Auditions Announced for The Last Lifeboat

Director Warren Schmidt and Producer Luan Leonardelli have announced open auditions for the first production of our 93rd season, The Last Lifeboat. You can get all the information and access the tools you'll need to attend audions by following the link below.

Auditions Page

93rd Season Directors Appointed

The Masquers board of directors at their July board meeting appointed two of the three directors for their upcoming 2023-2024 season. As is their custom, the board reviewed applications and interviewed the applicants for The Last Lifeboat and Something Rotten!, the first and third shows scheduled for their 93rd season. Applications for Ripcord, the second show of the season will be reviewed at the August board meeting.

Leading the creation of the first show of the season, The Last Lifeboat, will be veteran director and actor Warren Schmidt. Warren has served as director fifteen times for several local theatre groups with six of those shows Masquers productions. The most recent Masquers show directed by Warren, and possibly the most memorable, was Mary Poppins. Warren has also been named director for several musicals at Two Rivers High School and Howards Grove Middle School. The balance of his directorial experience has been with Treehouse Theater.

The third show of the Masquers season, the award winning musical comedy Something Rotten! will be lead by Lisa Heili. Another veteran director of four Masquers shows, Sound of Music, Shrek the Musical, The Great Gatsby, and Wait Until Dark, Lisa has also directed shows for Treehouse Theater and the Forst Inn.

Both directors are excited to begin the process of planning for their indiviual productions. Serving as producer for both shows this season will be veteran producer Luan Leonardelli. We are very excited to have these directors on board and look forward to their visions coming to life on the stage.

You can learn more about each show in the article below and by following the link to our 93rd season.

Announcing Our 93rd Season

The Masquers has been around since the first Community Chest fundraising event in 1931 when a few friends got together to put on a show. What set them apart from other performers that night is that they kept putting on shows every year since.

The Masquers seasons consisted of two to four shows every year making them one of the oldest continuously operating community theater groups in the state. "The show must go on" seemed to be the motto for the group as they continued to present a slate of shows each season; even during WW II.

The last few seasons we found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic which shortened our 89th season and caused us to rethink our 90th season. Not willing to give up without a fight, the Masquers resolved to "put on a show" even if it meant doing so on our own front lawn! And so, we continued our tradition and presented two shows in that 90th season even though we were forced to find alternative venues for each show.

Now that we are back to the Capitol Civic Centre on "The Masquers Stage" for the third season in a row we are proud to present our 93rd Anniversary Season.

Our first selection of the year is The Last Lifeboat the untold story of the sinking of the Titanic.

The Last Lifeboat reveals the untold story of J. Bruce Ismay, the owner of the White Star Line at the time of the sinking of the Titanic, whose decision to save himself rather than go down with the ship made him the scapegoat for one of the greatest disasters of all time. An ensemble cast playing multiple roles tells this epic tale which explores not only the tragedy itself, but the sensationalized trials and aftermath of the night that changed the world forever.

This show will be presented November 9-11, at the Capitol Civic Centre.

Our second show this season will be the comedy Ripcord.

A sunny room on an upper floor is prime real estate in the Bristol Place Senior Living Facility, so when the cantankerous Abby is forced to share her quarters with new-arrival Marilyn, she has no choice but to get rid of the infuriatingly chipper woman by any means necessary. A seemingly harmless bet between the old women quickly escalates into a dangerous game of one-upmanship that reveals not just the tenacity of these worthy opponents, but also deeper truths that each would rather remain hidden.

Ripcord will be performed March 7-9, at the Capital Civic Centre.

The final show of the year is a musical comedy that was dubbed "the funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years". We proudly present Something Rotten!

Welcome to the Renaissance and the outrageous, crowd-pleasing musical farce, Something Rotten! Created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick, and successful screenwriters Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, Something Rotten was lauded by audience members and critics alike, receiving several Best Musical nominations and hailed by Time Out New York as "the funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years".

Something Rotten! will be performed May 9-11, and the Capitol Civic Centre.