The Valley Players will present the first show of its 40th anniversary season beginning May 31 at the Valley Players Theater, Waitsfield. For the first time in the Valley Players’ history, all of the plays this coming season have been previously produced by the group.
“Harvey” by Mary Chase is directed by Tom Badowski (Moretown) with show dates Friday through Sunday, May 31 through June 16. The first show ever produced by the Valley Players in 1979, the main character of “Harvey” is Elwood P. Dowd (Doug Bergstein, Warren), who insists on including his friend Harvey in all of his sister Veta’s (Rachel Natvig, Northfield) social gatherings.
The trouble is that Harvey is an imaginary 6 1/2-foot-tall rabbit. To avoid future embarrassment for her family, and especially for her daughter, Myrtle Mae (Ann Naumann, Richmond), Veta decides to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium, but it seems that Elwood and his invisible companion have a strange influence on Dr. Chumley (Jack Bradt, Winooski).
The cast includes Wes Olds (Montpelier), Mikki Nucci (Waitsfield), Barry Bolio (Middlesex), Marci Robinson (Warren), Bill Hannon (Duxbury) and Andra Krushenick (Northfield) in various supporting roles.
The original Valley Players’ production of “Harvey” was staged at Fayston Elementary School. It was produced by Mitchell Kontoff, directed by Edsel Hughes, Jennifer Howard was assistant director and Don Hirsh was the technical director.
Jenifer Sardi played Myrtle May Simmons, Beth Simmons played Veta Louise Simmons, Bruce Mangan played Elwood Dowd, Sally Roses Mehegan played Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet, Dixie Lydia Barker played Ruth Kelly, David Sardi played Duane Wilson, Rich Panter played Lyman Sanderson, MD, Lenny Julius played Will Chumley, MD, Jane Milner played Betty Chumley, David Steinman played Judge Omar Gaffney and Mike Barr played E.J. Lofgren.
Other shows included in the 40th anniversary season will be “On Golden Pond” (August 2 through 18), “Oliver!” (October 4 through 20), “Out of Sight, Out of Murder” (January 17 through February 2, 2020), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (April 3 through 19, 2020) and Little Shop of Horrors (June 4 through 20, 2020).
Individual tickets and season tickets for the six shows in the season are available now. For more information, go to valleyplayers.com, email
