FSU Department of Theatre and Dance Presents Live Performance of “The Spoon River Project”

Frostburg State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, in partnership with the Cultural Events Series, will present a live performance of “The Spoon River Project” on Thursday, April 8, through Saturday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Drama Theatre of the Pealer Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are available to FSU students, faculty and staff only due to COVID restrictions and guidelines.

Directed by FSU’s Mairzy Yost-Rushton, this beautifully haunting play is based on Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology” and adapted by Tom Andolara. In it, nearly 50 former residents of Spoon River, all of whom have come back from the dead to share the secrets they’ve taken with them to the grave, examine life and the longing for what might have been. As the citizens reflect on the dreams, secrets and regrets of their lives, they paint a gritty and honest portrait of the town as all of their pasts are illuminated.

“Spoon River Anthology” (1915) is a collection of short free-verse poems that collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the Spoon River, which ran near Masters’ hometown of Lewistown, Ill. The aim of the poems is to demystify rural and small-town American life.

The creative team of “The Spoon River Project” includes Grace LaCount as Sarah Brown, Margaret Fuller Slack, Mrs. Purkapile and Zilpha Marsh; Kasey Taylor, featured soloist, as Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Merritt and Daisy Frasier; Laura Frederick, soloist, as Elsa Wertman, Mrs. Meyers, Hannah Armstron and Lucinda Matlock; Luke Vought as Archibald Higbie, Harry Wilmans, Doc Hill and Searcy Foote; Brendon Eric McCabe, featured soloist, as Daniel M’Cumber, Elmer Karr, Hamilton Greene and Fiddler Jones; Madilyn McManaway as Flossie Cabanis, Nellie Clark, Mary McNeely and Lydia Puckett; Christopher Blackwell as Walter Simmons, Abel Melveny, Clarence Fawcett and Richard Bone; Brian Records, soloist, as George Gray, Tom Merritt, Knowlt Hoheimer and Doctor Meyers; Calaysia Michelé Hamilton as Dorcas Gustine, Rosie Roberts, Mrs. Kessler and Minerva Jones; and Andre Mason as Tom Beatty, Deacon Taylor, Roscoe Purkapile and Eugene Carman. In addition to Yost-Rushton, the production team consists of Danielle Preston, costume designer; George Georgeson, light designer and sound engineer; Frank Bowles, scenic designer; Gray Walters, sound designer; Andrew Geier, properties designer; Nicholas Partonen, production stage manager; Alexus Niblack, assistant stage manager; Chris McCabe, music director; and Desiree Witt, choreographer. Choral singers recorded include Denise Adams, Connor McCabe, Trevor Mcabe, Laurel Plitnik and Christian Scott.

Tickets for the live performance are $7 for FSU students and $12 for FSU faculty and staff. Reservations for this group only can be made by visiting https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com. Each show has a limited number of tickets to allow for social distancing, and tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Walk-up ticket sales are not available for this production.

For more information, call the Theatre and Dance box office at 301-687-7462.

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, FSU follows state health guidelines requiring the wearing of masks and physical distancing from others. Audience members must visit www.frostburg.edu/checkin for symptom monitoring before attending the production and be prepared to display the “Reduced Risk” badge.