NEWS

 

Davidson Community Players 2023 Shows

Season Subscriptions Available

 

January 27, 2023 — February 5, 2023

DISNEY’S NEWSIES, JR – A Connie Company Production

By Harvey Fierstein; JR. Script Adaptation by David Simpatico

Music and lyrics by Alan Menken & Jack Feldman

Based on the Disney film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White

Disney’s Newsies Jr. is a 60-minute version of the 2012 Broadway musical, based on the 1992 film. Inspired by the rousing true story of newsboys in turn-of-the-century New York City, Newsies JR. features a Tony Award-winning score by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman and a book by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein.

When powerful newspaper publishers raise prices at the newsboys’ expense, the charismatic Jack Kelly rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions. Together, the newsies learn that they are stronger united and create a movement to fight for what’s right.

Including the now-classic songs “Carrying the Banner,” “Seize the Day,” and “Santa Fe,” Newsies JR. is a timeless story full of spirit and heart.

Armour Street Theatre – 307 Armour Street, Davidson

Advance Tickets: $14, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended for all ages though guests under two are discouraged

 

February 23, 2023 — March 12, 2023

NATIVE GARDENS

By Karen Zacarias

Pablo, a high-powered lawyer, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, are realizing the American dream when they purchase a house next door to community stalwarts Virginia and Frank. But a disagreement over a long-standing fence line soon spirals into an all-out war of taste, class, privilege, and entitlement. The hilarious results guarantee no one comes out smelling like a rose.

– A biting, perceptive, and ultimately hopeful sendup to our fraught relationships with those around us – even right next door.” – DC Theatre Scene

– “A comedy planted in difficult, painful issues.” – Chicago Tribune

– “ Skillful comedy… bright and witty and clever.” – Cincinnati.com

Armour Street Theatre – 307 Armour Street, Davidson

Advance Tickets: Adult – $23; Senior (65+) – $ 21; Student (under 21) – $18, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended ages: 14 and up

 

March 23, 2023 — April 2, 2023

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

By Tennessee Williams

In a plantation house, a family celebrates the sixty-fifth birthday of Big Daddy, as they sentimentally dub him. The mood is somber, despite the festivities, because a number of evils poison the gaiety: greed, sins of the past and desperate, clawing hopes for the future spar with one another as the knowledge that Big Daddy is dying slowly makes the rounds. Maggie, Big Daddy’s daughter-in-law, wants to give him the news that she’s finally become pregnant by Big Daddy’s favorite son, Brick, but Brick won’t cooperate in Maggie’s plans and prefers to stay in a mild alcoholic haze the entire length of his visit. Maggie has her own interests at heart in wanting to become pregnant, of course, but she also wants to make amends to Brick for an error in judgment that nearly cost her her marriage. Swarming around Maggie and Brick are their intrusive, conniving relatives, all eager to see Maggie put in her place and Brick tumbled from his position of most-beloved son. By evening’s end, Maggie’s ingenuity, fortitude and passion will set things right, and Brick’s love for his father, never before expressed, will retrieve him from his path of destruction and return him, helplessly, to Maggie’s loving arms.

– Winner! 1955 Pulitzer Prize in Drama

Winner! 2010 Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play

– One of the most successful plays of our time…a play of tremendous dramatic impact…enormous theatrical power.” — New York Post

Armour Street Theatre – 307 Armour Street, Davidson

Advance Tickets: Adult – $23; Senior (65+) – $ 21; Student (under 21) – $18, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended ages: 14 and up

 

April 28, 2023 — May 7, 2023

CHARLOTTE’S WEB – A Connie Company Production

By Joseph Robinette

Named “the best American children’s book of the past two hundred years,” it’s the story about a famous spider. All the enchanting characters are here: Wilbur, the irresistible young pig who desperately wants to avoid the butcher; Fern, a girl who understands what animals say to each other; Templeton, the gluttonous rat who can occasionally be talked into a good deed; the Zuckerman family; the Arables; and, most of all, the extraordinary spider, Charlotte, who proves to be “a true friend and a good writer.” Determined to save Wilbur, Charlotte begins her campaign with the “miracle” of her web. It’s the beginning of a victorious campaign which ultimately ends with the now-safe Wilbur doing what is most important to Charlotte.

Armour Street Theatre – 307 Armour Street, Davidson

Advance Tickets: $12, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended for all ages though guests under two are discouraged

 

June 22, 2023 — July 2, 2023

MARY POPPINS

By Julian Fellowes

Music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman; New Songs and Additional Lyrics and Music by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles

Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins

One of the most popular Disney movies of all time is capturing hearts in a whole new way: as a practically perfect musical! Based on the books by P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins delighted Broadway audiences for over 2,500 performances and received nominations for nine Olivier and seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The jack-of-all trades, Bert, introduces us to England in 1910 and the troubled Banks family. Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family members how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren’t the only ones upon whom she has a profound effect. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that “Anything can happen if you let it.”

