The Tater Patch Players are laughing out loud.  The Haunted House is now a spooky memory,  but something new has taken its place.  Beginning November 17, for four shows only, people will be laughing in their theater (not screaming with fear).  The upcoming Laugh Out Loud show is this year’s director’s workshop.  Two  new directors, along with one experienced director, have put together an evening of comedy for the Tater’s fans.
Aaron Locatelli and Jan O’Kelley are directing, between them, five short plays that make up the first act of the evening’s entertainment.  You will meet a granddaughter who hasn’t got time to teach grandma any “new tricks” — or does  she?  You will go to the museum with a couple who aren’t really a couple, to see art, which isn’t really art.  Then you will meet a young woman wants a quiet afternoon reading in the park. She does not want to deal with some “wacko” from a loony bin, or maybe from a galaxy far, far away.  And speaking of wackos,  a mad scientist starts haranguing  his mumbling assistant — Igor, is it?  But who is really mad?  And how mad is he?  And finally, we take you to the Pillsbury Bake-Off.  What could be more wholesome and friendly?  Until a woman with a little bit of an “attitude” takes on her male competitor, and ultimately, confronts the Doughboy himself.
All this combines to make a side-splitting Act One.  This is followed, in Act Two,  by all the actors who you have seen onstage, plus a few extras, taking you to the not-so-wonderful world of dating. This is a one-act comedy called “Check,Please”.  Rehearsals for this show are being disrupted by laughter, as this cast brings to life every bad date you have ever had.  Will Guy and  Girl ever find Miss and Mister Right?  Things aren’t looking too hopeful.  Come see which of these date nights bring back (bad) memories as you Laugh Out Loud.
Join the Tater Patch Players for an evening of hilarity.  The show will be performed November 17,18, 19 at 7:30 PM, November 20 at 2 PM, at the Tater Patch Players Theater at 95 Philadelphia Lane.  Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $14 for seniors (65 and older) and $13 for students.  Because Tater Patch wants everyone, regardless of their financial ability, to be able to enjoy great theater, they offer their dress rehearsal, at 7:30 on November 16 as Share and Share Alike Night.  If you come to the theater and share your laughter, reactions, and opinions with the cast and directors, they are pleased to perform for you at no charge.  To make this a real “sharing” night, if you come to this rehearsal, you are asked to bring canned goods or non-perishables that will be donated to the Community Food Bank.  For more information, visit the troupe’s website at www. taterpatchplayers. org or call the theater at (706)253-2800.

This month, the Tater Patch Players theater is buzzing with activity.  The Talmadge Brothers Funeral Home and Casket Company has moved into the theater space on the main floor, and will be there scaring folks through Halloween, but up above the funeral parlor, the theater is alive with activity.
Auditions have been held for the next production, Laugh Out Loud, which is a collection of short and funny plays that will be presented on November 17-20.  These are being directed by a couple of Tater Patchers who wanted to try their hands at directing — Aaron Locatelli and Jan O’Kelley.   This  production is  sponsored by Julia Jorns, CPA and Community Bank of Pickens County. The new directors and their casts will be rehearsing in the upstairs spaces until almost show time.  And as soon as the haunted house is done, the theater has been rented for a private party.  After that the onstage rehearsals can begin.  And meanwhile, every Tuesday at 5PM, Camille Hammond leads her yoga class in the theater’s upstairs meeting room.
Meanwhile, the Tater Patch Board has met and is preparing for its end of year Wassail celebration PLUS a concert by Hickory Wind both to take place in December.  On December 4 and 5 auditions will be held for The Dixie Swim Club.  This will be the first show of the 2012 season, to be presented in February.  It is a hilarious comedy featuring five women who were on their college swim team and who meet every year at a beach house for a weekend get-together.  The play spans more than thirty years, and the audience will find more to laugh at with every scene, as the women get older, but not always wiser.  The play is not a “chick” play — men have been heard roaring with laughter at productions of this show as well.  All actresses, be on the lookout for audition information and times.  This is an opportunity for you to shine.
The troupe’s production planning calendar is filling up with names of directors, producers and stage managers who have been picked for the upcoming four-show season.  After February’s show,  May will bring The Foreigner, another great comedy.  The summer will be filled with singing and dancing as Tater Patch Players bring the first big musical to their new home in the form of Gypsy.  There are great parts for both adult and young singers and dancers here.   November will herald a serious but wonderful play with the timeless The Miracle Worker.  And of course the troupe expects to bring you one or more activities and camps for Pickens youth, host the Talmadge Brothers next October, and they tell me they are  working on a few surprises.  Their motto is: If it’s entertaining, it’s Tater Patch — and they say they intend to live up to it in their first full year at their theater.  They invite you to check out their webpage at www.taterpatchplayers.org or telephone the theater at (706)253-2800 to learn more.

There will be six plays presented during this evening of laughter.  Five will be directed by directors-in-training Aaron Locatelli and Jan O’Kelley.  Jan has a great deal of experience with backstage management, most recently with The Odd Couple, for which she was Stage Manager.  Aaron has been in several productions — most recently Epic Proportions –  and was Stage Manager for  Proof in 2010.

They have chosen and cast five short and funny shows covering everything from a funny computer lesson from granddaughter to grandmother to an alien encounter in the park to a woman’s melt-down at a baking contest.  They have held auditions and selected the cast for these five shows for your amusement.

The second act will be the comedy of dating-gone-wrong, Check Please.  Nan Nawrocki has cast all the auditioners in the fourteen roles in this show.  Two young people, a Guy and a Girl, run the gamut of “dates from hell” in the short vignettes that make up this one act comedy.

All the directors look forward to hearing you, our audience, Laugh Out Loud.

THE CASTS

Directed by Aaron

New Tricks
Grandma-Sylvia DeSio
Mattie -Crystal Bradley

Good Help
Igor-Daniel Picklesimer
Dr.Karl-Brandon Archer

Exhibit 4
Paul-Kenneth Farmer
Andrea-Lorrie Cain
Man-Aaron Locatelli
Customer – Brian Bayer

Commander Danny
Danny-Kenneth Farmer
Merritt-Marena Leonard
Assistant-Aaron Locatelli

Directed by Jan:

Bake Off
Paul — Alex Nawrocki
Rita — Jennie Hutto Smith
Pillsbury Doughboy — Skyler Denton
Security guard – Lorrie Cain

Directed by Nan

Check Please
Girl:   Christina Hill (2 shows) and Lorrie Cain (2 shows)
Guy:  Daniel Picklesimer
Melanie, the Bears fan:  Alecia Moore
Mary, the control freak:  Crystal Bradley
Sophie, the older woman:   Sylvia DeSio
Pearl, the thief:  Katie Archer
Mimi the mime:  Lorrie Cain (2 shows)  Jennie Hutto Smith (2 shows)
Linda, the schizophrenic: Marena Leonard
Louis, who pays no attention: Brandon Archer
Ken, the lounge lizard:  Alex Nawrocki
Mark, in the burlap bag:  Brian Bayer
Tod, the kid: Skyler Denton
Brandon, the considerate date:  Aaron Locatelli
Manny, the phobic: Kenneth Farmer