Posted: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 10:00 pm
Bootlegging history of Scio gets physical at Morningstar Grange as community theater keeps on trucking
By Heather Crabtree
The Entertainer
Luck has smiled on the Flinn's Community Players since they regrouped last winter and brought back the living history plays in May.
"Murder at Sixth and Ferry," the opener for the Players "went beautifully," said Nancy Homan, a Flinn's board member.
With an average of 50 people per performance, the debut at the grange brought in enough revenue to pay for that show, with some leftover for the next adventure, "Shine on Scio Moon."
The play opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at the Morningstar Grange, 38794 Morningstar Road, in Millersburg.
Additional performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9. Doors open an hour before the show.
The premise of the play is essentially a game of cat and mouse between local moonshiners and Revenue Agent Henry Henderson, played by Joe Majeski, who also directs.
Mrs. Nofun, played by Ann Lawson, decides to stomp out moonshining in the small town with the help of the Rev. Barnstorm, played by Susan Jones.
Nofun also enlists the help of Mayor Cheatem, played by Duncan Tucker, and calls in the revenue service to assist in her campaign. What she doesn't realize is that the mayor is corrupt.
Cheatem is secretly trying to keep moonshining going in order to keep the town going. At that time, moonshining was the only thing generating revenue in the community, and Cheatem doesn't want to see the community go under.
While Cheatem plays the devil's advocate, the moonshiners, storekeeper and runners are all trying to keep two steps ahead of Nofun and the Barney Fife-like revenue agent.
Audiences will not only be treated to the slap-stick comedy that will have them rolling, but music by The Usual Suspects as well.
The Suspects - Robert Waterhouse, Louanne Fugal and Jean Fugal - have played together for 10 years in various combinations and musical genres.
For "Shine on Scio Moon," the trio will play songs that blend themes of moonshine, drunkenness and redemption before the show and during intermission - and a bit here and there during the show.
"We also do an interview of the audience after intermission (about Prohibition)," Majeski said. "We get some really interesting stories from the crowd."
Although much of the original cast from the first Flinn's production in 2005 is back for this run, they have had one real change of note.
"I think our drunk is one of the biggest changes," Majeski said. "He's really into physical comedy and doesn't have a shy bone in his body."
The play was written by Majeski, Waterhouse and Linda Ziedrich and started out as part of a fund-raiser for the Scio community during the Lamb & Wool Fair in 2001.
In 2005, the comedy premiered at Flinn's Living History Theatre. This is the second Flinn's production and the first of the show as the Flinn's Community Players.
"Shine on Scio Moon" is also one of the few plays produced by Flinn's that is not written by either of the theater's founders, Ellen West Lilja and Bill Lilja.
For more information on Flinn's plays, e-mail flinncp@gmail.com or call 704-8563.
The cast includes: Joe Majeski as Agent Henderson; Hailey Stephenson as Betsy Strong, moonshiner's daughter; Terry Jones as Clyde Strong, moonshiner; Loren Dunn as Ed Smith, storekeeper; Duncan Tucker as Mayor Cheatem; Christine Hughes as Mrs. Coldfish, Women's Christian Temperance Union member; Tammy Quinn as Mrs. Hortense A. Retentive, temperance union member; Ann Lawson as Mrs. Nofun, temperance union member; Susan Jones as Reverend Lydia Barnstorm, WCTU speaker; Susan Jones as Ruby Mae Strong, moonshiner's wife; Christine Hughes as Charlie, whiskey runner; Tammy Quinn as Dusty, whiskey runner; Cody Jones as Jimmy, whiskey runner; George Hunt as town drunk; and Sarah Young as Jenny, moonshiner's daughter.
CHECK IT OUT
WHAT: "Shine on Scio Moon," a play by Robert Waterhouse, Joe Majeski and Lisa Ziedrich.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 7-8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9.
WHERE: Morningstar Grange, 38794 Morningstar Road N.E., Millersburg.
TICKETS: $15 (includes a full meal potato bar with toppings, salad, coffee and dessert). Tickets can be purchased at Past Time antiques in Albany and by reservation at 704-8563. Doors open one hour before show time.