Publishing contract signed with Samuel French Inc.
Messiah on the Frigidaire will now be published by Samuel French. They will also handle the wordwide rights for production of the play. Samuel French is the oldest and largest publisher of plays in the world with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Toronto. "These are exciting times," says Culbertson. "There's a certain validation you get when a company with the reputation of Samuel French wants to publish your play. I look forward to a long relationship."
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"Messiah"
Goes International
John
Culbertson's southern comedy "Messiah on the Frigidaire" will take
the stage in
a very different kind of south, Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. The long
strange trip for Culbertson's play began in Toledo, Ohio where the
Waterville Playshop was lining up a director for their spring
production of the play. John Oster was chosen to direct the play,
but Uncle Sam had other ideas. You see Oster is also known as
Sergeant John Oster in his reserve unit.
When the unit was shipped off to Iraq, Oster decided to produce the
play there, using soldiers as actors and crew. After getting
permission from the playwright, Oster began assembling his cast.
“As far as I know this is the first community theater production
being done here,” Oster said. “Most of the entertainment programs
offered are usually sports-oriented. This is different. It will be
a breath of fresh air and maybe attract some soldiers to community
theater who hadn’t been exposed to it before.” Oster and his unit
are stationed at Camp Bucca, a detention facility with more than
20,000 detainees. The play is scheduled to run for four
performances at the end of April. MORE INFORMATION in an exerpt from the MIrror
News.
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O
CANADA!
It's official, The Canadian Premiere of Messiah on the Frigidaire
will hit the boards September 19th through the 27th. The Workshop
Theatre in Calgary will perform the play at the beautiful Pumphouse
Theatre. Playwright John Culbertson is planning on attending the
opening night festivities. Check back for further updates on the
Premiere.
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O-HIO!
God Bless Ohio. Seven more productions coming up in 2008-09 in the
Buckeye State.
In February, The Potter Players in East Liverpool, Ohio, In March
it's the Waterville Playshop in Toledo, and in April and May, Bruce
Jacklin and Company will perform the show at the Alcove Dinner
Theatre in Mount Vernon. The Drama Workshop in
Cincinnati has also announced that Messiah on the
Frigidaire will be a part of their
2008-2009 season,
and the Emerald City Players in Dublin plan on producing the play
in 2009 as well. Just added to 2009 are the Athenian players in
Athens, Ohio, and the Mansfield Playhouse in Mansfield,
Ohio.
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Speaking of Ohio, Here's a Nice mention from the Sun News in
Cleveland.
Spotlights
stays bright during OCTA competition
Thursday, September 13, 2007 The
Sun Courier
Broadview Heights
Spotlights Community Theater has several bits of good news and
information for this week's column.
First and foremost, the results from the theater's first appearance
at the Ohio Community Theater Association's state competition are
in.
The Spotlights presented an excerpt from "Messiah on the
Frigidaire," which it staged in March. The show is about the
appearance of a miracle on a refrigerator in a small-town trailer
park. The cast comprised of Denise Bernstein, Ken Chambers, Brian
Diehl and Colletta Louie West was recognized for Excellence in
Ensemble Performance and also received an award for Merit in
Costuming. Director Robert Allen Kmiecik received an award for
Merit in Directing, and Bernstein received an award for Merit
in
Acting.
"Messiah on the Frigidaire" was produced by Pat Petipas and Annette
Phelps. Fittingly, the Spotlights production of "Messiah on the
Frigidaire" was a Cleveland area premiere.