Mary Poppins is an enchanting mixture of irresistible story, unforgettable songs, breathtaking dance numbers and astonishing stagecraft. This show is a perfect opportunity to showcase a strong, iconic female performer, as well as unique special effects and illusions.

Nominated for 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical; Tony Award winner of Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Duke Family Performance Hall – 207 Faculty Drive, Davidson – Davidson College’s campus

Advance Tickets: Adult – $28-32; Senior (65+) – $ 26-30; Student (under 21) – $18-21, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended for all ages

 

July 20, 2023 — July 30, 2023

THE EXPLORER’S CLUB

By Nell Benjamin

London, 1879. The prestigious Explorers Club is in crisis: their acting president wants to admit a woman, and their bartender is terrible. True, this female candidate is brilliant, beautiful, and has discovered a legendary Lost City, but the decision to let in a woman could shake the very foundation of the British Empire, and how do you make such a decision without a decent drink? Grab your safety goggles for some very mad science involving deadly cobras, irate Irishmen and the occasional airship.

The jokes come barreling fast and furious…but, like most farces, the effect is cumulative. By the time all the various comic strands start weaving together in the second act, the silliness has gotten contagious.” —Entertainment Weekly.

“In her hijinks-happy cocktail THE EXPLORERS CLUB, Nell Benjamin follows this recipe: To a starchy bunch of science geeks bemoaning the worst barkeep in London, add a plucky adventurer and her discovery, a trouble-making tribesman. Then shake, stir, serve in an eye-catching vessel, and brace for laughter.” —NY Daily News.

Duke Family Performance Hall – 207 Faculty Drive, Davidson – Davidson College’s campus

Advance Tickets: Adult – $28-32; Senior (65+) – $ 26-30; Student (under 21) – $18-21, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended ages: 12 and up

 

September 21, 2023 — October 8, 2023

YANKEE TAVERN

By Steven Dietz

Just when you thought you’d heard every crazy 9/11 conspiracy theory, a stranger walks into the Yankee Tavern. There, inside the walls of this crumbling New York tavern, a young couple finds themselves caught up in what might be the biggest conspiracy of all. Steven Dietz’s acclaimed and already widely produced dramatic thriller—a selection of the National New Play Network’s Continued Life Project—is a fierce, funny, and ultimately mind-bending work of theatrical power that grips you until the final word. What you don’t know can hurt you.

“A superb playwright…an edge-of-your-seat thriller.” —Palm Beach Daily News

Armour Street Theatre – 307 Armour Street, Davidson

Advance Tickets: Adult – $23; Senior (65+) – $ 21; Student (under 21) – $18, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended for all ages.

 

November 3, 2023 — November 12, 2023

ELF, JR – A Connie Company Production

By Thomas Meehan & Bob Martin

Music and lyrics by Matthew Sklar & Chad Beguelin

Based on the beloved holiday film, this hilarious fish-out-of-water comedy follows Buddy the Elf in his quest to find his true identity.

A title known the world over, Elf The Musical JR. is a must-produce holiday musical that can easily become an annual tradition for any theatre. Based on the cherished New Line Cinema hit, Elf JR. features songs by Tony Award-nominees, Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, with a book by Tony Award-winners, Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin.

Buddy, a young orphan, mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. The would-be elf is raised, unaware that he is actually a human, until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father and discover his true identity. Faced with the harsh reality that his father is on the naughty list and that his half-brother doesn’t even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

This modern-day holiday classic is sure to make every young performer embrace his or her “inner elf” with plenty of large ensemble numbers featuring elves and (New Yorkers) of every type.

Based on the New Line Cinema film written by David Berenbaum.

Armour Street Theatre – 307 Armour Street, Davidson

Advance Tickets: $14, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended for all ages though guests under two are discouraged

 

November 30, 2023 — December 17, 2023

A NICE FAMILY GATHERING

By Phil Olson

A Nice Family Gathering is a story about a man who loved his wife so much, he almost told her. It’s Christmas Day and the first family gathering at the Lundeen household since the Patriarch died. At the gathering, Dad comes back as a ghost with a mission; to tell his wife he loved her, something he neglected to tell her while he was alive. After all, they were only married for 41 years. The problem is, she can’t hear or see him. The trouble begins when Mom invites a date for dinner.

Winner! 2000 Rochester Playwright Festival.

“Hilarious and touching!” – LA Weekly, Pick of the Week

“Exquisite sense of humor!” – Daily Variety

“A good heart is behind all this family silliness!” – Los Angeles Times

Armour Street Theatre – 307 Armour Street, Davidson

Advance Tickets: Adult – $23; Senior (65+) – $ 21; Student (under 21) – $18, plus NC taxes and order fees

Recommended for all ages