Spring Theatre Preview

As the spring semester begins, so does another Edinboro theatre season.

Based in the Diebold Performing Arts Center on Edinboro’s campus, the Edinboro University Theatre program has a three-show lineup for their spring season.

Their first show will be “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” which will run from Feb. 14-24.

The show, directed by Torie Witherow, is described as: “A wealthy woman invites old theater friends along with a couple actors for what appears to be a backers audition for a new Broadway production. However, the longer the cast is together, the old friends begin to believe that the true reason they’ve been gathered is to bring out the infamous Stage Door Slasher, the serial killer who plagued them years ago. Suddenly, bodies begin to drop and our poor cast has been trapped by a blizzard in a 1920s mansion full of hidden passages and a deranged killer.”

Witherow, who has been involved with theater for a decade, is making her directorial debut, and for her, the experience has been a fruitful one. “It’s really liberating to have the power to create this show from scratch.”

Overall, she hopes to see a return to the way the theatre program was before it was officially cut in 2017 in the overhaul of the university’s majors. Since then, the Edinboro University Theatre group has been a separate entity, and entirely student-run. As a result, funding and support has been an issue; to remedy this, she hopes for more involvement from the campus community. “We’re really hoping to see bigger student turnouts to shows, to show both our peers and community the skills that Edinboro can give their students,” she said.

Students will have more chances to do just that. 

After “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” the next show is “The Addams Family Musical,” which will run from March 28 through April 7. The show, directed by Joey Asti, is now in the auditioning process. 

The show is a musical comedy based on the creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky, all-together “ooky” Addams Family, originally created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. 

“The show will bring the famous characters from the Addams Family to life on stage,” said Asti, who added, “It’s sure to be a funny, family-friendly evening! 

“A Night of One Acts” will close out the season, spanning from April 18-28. 

While the show has not held auditions yet, the description reads: “A night of one act plays directed by theater students ranging from comedy to tragedy to farce to the absurd.”

For all shows, the doors open at 7 p.m. and begin at 7:30, except for Sunday matinées at 2:30 p.m. Edinboro students with ID pay $3. Edinboro faculty, staff, students and senior citizens pay $5. General Admissions is $10.

Nathan Brennan | ae.spectator@gmail.com

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