Benjamin Banneker – the Musical or Wayside Theatre in the Classroom

Things never slow down in the Education Department. Right after we opened George Washington: Young Man, Young Country I started a “Play’s the Thing” playwrighting workshop at Banneker Elementary School in Loudoun County. But, this workshop is even more special because it is a musical theatre play to commemorate the anniversary of the school. I am working with the fifth graders to write the play, and Steve Przybylski, our resident music director is working with the fourth graders to write the music (he started the day after he opened his show, Shadow of the Raven). I just found out yesterday that the entire school is getting involved. The librarian has checked out all the books on Benjamin Banneker and put them in the fifth grade classrooms. The students are using their computer time to research

Saying Good-bye to George Washington

We have ended a successful run of Wayside’s world premiere show George Washington: Young Man, Young Country and the first of Wayside’s Emerging Artists in Action programs. It saddens me to have arrived at the end. Usually I am able to accept the end of one project because I am looking forward to the next. And while I do have new projects to look forward to, I find myself looking back on the wild and crazy ride that was George Washington and wishing it can continue.

I have already been approached by a couple of people wishing we would take this show on tour. How perfect it would be in our schools

Shenandoah Valley of Virginia – Wayside Theatre opens `The Shadow of the Raven: The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe`

Shenandoah Valley of Virginia – Wayside Theatre opens `The Shadow of the Raven: The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe`

Wayside Theatre was recently featured on ShenandoahValley.com

Check it out!!

Shadow of the Raven: Edgar Allan Poe, Larry Dahlke, and a Theremin

Wayside Theatre and its audiences are blessed with some wonderfully talented, and often multi-talented actors and actresses who ply their trade on our stages. Larry Dahlke is one of those multi-talented marvels. As an actor he is a gifted chameleon, and as a musician he can make music out of just about anything. In our World Premiere production of Steve Przybylski’s Shadow of the Raven: Stories of Edgar Allan Poe, Larry gets to show off many of this talents, including making music with a theremin. If you don’t know much about a theremin, you are not alone. But to give you an introduction to this unique instrument and a bit of its history, Larry offers this quick little video.

Working With and Against the Flow

It has been an amazing and somewhat terrifying week at Wayside Theatre this week. Tonight (in just an hour and a half) we open our Emerging Artists program, George Washington: Young Man, Young Country at the Old Town Courthouse. We’ve also been rehearsing a world premiere of Steve Przybylski’s Shadow of the Raven: Stories of Edgar Allan Poe, which will open next weekend and tomorrow is our first rehearsal on stage for that piece.

Needless to say, we’re stretched a bit thin and also a bit frazzled, but I’m continually impressed and awed by the work our artists and administrators do with so little, and when they are under the gun.

Our Education Director, Sarah Blackwell, has done a wonderful job with George Washington. The play is written and performed by high schoolers, who at the dress rehearsal I saw on Wednesday, were doing some awesome work. I can’t wait to see the opening night performance. Sarah has guided these children brilliantly and I’m sure the run of the play (through October 14) will be another great learning experience for the cast, as well as a treat for the audiences. Would that we had our expansion completed so we could do more of this on a regular basis.

And speaking of October 14, we are all only slightly nervous about the debut of Shadow. You never know if a new play will work, and quite honestly, the theatre needs a “hit” right now. You can feel that the show has the potential to be