Blog

Season tickets are now on sale for Hawthorne Players’ 2013 season, which will offer two comedies and a musical at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre.  2013 will mark the 68^th season for the venerable company, which produced its first show, “Hobgoblin House” at Central School in Ferguson in 1945.  Season tickets for all three plays are $37 for adults and $34 for older adults and students, and may be ordered by calling 314 524-5201.

Hawthorne’s 2012 season ended with August Wilson’s “Fences,” in a performance that veteran critic Gerry Kowarsky called “the most distinguished community theatre production I have seen in 37 years of reviewing.”

This year’s season also promises to be very entertaining. The first show is a wildly funny comedy by Ken Ludwig, entitled Leading Ladies.  This madcap farce is described by director Colleen Heneghan as “Charley’s Aunt” meets “Some Like It Hot.”  Two down-and-out Shakespearean actors hear that an old lady in Pennsylvania is about to leave her fortune to two long lost English nephews.  They decide to pass themselves off as the nephews.  When they get there, they find out the relatives aren’t nephews, but nieces!  Trouble ensues.

The 2013 August musical, “Secret Garden” is a retelling of the popular children’s novel, with lovely music by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman.  Orphaned in India, 11-year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald and his invalid son Colin. The estate’s many wonders include a magic garden which beckons the children with haunting melodies and the “Dreamers,” spirits from Mary’s past who guide her through her new life, dramatizing The Secret Garden’s compelling tale of forgiveness and renewal.

Director Stephanie Merritt notes the show’s central themes are rebirth and healing, noting that:  “Like the garden, many of the main characters grow from lonely, dormant souls into a thriving, loving family.  It’s a story you can feel good about set to some of the most beautiful music ever written for the stage.”

The season finishes with a charming comedy about small town life.  “Morning’s At Seven”   It focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern town in 1938 who deal  with the ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question their lives and decide to make some changes before it’s too late.

The regular season ends in August, but in December will bring back its lovely production of “A Christmas Carol,” directed and adapted by Nancy Crouse.  Season ticket holders will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to that show in advance at a savings of up to 50%.

More information about all the shows, plus galleries of photos from past productions can be found at www.hawthorneplayers.com.