FALL 2025 — SPRING 2026 SEASON
Auditions for Fall productions:
Auditions for both Fall shows will occur simultaneously on Tuesday, August 19th from 5:30-8:30 in the James Dunn Theatre. Please contact Kim Foulger for an audition time slot.
If you are interested only in Nightingale, please prepare a 1-2 minute poem or monologue (contemporary or classical). Be sure the piece has some movement in it.
If you are interested in auditioning for only Mystic Pizza, please prepare a 1.5 min contemporary comic or serio-comic monologue along with 16 bars of a song that best features your voice.
If you are interested in auditioning for both shows, select a monologue suited for Nightingale and a song suited for Mystic Pizza.
Auditions for Spring productions:
Auditions for the Spring shows will be posted on or before September 15
FALL 2025
The Love of the Nightingale
By Timberlake Wertenbaker
Summary:
The Love of the Nightingale is a bold and poetic retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Philomele and Procne. After a brutal betrayal by her brother-in-law, Philomele refuses to let her story be buried. Through resilience and an unyielding desire for truth, she finds a way to be heard. This powerful production explores themes of sexual violence and the consequences of silence, with searing relevance to today. Content warning: sexual assault, violence
Rehearsals:
Begin August 25, 2025
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
MTWRF
Tech Weekend:
September 27 and 28, 2025
10 am — 6:00 pm
Tech/Dress Rehearsals:
September 29, 2025
October 1 and 2, 2025
Starting at 5:30 pm
Evening Performances:
October 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18, 2025
7:30 pm
Matinee Performances:
October 5, 12 and 19, 2025
2:00 pm
Location:
James Dunn Theatre, Performing Arts Building
Cast List:
Cast List featuring 7m/7w and two variable choruses can be viewed on the Dramatic Publishing website: The Love of the Nightingale
Mystic Pizza
Book written by Sandy Rustin Based on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Motion Picture
With Story and Characters by Amy Holden Jones
Musical Arrangements and Orchestrations by Carmel Dean
Summary:
Based on the beloved 1988 MGM rom-com that launched the career of Julia Roberts, the pop/rock musical Mystic Pizza is about three working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint serving everyone from the townies to the privileged country club set. And what's in that secret sauce, you ask? The hits of the 80s and 90s! The hit songs range from "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" to "Hold On" to "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.
Rehearsals:
Begin Octorber 20, 2025
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
MTWRF
Tech Weekend:
November 22 (Off) and 23, 2025
10 am — 6:00 pm
Tech/Dress Rehearsals:
November 24, 25 and 26 (TBD), 2025
Starting at 5:30 pm
November 30, 2025
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
December 2 and 3, 2025
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Evening Performances:
December 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13, 2025
7:30 pm
Matinee Performances*:
December 7 and 14, 2025
2:00 pm
*additional shows possible based on actor/musician availability
Location:
James Dunn Theatre, Performing Arts Building
Cast List:
JOSEPHINA BARBOZA (JO/JOJO) – Female Identifying, 19, Any Ethnicity. The daughter of immigrants. She is vibrant, fast talking, emotional, curious, ambitious, always up for a laugh, and loyal.
DAISY ARUJO – Female Identifying, 19, Any Ethnicity. The daughter of immigrants. A perfect combination of insecurity and arrogance; the seductive life of the party when she needs to be, an introspective dreamer when she doesn’t.
KATHERINE (KAT) ARUJO – Female Identifying, 18, Any Ethnicity. The daughter of immigrants. Daisy’s kid sister. The apple of her mother’s eye. A goofy, playful, desperate romantic and aspiring astronomer, on the cusp of the rest of her life.
LEONA SILVA – Female Identifying, 50+ (nearing retirement), Any Ethnicity. The immigrant owner of Mystic Pizza and guardian of the “Mystic Pizza” special sauce. A sarcastic, wry, yet loving mother figure for Jo, Daisy, and Kat.
BILL MONTIJO – Male Identifying, 20, Any Ethnicity. The son of immigrants. A burly, yet warm, sensitive, lobsterman, and lead singer/guitarist in The Lobster Rolls – the local town band, who wants nothing more than to marry Jo and raise a family in Mystic, CT. Acoustic or electric guitar playing a plus.
