~ Our Recent Hilarious Production was a BIG HIT
In Woodland, WA September 9-25, 2011
And our most successful production to date! ~
A musical-comedy-spoof-melodrama
fracturing for fun the current
world-wide craze
September 9 – 25, 2011
Fridays, Sept. 9, 16 & 23 at 7:30pm
Saturdays, Sept. 10, 17 & 24at 7:30pm
Sundays, Sept. 11, 18, & 25 at 2:00pm
The performance will last approx. 2 hours
and 2 intermissions
Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain for
general seating
Pre-purchased ticket holders will be
admitted first for seat selection
World Premiere at
Loves Street Playhouse
126 Loves Ave.
Woodland, WA
(just 20 min. North of PortlandOR
on I-5)
Meet our wonderful cast:
Ashlee
Waldbauer (Bella) Born & raised in Vancouver, Washington, Ashlee had her first
role in "Godspell" with Christian Youth Theater at the age of 8 and
hasn't stopped performing since. She was most recently seen in Northwest
Children’s Theater's production of "Annie". Ashlee currently
attends King's Way Christian High School and in her spare time loves to write
songs, play guitar and sing on the worship team at her church. This is her
first role with The Golden Garter and she is thrilled to be a part of the
cast!
Taylor Ocasio (Edward) Taylor Ocasio is a nineteen
year old student attending WashingtonStateUniversityVancouver. He
has played roles in productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Seussical and also played
the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. In his free time he enjoys hanging out
with friends and swimming. He still lives at home and has a sister who lives
in Stayton, Oregon,
and a brother who lives in Washougal,
Washington.
Samson Syharath
(Jake)
is originally from Fort Smith,
Arkansas. He graduated from the
University of Arkansas
Fort Smith with a Bachelors degree in Theatre and currently
resides in Portland
to train at the Portland Actors Conservatory. This is his first musical and
would like to thank all the amazing people involved for welcoming him into
this fun and entertaining show.
Marysa Lattiak
(Broom Hilda) is a senior at Mountain
ViewHigh School.
This is her acting debut with The Golden
Garter and her first melodrama. She has performed in school productions such
as Rosencrants and Guildenstern are Dead, Monster Hotel, Thoroughly Modern
Millie and as Sacajawea in The Adventures of Lewis and Clark. In her spare
time, Marysa loves to sing, paint, photograph, and ride bikes around the
city. Marysa would like to thank God and those closest to her for their love
and support.
Duane Peterson
(Igor)
moved here from Minnesota
4 years ago. While in Minnesota he was actively
involved with the Elk River Community Theater and the Lyrics Arts
Theater. He has appeared in productions of The Foreigner, Lend Me a Tenor,
The Odd Couple, Cheaper by the Dozen and as Mr Smith in Meet Me in St Louis.
Besides acting, Duane also served as the set designer for the Elk RiverHigh School drama department and the
Elk River Community Theater. This is his first production in WashingtonState and when not entertaining people
at The Golden Garter, he spends his days as a school bus driver for the
Vancouver Public Schools. He also enjoys woodworking, photography and playing
with his grandchildren. Duane feels his two greatest accomplishments are his
daughters, Kaitlyn and Brianna. Duane is very thankful for his God-given talent
and abilities and for the support of his wonderful wife Mary.
Steve Taylor (DracU. La) No stranger to the Golden
Garter, this is Steve’s third role in six productions. He has previously been
seen in A Magical Melodrama and PotterSchool Musical. Back
before dinosaurs ruled the earth, Steve earned a Master’s Degree in Cinema
from USC and worked in Hollywood
for ten years behind the scenes in film editing. For the past 23 years, Steve
has been a professional comedy ventriloquist-magician…and no, his parents
can’t believe that after six years of college Steve “plays with dolls and
talks to himself.” In his spare time, Steve writes & directs the
melodramas here at The Golden Garter Family Comedy Theater, so if you want to
blame anyone for anything, he’s the guy!
Fantastic News! Potter School Musical & A Magical
Melodrama returned for six performances at The Venetian Theatre in Hillsboro, OR
in May 2010 and broke all of our previous attendance records! In fact, our previous
all-time attendance record was doubled! Add that to our SOLD OUT Performances
in April 2009 in Downtown Vancouver, WA and
The Golden Garter Family Comedy Theatre is taking the Pacific Northwest by
storm
(like the storms needed any help!).
May 2010 saw the world-premiere of our newest magical-musical
comedy in two acts…
“PotterSchool
Musical”
Imagine the musical kids of “High School Musical”
cross-pollinating with the magical cast of “Harry Potter” and that’s what “PotterSchool Musical” is…a hilarious
hodge-podge of magical-musical merriment and mayhem.
