Musical melodrama opens Streetcar Comapany's summer season

The summer theatre season is upon us and the Streetcar Company, the Lakes Region’s longest-running non-profit community theatre group, has a great season planned, featuring an old favorite, a new one-act play series, and two new performance venues.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 14, 15 and 16, the Streetcar Company will kick off its Summer 2006 season, and also christen the brand new stage at the Meredith Community Center, with a reprise presentation of an original musical melodrama written just for the folks of the Lakes Region. “The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race and Musical Talent Contest,” originally performed by the Streetcar Company in 1978, was written for Streetcar by Laconia native Bob Kinerk with music by Andrew Rosenthal. The story centers around the competition for the mail contract on Lake Winnipesaukee at the turn of the 20th century. Capt. Bilgely and his boat “The Daughter of the Lake” have had the contract for many years when suddenly, the dastardly Mr. Snavers attempts to take it away from the old captain and his daughter.

Bob Kinerk worked as a writer for the Laconia Evening Citizen for many years in the 1970s and is now primarily writing children’s books. Recently General Mills commissioned Kinerk to write a book for distribution with boxes of their cereal. It is hoped that Mr. Kinerk will return to the area for this years staging of his play.

Many talented local performers, mostly Streetcar veterans, many of who have appeared in “Steamboat” before, will be taking to the stage to portray Kinerk’s hysterical band of campy characters. The cast includes, J Alward, Peter Ayer, Howard Amsden, Sue Andersen, Dave Bownes, Emma Bownes, Peter Brunette, Jane Charland, Abe Dadian, Lynn Dadian, Bo Guyer, Andy Jepson, Dan LeBlanc, Dick Miller Diane Nickerson Alyson Mullett, Holly Mullett, Alex Ray, Diana Reidy, Janet Reidy, Dick Walden and Sharon Walden.

This year, “Steamboat” is directed by Lindley Kinerk, with assistance from Abe Dadian, both of who have directed the show in the past. “This show has been a favorite with local audiences for almost thirty years, because it captures the essence of musical melodrama — a silly plot, witty dialogue and catchy tunes. There are some great Vaudeville-style comedic moments!” Dadian said during a recent rehearsal. Streetcar President J. Alward added, “This cast is working very hard and having a great deal of fun. They are an extremely talented group of people with great comic timing and intuition. It’s going to be a very funny show that the whole family will enjoy.”

“Steamboat” features a number of original songs, featuring, “Abandoned as A Baby Boy in Belmont,” “Lake Winnipesaukee,” “Common Vulgar Crime,” and “She Isn’t the Ship She Was When She Was Younger.” Piano accompanist is Betty O’Donnell, technical and production assistance will be provided by Jordan Tankard, Bob Legassie, and Mac Keysar.

The new Meredith Community Center is located on Route 3, north of the lights in Meredith. Curtain time for Friday and Saturday performances is 7:30 p.m.; the Sunday matinee gets up to full steam at 2:00 p.m. Advance tickets for “Steamboat” will be on sale at the Laconia and Gilford Sundial Shops, the Meredith Community Center and at Innisfree Bookshop in the Mill Falls Marketplace in Meredith. All tickets are general admission and there is no reserved seating; the Meredith Community Center is fully accessible for persons with walking disabilities, and ample wheelchair seating is available. As always, a discount is offered to full time students and senior citizens. Tickets will also be available at the door prior to each performance, subject to availability. For ticket information, one may call the Alwards at 527-0152.

Additional information about The Streetcar Company in general (including membership), "Steamboat" or Streetcar’s new series of one-act plays, to be presented in August free to the public in Downtown Laconia, is also available online at the Streetcar Webstage: www.streetcarcompany.com. The “Theatre In The Park” series will feature short plays by internationally acclaimed playwrights, including David Ives, Christopher Durang and Tim Kelly, and will be presented on Monday nights in August in Rotary Park. All in all, it promises to be a great summer for community theatre in the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire, thanks in large part to the Streetcar Company.