Flanders Community Theater is back on stage this weekend with its production of Working at the East Lyme High School Auditorium. The all-volunteer group of performers is again performing a work by Stephen Schwartz, known for Godspell, which it put on in 2006.
The Flanders Community Theater is a group of teachers, secretaries, administrators, musicians, artists, parents, local business owners and friends of the East Lyme Public Schools. They were an instant hit two years ago, performing to sell-out crowds and raising nearly $12,000 for the Tommy Fund for Childhood Cancer and the children and families in Southeastern Connecticut who are challenged by cancer.
“We’re just a bunch of people with alter egos,” said Ellie Hazen, one of the players who also volunteered to do publicity.
“The theater group started out as a fluke two years ago,” admitted Carol Glynn, director/producer. “Flanders Elementary School had done several coffee houses and evening performances to raise money for worthy causes. We decided to do Godspell and we pulled it off.”
The performers had so much fun they decided to do it again, she said.
“We all have these busy, intense jobs on our own,” said Glynn, a performer and educator. “We don’t have time to do community theater, and Godspell was the first production for some of us. A lot of people discovered later in life that they have these talents, and they’re incredible.”
The group looked for an ensemble production, one with big numbers and not long dialogues. They picked Working, based on the book by Studs Terkel, which shares the stories and challenges of America’s work force, from waitresses, business people, policemen, ironworkers, office workers, housewives, truckers, factory workers and retirees.
The full title of the production is Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.
“It’s about people more than it’s about working. It’s about how people feel about what they do,” Glynn explained. “Some of the workers are hilarious, others are just driven by their job, some remind you of your grandfather.”
There are 25 performers on stage, Glynn said, with a lot of singing and dancing going on. Profanity in the original production has been taken out, so the show is appropriate for family audiences. As an educator and considering the cause that is benefiting, Glynn said she felt obliged to make the local production “school-worthy.”
As a special local treat, before the show the audience will be entertained by a montage of photos shot of people doing their jobs all around East Lyme. She has been running around town snapping photos, from the kitchen crew at East Coast Taco to DOT crews in front of her house.
Evening performances are at 7 p.m. on July 25 and 26 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 27. The troupe has moved from the middle school to the high school auditorium this year to accommodate larger audiences.
All tickets are $10, and as a donation to the Tommy Fund are tax-deductible. Tickets can be purchased at Mr. P’s Fine Wines and Liquors on Flanders Road in East Lyme. For more information and a letter from Stephen Schwartz to the theater group, go to www.flanderscommunitytheater.org or call 739-1247.
Cast and Crew of Flanders Community Theater – partial list of Working cast and crew
Peter Doherty, Ironworker
John Charland, Parking lot attendant, Stone Mason
Kathryn Sassu, Project manager
Paul Ciccone, Corporate executive
Julie Fryburg, Teacher
Anna Doherty, Emily Lattanzi, Newsgirls
Bev Schryver, Supermarket Checker
Brian Shaw, Boxboy, Migrant Worker, Mason singer, Salesman
Jisue Kwon, Singing Migrant Worker
John Charland, UPS man
Amy O’Neal, Housewife
Carol Glynn, Political Fundraiser, Waitress
Ellie Hazan, Singing Millworker
Carol Geluso, Telephone Operator
Joanne Kasprzak, Receptionist
Leigh Rinehart, Telephone Solicitor
Steve Lattanzi, Pianist
Peter Doherty Retired
Marisa Glynn, Rachel Kwon, Lily Fryburg, Brian Shaw, Teens
Nate Whipple, Second Fireman
Peggy Mosely, Cleaning Woman
Nate Whipple, Ex-Copy Boy
Jodie Lattanzi
Musicians
Karen Ciccone, keyboard, recorder
Stephen Lattanz,: keyboard
Michael Frost, guitar
Roy Schryver, bass
Marty Wirt, drums
Director/Producer Carol Glynn
Producer Carol Geluso
Musical Director Karen Ciccone