“Laugh ‘til your cheeks hurt” as the boy
wizard “Perry Hotter” attempts to save Hagworts and get the girl, Gabby-Ella,
by starring in the all-school musical! Can the sorcerer sing and dance? Will
Perry succeed or will he crash and burn? Will Ron Weasel get his “Digditch”
team to play basketball or will he crash and burn? Will the evil Volvo-Mart
jinx the musical and close down Hagworts or will he crash and burn? Will
Hermini outsmart Gaby-Ella and win the Scholastic Tournament or will she
crash and burn? All these questions and more are answered in our clean family
comedy musical extravaganza…PotterSchool Musical!
Don’t Miss It!
Our
“Magical” Melodrama
– OR – Is A Dead Magician Really An “Abra-Cadaver”?
Breaking Attendance Records from 2008-2010! Spend an evening of fun-filled villainy “booing” the villain and “cheering”
the hero! Bring the whole family and create a vacation memory that will last
a lifetime. Appropriate for everyone from ages 4 to 104, A Magical Melodrama at The Golden Garter Theatre will make you to
“laugh ‘til your cheeks hurt.” The Pacific Northwest’s newest “old”
theatre will take you back in time to the edge of the wild frontier, 1908,
and let you experience the most popular entertainment of the time; the
melodrama – with a twenty-first century spin on it of course! The “melodrama” is a live comedy
stage play where good always triumphs, true love is always mutual and evil is
always vanquished (politely, of course!). What makes melodrama such fun
theater is the improvised participation of you, the audience. As a melodrama
audience, you get to “boo” the
villain, “cheer” the hero and “sigh” at the
beautiful ingénue. Actors will even step away from the action to speak
“asides” to you and for once, you’ll be encouraged to talk back! You won’t
see any “quiet” signs at our theater, because every one of our patrons is
encouraged to become a participant. Go ahead, offer advice to our actors,
warn them of impending doom, and even express your feelings! PLUS, unlike
anywhere else, our melodrama has a magic-theme, so not only will your funny
bone be tickled, your eyes will “pop” out of their sockets at the amazing and
mystifying effects (see below)! You won’t believe what you’re witnessing only a few short feet away. An evening at The Golden
Garter will take your breath away! (Don’t worry, all confiscated breaths will
be returned prior to anyone returning home).
Following
intermission, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll roll on your belly like a
reptile…at the comedy hijinks of our old-fashioned “Olio.” Our wonderful cast returns to make sure your evening ends
on a high note as they sing, dance, do magic and turn the show over to you,
the audience! A much shorter version of our full evening “Magic, Music &
Merriment Revue” (see below), our Olio features the individual talents of the
same cast you came to love during our melodrama! Come for the “boos” and
“hisses” and stay for the light-hearted laughs!
On performance
evenings, our pre-show begins with an age-old tradition called the
“Sing-Along,” so start warming up your voice now. Our handsome and trustworthy
MC will lead you in recreating the songs popular at the turn of last
century (Beware: Anyone caught not singing will be made to sweep the theatre
floors after the show). During your first hour, our GGVAP will sink you neck
deep into our comedy drama, “A Magical Melodrama – Or – Is a Dead Magician an
Abra-cadaver?” Then, in order to give your sides a rest from laughing for a
spell, you’ll enjoy a short intermission where you can enjoy the best popcorn
in the Pacific Northwest! And you can even wet
your whistle with some old fashioned Sasparilla: A drink that will make your
baby beautiful and even put hair on your chest! Or possibly just put hair on
your baby’s chest!
Still can’t picture it? Click on the below picture to watch a highlight
video of
A Magical Melodrama
(Warning: you may catch yourself laughing out loud!)
Check
out this page of pictures taken by our guests for a “preview of coming
attractions.” FOR PICTURES, CLICK HERE
The Magic, Music & Merriment Revue –
GOOD NEWS! Our “Magic, Music & Merriment Revue” was a big hit at
its encore run last December. Check back here for future performance dates!
This comedy,
music and magic revue is guaranteed to make you “laugh ‘til your cheeks
hurt!” Our Great Gorge Variety Arts Players take the stage for a hilarious
live vaudeville-style comedy variety show. You’ll witness sensational songs,
veracious ventriloquism, marvelous magic, calamitous comedy, delightful dance
and humor “so clean” you can grill a ham-bone on it! And grill you will, because the best news
of all is that you, the audience, once again becomes the star of the show!
More than one unsuspecting attendee will be asked up on the stage and
everyone present will witness the birth of vaudeville’s newest star…You!
