by Michael Frayn

Directed by Jim Zielinski
Assisted by Matt Growden and James Desta
September 8-10 & 14-16 2006
At The Von Braun Center Playhouse

Friday Evening, September 8, 7:30pm
Saturday Evening, September 9, 7:30pm
Sunday Matinee, September 10, 2:00pm

Thursday Evening, September 14, 7:30pm
Friday Evening, September 15, 7:30pm
Saturday Matinee, September 16, 2:00pm
Saturday Evening, September 16, 7:30pm

"That's what it's all about. Doors and sardines. Getting on-getting off. Getting the sardines on-getting the sardines off. That's farce. That's the theatre. That's life."

"The funniest farce ever written," lauded the NY Post... and they're right!

Peek backstage for a glimpse at a ramshackle English touring company portraying the zany characters in this farce-within-a-farce, a festival of delirium where everything that can go wrong, does! Opening amidst a literal eleventh-hour dress rehearsal, the audience is at once thrown into the May-December maelstrom of a leading lady's romance with her much younger leading man, a director two-timing both the play's ingénue and its assistant stage manager, and an antique - and deaf - character actor trying to drink himself into nirvana in a production that's on the rocks.

The wannabe, has-been, and never-were actors collide, doors slam, and trousers fall in the most boisterous romp to trod the boards yet, where sardines are canonized and "break a leg" goes one step too far. Laughter IS the best medicine, and the mind-boggling mayhem of Noises Off is worth its weight in Prozac, an outrageous reminder that the show really MUST go on...

EVEN WHEN IT'S FALLING APART!!

Jeannette King Chaney as Dotty Otley/Mrs. Clackett
Christopher Michael Clark as Garry Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain
Paul Buxton as Selsdon Mowbray/Burglar
Jeff White as Lloyd Dallas
Katie Lynn Broad as Poppy Norton-Taylor
Fred Kummer as Frederick Fellows/Phillip Brent/Sheikh
Amanda Lund as Brooke Ashton/Vicki
Jake Barrow as Tim Allgood
Kathryn Alexus Lanier as Belinda Blair/Flavia Brent

Technical Director: Scott Trites
Assistant Technical Director: Gary W. Gee, Jr.
Stage Managers: Lezlie Lanza, Joanna Broad
Producer: Jeannette King Chaney
Set Design: Scott Trites
Scenic Design: Jim Zielinski
Set Dressing: Dawn Roden; Jim Zielinski, Melissa Braswell, TBD
Costumes: Dawn Roden; Gay Broad, Melissa Braswell, Cast
Hair: Rhonda Prentice
Make-up: Ronni Kirk, Chris Clark, Cast
Props: Nicole Shelton, Liz Graham, Alana Blomeyer
Lighting: TBD (Execution), Jay Dauro (Design)
Sound: Tim Lighthall & TBD (Execution), Jim Zielinski (Plot)
Publicity: Jim Zielinski (Publicity Liaison); Matt Growden, Lezlie Lanza, Pat Blackman, Nancy Morris, James Desta, Gary Gee, John Hancock and Todd Phillips
Poster: Todd Phillips (Art), Jim Zielinski (Concept)
Program: Todd Phillips (Editor); Todd Phillips (Art), Jim Zielinski (Concept/Content)
Photography Liaison: Jeff White, Kearn's Photography
Lobby Display: Kira Gee, Anna Brown, Todd Phillips, Jim Zielinski (Concept)
Set Construction Crew: Scott Trites, Gary Gee, TBD
Set Painting Crew: Scott Trites, Gary Gee, Dawn Roden
Set Turners: Big Dave Schulte, Drew McDowell, Tom Hogan, Carlos Bofill, TBD
Casting Committee: Jim Zielinski, Matt Growden
Food Committee: Jim Zielinski, Matt Growden, Jeannette Chaney, TBD

"...So hilarious that it must make critics wish they had never used the word 'hilarious' before!"
- The Washington Post

"The funniest play I have ever seen in the West End!"
- The Times

"As side-splitting a farce as I have seen. Ever? Ever."
- New York Magazine

"A comic masterpiece!"
- The Daily Telegraph

"…The most complicated farce ever devised by the mind of man - and one of the funniest!"
- Newsweek

"If you haven't seen it, go. If you have, go again."
- The Express

Our version follows a 1989 Huntsville Little Theatre run and a 2000 TH production which remained our top seller, till overtaken last year by the unprecedented success of The Foreigner. Jim Zielinski, who directs, appeared in HLT's version as "Tim Allgood" and directed TH's last go-round. Gary Gee, our Assistant Technical Director, portrayed "Garry Lejeune" in 1989, and has the mangled shoe - and matching toe - to prove it.

Michael Frayn's script was originally - believe it or not - a one-act, and giving his continuing tinkering and retooling, one is liable to find any number of contradictory texts still floating around, as if art were gradually beginning to imitate life...

This is actually Frayn's updated 2004 version, and has NOT been performed here before, but in the past two years alone the vastly popular show has seen performances by Nashville's Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Montgomery's Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Franklin's Pull-Tight Players, and the Cookeville Drama Center, with an upcoming performance at Ole Miss... just to name a few within driving range!

Noises Off was first presented at London's Lyric Theatre on 23 February 1982. The cast included Patricia Routledge ("Hyacinth Bucket" in Keeping Up Appearances) as "Dotty Otley" and Paul Eddington (The Minister of Yes, Minister) as "Lloyd Dallas." Noises Off was winner of 3 "Best Comedy of the Year" Awards - Olivier & Drama Theatre Awards, 1982 and the Evening Standard Best Comedy, 1983.

The 1983 Broadway premiere of Noises Off featured Dorothy Loudon - perhaps best known as the original "Mrs. Hannigan" in Annie - as "Dotty" and Victor Garber (Titanic, Alias) as "Garry."

The 1992 film boasted an impressive cast including Carol Burnett as "Dotty," Michael Caine as "Lloyd," the late Christopher Reeve as "Freddie," Marilu Henner as "Flavia," and the late John Ritter as "Garry."

In 2000, playwright Michael Frayn added another feather to his cap when his atomic drama, Copenhagen, took home three Tony Awards - including "Best Play!"

On 9 November 2001, Noises Off returned to Broadway with Patti LuPone ("Dotty") and Peter Gallagher ("Lloyd"), sparking another raft of critical kudos... this followed the British revival earlier that year, which featured Lynn Redgrave as "Dotty!"

Theatre Huntsville, formed in 1997 by a merger of The Huntsville Little Theatre (1950-1997) and The Twickenham Repertory Company, Inc. (1979-1997), is a voluntary association, organized under the laws of the State of Alabama as a corporation not for profit. The purpose of Theatre Huntsville is to foster, encourage, strengthen and perpetuate Member and civic interest in the legitimate theater and the dramatic arts, primarily through the production of theatrical performances. We typically present six live theatrical performances at the Von Braun Center Playhouse, as well as smaller programs at various venues in the city and surrounding areas. This includes our popular season extra, Shakespeare on the Mountain, which allows an al fresco outlet for performing works of, or selections from, the Bard as well as other classical authors. Furthermore, Theatre Huntsville endeavors to educate and train its Members, students and other interested members of the community in the areas of acting, direction, sets, lights, sound, make-up, costumes, properties, all other areas of stagecraft, and administrative management of community theater, through discussions, lectures, meetings, workshops, apprenticeships, tutorials, and on-the-job training conducted by members and other qualified personnel.