While another successful season may have come to a close last month with the production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Off Broadway Players are already looking ahead to next year with the recent announcement of upcoming theatrical productions for their 2024 season.
Kicking off the season in May 2024 will be To Kill A Mockingbird, Christopher Sergel’s stage adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Harper Lee. Reminiscent of a bygone era, the play immerses the audience in a simpler time where Scout and her brother Jem play outside in the summer, act out stories, and muse about their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, the peaceful facade of this sleepy Alabama town, in the midst of the Great Depression, begins to crack when a young black man is accused of a terrible crime. Driven by an unshakeable moral conviction, the children’s father, Atticus, must defend the man in a trial that sends violent waves throughout the community. Timeless and lingering, this hard-hitting story explores prejudice, compassion, and the courage to do what is right. Directed by Michael Strawderman, To Kill A Mockingbird will be performed on May 10, 11, 17, & 18 @ 7:00 p.m. and May 12 & 19 @ 3:00 p.m.
Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses, written by Michael Parker and Susan Parker, will hit The Off Broadway Players’ stage in July/August 2024. The setting for this comedy, directed by Terri Hoover, is the Lovers’ Landing Beach Hotel, a popular wedding destination that has acquired a certain mystique as the home of Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses. Recently inheriting the hotel from her late father, Audrina Brown quickly discovers that her Uncle Bubba, the hotel manager, is running a variety of “extra-curricular activities” on the property. Arriving at the hotel is Beatrice Rutherford-Smythe and her daughter Traci, to check out the hotel for Traci’s wedding. They have an appointment with Madame Coco, the hotel’s wedding planner who, unfortunately, has eloped. The only staff member who knows anything about weddings is Uncle Bubba who, coerced by Audrina, now has to spend the rest of the play alternating between himself and Madame Coco. As more guests check into the hotel, mayhem and mistaken identities ensue. Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses will be performed on July 26 & 27 and August 2 & 3 @ 7:00 p.m. and July 28 and August 4 @ 3:00 p.m.
Following up on the heels of Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses, The Off Broadway Players will be presenting a youth theatre production of My Imaginary Pirate, directed by Jeff Obenshain. In this one-act written by Catherine Bush, Jesse McCall has moved to a new town and is having trouble making friends at school. But Jesse isn’t lonely; he’s too busy going on adventures with his imaginary pirate, the Terrible One-Eyed Jack. Jesse and One-Eyed Jack are determined to find the buried treasure – but run into all sorts of trouble: the Outlaw Pirate, Red Legs Ricky, is trying to steal their treasure map, Jesse’s mom is trying to come to grips with an imaginary pirate living in her house and Jesse’s teacher, Mrs. Pierce, is trying to teach her class their multiplication tables! But everything works out in the end and – with a little help from his dad and One-Eyed Jack – Jesse comes to realize that friendship is the greatest treasure of them all. My Imaginary Pirate is tentatively being planned to premiere during Broadway’s Autumn Festival and Car Show. A specific date and time will be forthcoming early next year.
After a hiatus of several years, musical theatre will be returning to The Off Broadway Players’ lineup with a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to round out the 2024 season. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Joseph is a reimagining of the Biblical story of Joseph, his father Jacob, eleven brothers and the coat of many colors. After being sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph ingratiates himself with Egyptian noble Potiphar, but ends up in jail after refusing the amorous advances of Potiphar’s wife. While imprisoned, Joseph discovers his ability to interpret dreams, and he soon finds himself in front of the mighty but troubled Pharaoh. Joseph’s solution to Egypt’s famine elevates him to Pharaoh’s right-hand man and reunites him with his family. Directed by JD Kiser, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be performed on November 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, & 16 @ 7:00 p.m. and November 10 & 17 @ 3:00 p.m.
The Off Broadway Players thanks all who have supported us throughout the 2023 season by attending our productions and look forward to bringing the Broadway community another exciting year of theatrical performances and opportunities in 2024. For more information on our organization, audition and performance information, and how you can get involved either onstage or “behind the scenes”, visit our website at www.offbroadwayplayersva.org.