Since every show depends so heavily on audience participation, every show
becomes different because every audience is different. So, we hope you’ll
come back and give us the honor of your presence and participation time and
time again. We can’t do The Golden Garter without you…and performing for an
empty theater is no fun whatsoever…so we hope to see you again and again!
During our “Magical Melodrama,” and
“The Magic, Music & Merriment Revue,”you’ll experience the live escapades of The Great Gorge Variety Arts
Players (That’s “GGVAP” for short). The GGVAP are our professional group of
thespians who will tickle your funny bone, touch your heart and turn your
evening into a historically-hysterical experience! Want to join us and
audition for our Spring 2010 shows? CLICK HERE for Audition Information.(Meet our most recent cast
below).
Armitage Shanks
(Villain)………..David Roberts
David is a wonderful addition to our cast and has been active in theater
since high school. Most recently his roles have been Oberon in
"Midsummer Nights Dream" and Mortimer in "Arsenic & Old
Lace" for The Magenta Theater. He runs the Vancouver
OnStage website (www.vancouveronstage.com)
for local community arts events and owns a toy store in Battle Ground. He recently directed
“Wait Until Dark” at The Magenta Theater in Vancouver, WA.
David graduated with a BS from OIT in Klamath
Falls, and has been married to his wife
Stephanie for 16 years.
Ernest T. Beek & Perry Hotter (Hero)……….……Evan Adent
Evan was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Vancouver for the past 10 years. Past
acting experiences include Will Parker in Oklahoma!, Nick
Bottom the Weaver in Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Stepmother in Cinderella. Evan is above all things a storyteller and visionary,
entertaining young and old with his poetry, children's stories, film,
drawing, and music. We are all entertained by the talents of Evan and we’re
glad to be able to showcase them all for your enjoyment!
Diamond Lil & Beatrix………………………Darlene Taylor
Originally from New Jersey (have her say “coffee” for
you), Darlene has been a professional performer and vocalist since the age of
five, performing all over the East Coast. Darlene has filled her life with music
and theater, having held leading roles in dramas, musical theater and
concerts. In the past Darlene has been an image consultant and a corporate
trainer for top international beauty companies, but currently speaks and
sings for women at Christian venues, events and churches all over the United States.
Penelope Pureheart & Gabby-Ella (Heroine)…Shelby Nelson
Originally from Las
Vegas, Shelby recently moved to Washington state. She
has just finished a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" where
she portrayed Helena,
and "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", both at Magenta
Theater Company. She is currently a junior at CAMHigh School and when not performing,
Shelby enjoys
spending time with friends, watching movies, and dancing. She would like to thank
her friends and family for putting up with her theater obsession, and God,
for giving her opportunities to act.
In addition to being a varsity cheerleader
(Yay! Rah!) Julia is a Senior at BattleGroundHigh
School and is planning to study theater at WesternOregonUniversity in the fall.
PotterSchool Musical is Julia’s first
appearance with The Golden Garter and we’re happy to include her in our
little “family.” Julia enjoys comedy, making people laugh and is an avid fan
of the world of “Harry Potter” (we mean, “Perry Hotter”!)
Ron Weasel (PotterSchool Musical)……Matthew Comstock
Matt is taking a year off from school to
“enjoy life” and in the fall will join the Air Force and begin college at
Clark College in Vancouver, WA to study engineering, communications and video
production. Matt began his performing career at his church as part of their
Singing Christmas Tree (I guess he wanted to “branch out”) and this too is
his first production with the GGVAP.
Professor McComical (PotterSchool Musical)…Sonia Witkowski
Ms. Witkowski has performed with the Cosmopolitan Opera
Company of Philadelphia in the Corpe de’ ballet, has appeared with the
"Mighty Oak Players" in "It's a Wonderful Life",
"The Thespians", "The Ladies at Lunch", "Madame
Zorina", "Oklahoma", "Fiddler on the Roof", and
"Comedy Skits and Variety shows.” Sonia currently resides in New Jersey (bagels, pizza and Rita’s yum, yum) and when
not gracing our stage with her beauty and talent is working with the "On
Stage Ensemble" in Princeton,
New Jersey. Ms. Witkowski is
thrilled to make her premiere appearance with the "GGVAP" in their
production of PotterSchool Musical.
Mascot…Coco The Wonder Dog
Although not
appearing in the show, Coco is the official
mascot of The Golden Garter Family Comedy Theatre. Attending every audition, Coco has the final word about whether or not an actor
is qualified to appear in our show. If she likes ‘em, then we like ‘em! And
so far, she has yet to go wrong. Now if we can only get her to pick some
Powerball numbers! When not casting our shows, Coco likes to sleep, look
cute, bark at the UPS man, chase cats and go outside…then come back in…go
outside, then come back in… go outside, then come back in…Go Coco!
