The Allen Community College Theater is gearing up for a jam-packed year. Directors Tony Piazza and Susan Mc-Kinnis have chosen pieces for every season and are excited to get them started.
“Every year we do four shows,” Piazza said. “We do the musical first in October, typically a play in the winter, the student one-acts around February and a comedy or drama in April.”
Piazza and McKinnis take turns directing the plays and musicals
“It’s our mission as a college to give a variety of experiences,” Piazza said.
Piazza will start the season by directing the lighthearted “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The musical will premiere Oct. 10-12. Show times are 7:30 p.m. at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
“We pick our musicals by the talent we have coming in,” Piazza said.
He said a mix of students audition for the theater performances, including theater majors, music majors and hobbyists.
In December, McKinnis will direct “The Diary of Anne Frank.” It is a newly adapted play based on Frank’s autobiography, “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.”
The musical is lighthearted and comical while the play has a more serious tone.
“I think Tony tries to have that balance between the musical and the play,” McKinnis said.
The one-act pieces haven’t been selected yet. The one acts are student directed.
“They (the students) really like taking ownership,” Piazza said. “The student population likes to see what their peers have done.”
In April, the department will present Shakespeare’s, “The Comedy of Errors.” Piazza admits he has done this play before but says it’s a fun piece.
“I like working with language,” he said. “It should be a lighthearted feeling.”
The theater department likes performing at the Bowlus but Piazza hopes audiences will make a trip out to the college theater.
