Riley Van Ess
Snoopy: Mike Hassett
Lucy Van Pelt: Katy Wolffis
Sally Brown: Kellene Arnold
Woodstock Ensemble: Lulu Fetterley & Abby Forrest

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.