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The three musicals this season were outstanding… OKLAHOMA – as fresh and alive as when first presented; IRENE – a wonderful nostalgic ‘oldie’ with very talented newcomer Stephanie Douglas captivating in the title role; and PHANTOM – a gigantic undertaking for the playhouse. The special effects were outstanding (phantom mask and disfigurement designed and created by Ann Carnaby), not to mention the brilliant cast headed by David Earl Hart, Karri Nussle, and Jeff Kensmoe. OUT OF ORDER, another Ray Coaney comedy, was a hilarious bit of nothingness to end a very exciting season. Our bevy of EMC’s this year included Anne E. Bogoch, Kevin Charbonneau, Jeannine Comeau, Andrew Crawford, Larry Dean, Oliver Frates, Matt Halvorsen, Don LaBranche, Alison Miller, Peter Mollegard, Kristen Tanzer, and Michael Deeg.
Doug Coates remembers… “My summer vacation started out with a long car trip with my friends Bob Rizzo and Scott Harris to a place called Hampton in New Hampshire where I met two really nice guys named Alfred Christie and John Vari. They even gave me money for teaching music for a show called OKLAHOMA! and another one called IRENE. I also got to meet some really cool people who did some real funny things on stage. One of the funniest was in the middle of the famous auction scene in OKLAHOMA. Deb Girdler couldn’t figure out why it never came out right, not till she realised we had three different versions of the script! One night, Larry Dean, a devastatingly handsome EMC wearing overalls and no shirt popped a rivet off of his overalls and we could hear it bounce across the stage. Nothing was better than watching Michael Deeg, another EMC, try to keep a straight face. It was also a really good summer for learning to appreciate the taste of red wine during late night conversations with Ann Carnaby.”