CHARLES GORDON WINDSOR JR. – Male Identifying, Early 20s, White. A country-club, sweater-vest-wearing, Porsche-driving, law-school-drop-out cad, with a surprising capacity for true love.
TIM TRAVERS – Male Identifying, late 20s, Any Ethnicity. An easy-going, Yale-graduate, architect, with a secret.
ENSEMBLE The ensemble functions as the townies of Mystic, CT. They’re responsible for the shifting of set pieces/establishing new locations. They serve as an omnipresence of locals in this small town and appear in featured roles throughout.
WOMAN 1 – Female Identifying, 20s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including LORNA, a snobby college girl; SERENA WINDSOR, Charlie’s sister, a vapid country-club goer; and others.
WOMAN 2 – Female Identifying, 20s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including DEBBIE, a snobby college girl; MARIANA, an immigrant oyster shucker; TERESA, an immigrant housekeeper; NIKKI TRAVERS, Tim’s wife; and others.
WOMAN 3 – Female Identifying, 40s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including MRS. ARUJO, Daisy and Kat’s immigrant mother; and others.
WOMAN 4 – Female Identifying, 40s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including AUNT BONNIE, an immigrant oyster shucker, MRS. POLLY WINDSOR, Charlie’s mother; and others.
MAN 1 – Male Identifying, 30s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including a PRIEST; NICK, a Planetarium employee; MICKEY, a pizza shop regular; and others.
MAN 2 – Male Identifying, 20s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including FRANK, a warm, friendly guitarist in the local band by night and an oyster shucker at the docks by day; STEAMER WINDSOR, Charlie’s younger brother; and others.
MAN 3 – Male Identifying, 40s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including THE FIRESIDE GOURMET; MR. CHUCK WINDSOR, Charlie’s demanding father; and others.
MAN 4 – Male Identifying, 40s, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including MR. BARBOZA, Jo’s immigrant father; LIONEL, a cheerful real estate agent; LOU, Bill’s friend, and others.
MAN 5 – Male Identifying, 18+, Any Ethnicity. To play various roles including GEORGE, a snobby graduate student; ALFIE, a townie doofus, a WAITER, and others.
SPRING 2026
Dream Hou$e
By Eliana Pipes
Summary:
Two Latina sisters are appearing on an HGTV-style reality show to sell their family home, hoping to capitalize on the gentrification in their “changing neighborhood.” As they perform for the camera the show starts to slip into the surreal: one sister grapples with turmoil in the family’s ancestral past and the other learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the family’s future. Dream Hou$e, which earned both the Kendeda Award and Steinberg Playwriting Award in 2021, is a crowd-pleasing comedy with a twist that asks: What is the cultural cost of progress in America? And is cashing in always selling out?
Rehearsals:
Begin January 20, 2026
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
MTWRF
Tech Weekend:
February 21 and 22, 2026
10 am — 6:00 pm
Tech/Dress Rehearsals:
February 23, 25, and 26, 2026
Starting at 5:30 pm
Evening Performances:
February 27 and 28, 2026
March 6, 7, 13 and 14, 2026
7:30 pm
Matinee Performances:
March 1, 8 and 15, 2026
2:00 pm
Location:
James Dunn Theatre, Performing Arts Building
Cast List:
PATRICIA – Woman. Late 30s, Latina or Afrolatina.
JULIA – Woman. Late 20s, Latina or Afrolatina.
TESSA – Woman. Early 30s, white.
THE CREW – 2+ actors, non-speaking.
Men On Boats
By Jaclyn Backhaus
Summary:
Ten explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. MEN ON BOATS is the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River.
Rehearsals:
Begin March 23, 2026
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
MTWRF
Tech Weekend:
April 25 and 26, 2026
10 am — 6:00 pm
Tech/Dress Rehearsals:
April 27, 29, and 30, 2026
Starting at 5:30 pm
Evening Performances:
May 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16, 2026
7:30 pm
Matinee Performances:
May 3, 10, and 17, 2026
2:00 pm
Location:
James Dunn Theatre, Performing Arts Building
Cast List:
The cast list can be found on the Dramatic Publishing website: Men On Boats