Washington Street Players Celebrate 20 Years with The Fantasticks

20 years ago, a group of local would-be thespians presented their first play. They called themselves the Washington Street Players, and the play they produced was The Fantasticks. Now, two decades later, the group is still going strong, and it will celebrate this anniversary by presenting The Fantasticks yet again, this month on April 22, 23, 29, 30 and May 1 at the Dancing Arts Center Studio Theater in Holliston.
“The Fantasticks is a very small cast,” says WSP Director Alecia Thomas, who has her undergraduate degree in musical theatre. “We’re excited to form a partnership with the Dancing Arts Center.” Thomas explains that the group was looking for a more intimate space in which to perform.”
“We’re also very excited we’ve got Chrissy Petersen the music teacher, at Placentino and Miller, as the Musical Director. She’s a great vocal coach,” says Thomas.
The Fantasticks tells the story of two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud. The fathers hire traveling actors to stage a mock abduction, so that Matt can heroically seem to save Luisa, ending the supposed feud. When the children discover the deception, they reject the arranged love match and separate. After disillusionment in the real world, they return to each other.
“Twenty years ago, we started this whole endeavor, the WSP by putting on The Fantasticks, and to celebrate our 20th anniversary, we would like to do it again,” says Sue Ann Czotter, on the WSP Board of Directors, noting that the play is one of the longest running shows off Broadway. “We have a wonderful cast that’s going to bring it to life again.”
“This is our last show of the 20th season,” says WSP producer and President Karen Dinehart. “A lot of groups have come and gone, but we’ve managed to stay afloat.” Dinehart explains that many towns have a community theatre group, but that instead of competing against each other the Washington Street Players is trying a more collaborative approach with other theatre organizations and is a part of Theatre 411. “I’m now a director for Ashland Community Theatre,” she says, “and we’re trying to combine resources and spread the audience amongst different groups.”
One year, says Dinehart, the WSP “went dark, without any shows,” but that year, she says, the organization “regrouped. I think it was just a recommitment of some people. We lost a lot of board members who physically moved, so we needed a new group of people who could really connect and make things work. Sometimes people get burnt out when they feel like it’s a job,” she says.
Larry Wise, WSP treasurer, the longest standing member of the Washington Street Players who came aboard 19 years ago, says the schedule used to be a grueling three shows per year, which was difficult for the small, all-volunteer group. “When you’re dealing with volunteers and the size of our group, you’re basically finishing one and going right onto the next one, so that became wearing and we’re now doing two shows a year,” he says. Some of the players have changed over the years, but Washington Street Players is a group of creative, like-minded people, he says.
“If you think about going into Boston or going to New York, you’re paying a lot of money, whereas community theatre is done at a much more reasonable level. The idea that we can put on a show and have someone spend 10 or 15 dollars and come see a show. That’s great, and it’s in the suburbs and people don’t have to travel,” says Wise, who has acted in just a few plays over those years, in addition to being treasurer, and served as President of the group for two years. He was seventh of a line of WSP Presidents, who also include Susan Martell, Diane Morgado, Roberta Weiner, Deborah Gray Bloom, Lorri Alexander, Joan Hill, Dave Suwalski, Lynna Pallas Henderson, Betsi Irving and, currently, Karen Dinehart.
People, he says, do not have to be actors to be involved. Volunteers who love theatre are always welcome.
“We’re always looking for people to help backstage, onstage, or if people are interested in learning how to direct a show, and they want to assist, we’ve had people do that and eventually have done a show,” he says. “The people are fun people. Everyone sort of has their niche. There’s myriad things to do, and everyone just sort of pitches in. It’s a small group, but we would like to enlarge it, if people are interested.” To find out what your role could be as a WSP volunteer, contact Producer Karen Dinehart at kdinehart@verizon.net.
Washington Street Players 20th Anniversary Production of The Fantasticks will feature three Holliston residents among the cast, including Karen Dinehart, Andrew Emmons (Holliston High School senior) and Rob Conesco. The show will take place at 8 p.m. on April 22, 23, 29, 30 and 3 p.m. on May 1 at the Dancing Arts Center Studio in Holliston. Tickets are available online at wsplayers.net, by phone at (508) 306-1442 or in person at Coffee Haven.