Our parents wouldn’t have it any other
way! At The Golden Garter, we pick up after ourselves, say grace before meals
and tip our hats to ladies! We don’t put up with any of that cursin’, cussin’ or spittin’! You can trust we’re a
“class” act, genteel and refined too. So, don’t come alone (unless you have
no choice). Bring the whole family! Kids, teens, parents and grandparents all
LOVE the zany antics of “A Magical Melodrama.”
So, don’t delay, get your tickets today.
A Magical Melodrama at The Golden Garter has been known to sell-out a show or
two, so don’t be left in the dust, don’t end up high and dry, don’t miss the
“Show” Boat, and “don’t wait ‘til the sun shines, Nellie”!, write or call to
reserve your seats in our historically-hysterical evening of comedy
immediately (that means right now, today! Why are you still reading this?
Stop and pick up the phone…that’s what it’s there for! You won’t be sorry you
did. There, now don’t you feel better?) The Golden Garter will become the
highlight of your vacation, I guarantee it, or my name isn’t Phineas T.
Pendergast! (Come to think of it, my name isn’t Phineas T. Pendergast!
But come anyway, you know you want to! That’s Phineas T. on the right).
The Golden Garter Theatre’s next
location and dates are announced on our “Schedule” page (see exact dates that
aren’t sold out on our “Schedule” page). So,
all you have to do is buy your tickets and show up – doors open 30 minutes
prior to each performance! (But warm up your funny bone before you come – we
don’t want you to strain anything!) We’ll do our job by making sure you leave
the evening looking younger, feeling lighter, lifting your IQ and even going
home in a more stylish & valuable horse and buggy! (not really).
“I laughed ‘til my cheeks hurt!”
– Sue Coates, Battle Ground, WA
(notice Sue didn’t tell us which cheeks!)
“What a blessing it was to have clean, fun humor…it was a
hoot!”
– Al & Tori Schmidhamer, Vancouver, WA
“My friends and I had a terrific
time with all of you…it was like we were at a party!! It was the end of a fun
weekend. Thanks again for the great laughs.”
-Louise Elliott, San Jose, CA
“…simply good, clean fun…the whole family will enjoy the magic
and vaudeville atmosphere.”
-Jack & Marge Mace, Brush Prairie, WA
“For months we’ve been traveling throughout the United States,
and we can easily say that your show was the highlight of our trip!”
– Maria
Vicinaiz, Brownsville, TX
“Thank you for a delightful show!!! We laughed
uncontrollably all the way home and found ourselves cracking up over it days
after! In fact, months later we still refer to that night as one of our most
enjoyable outings. Your show has a wonderful combination of music, magic and
comedy. Great for all ages. Your ‘dummy’ skit was our favorite and extra
funny knowing the ‘dummy’ under the mask!! It was fun meeting you all after
the show!! Thanks again for a most memorable experience.” -Sandy &
Nelson Melo, Vancouver, WA
“I loved the show because of its’ wholesome humor. I would
definitely recommend the show, it was a great evening of entertainment.” –Gary Boe, Vancouver, WA
“I found myself watching my
grandson (age 6) laughing so hard that I thought he was going to fall
off his chair! Then I noticed my son sitting next to me laughing so hard
at his son that I just couldn’t stop laughing at them laughing so hard! There
we were, three generations having good clean fun; total hilarity
and total enjoyment...does it get any better than that? I couldn't
have had a better evening!” -Mary Lou Nordstrom, Troutdale,
OR
“I really enjoyed the show. It was a great evening of
entertainment. The ‘human ventriloquist dummy’ was a real hoot. It takes a
lot of talent to pull off a show like this and they did it with apparent
ease. Thank you.”
-Al Slavich, Battle Ground, WA
“It was fantastic! My kids loved interacting with the cast,
and the actors had a blast playing with the audience. It was a
terrific show. If you are looking for a family-friendly
activity, head to The Golden Garter.”
-Melissa Bickle, Hood River, OR
“…bring the kids… wholesome humor built for a family audience
and getting everyone to laugh together…tickling intended to get people all
laughing simultaneously…”
-The Columbian Newspaper, Vancouver, WA
“…hysterical! Thanks for an evening of much laughter.”
-Delcine Mesa-Johnson, Battle Ground, WA
“We had a wonderful time! The show
at the Golden Garter was a hoot! It was both entertaining and hilarious and
never let up. They have a real touch for drawing from the crowd and
keeping everyone engaged!” –Warren Rust, Ridgefield, WA
“Wholesome entertainment for the entire family, well worth
the drive…I’m an old grouch and they made me laugh!”
– Jon Couture, Hockinson, WA
