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MARCH 2013

Have you ever seen the northern lights? If so, you will enjoy the reprise, and if not, you are in for a treat, as the wild, colorful light designs by Obie Burch play the backdrop for the nine love vignettes of this endearing show. Bob Yazejian has done his

usual outstanding job finding out-of-the ordinary props necessary to complement the set, built by Tom Edson and his crew. It’s all about love—kissing, fighting, making up, falling in and out of love and being afraid of love. You will love it, too!

ALMOST, MAINE Opens Friday, March 8!

EVENTS CALENDAR MAC MeetingAlmost Maine Opening Night & After GlowDaylight Savings BeginsSpamalot AuditionsBoard MeetingSt. Patrick's DayAlmost Maine ClosesPalm SundayEasterFinal MAC Meeting

Mar. 5Mar. 8

Mar. 10Mar. 10-11Mar. 12Mar. 17Mar. 23Mar. 24Mar. 31Apr. 7

Our theatre is fabulous, but it does have its challenges—including for patrons! Without an elevator or a restroom on the theatre level, any patron with physical issues must plan ahead when coming to one of our shows. Wrangling up and down the boulevard in winter weather may just be more than some are willing to do—that’s where having transportation from Christ Church Cranbrook parking lot is invaluable! When we have a van that operates (sometimes that is a challenge, too!) it certainly would be nice to have a choice of drivers to spread the wealth and the warm St. D’s welcome to patrons from the moment they step out of their cars to head to the theatre. One night! Just one night of your life is all we are asking. Think about volunteering? St. D’s certainly could use your help and your personality.

The Cast of "Almost, Maine" Top Row: Pam Richards, Chris Stepnitz, Janie Minchella, Kathleen Lietz, Peggy Lee

Bottom Row: Mark Drum, Ana Gomez, Chris Peterson, Jon Huegli

A Van Can Make a Difference

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SPAMALOT AUDITIONSMarch 10 & 11 @ 7 pm

Check-in at 6:30 p.m., auditions begin at 7 p.m. Callbacks on Mar. 11 at 8 p.m.

To receive music and audition cuts and information on the audition process, contact Duncan Mein at mein.duncan@gmail.com or 248-971-3035.

For more information about the dance audition or tap dance classes, contact Valerie Mould at valtap@sbcglobal.net or (248) 709-4566.

For more information about the music audition, contact Debbie Tedrick at debbietedrick@aol.com or 248-388-2700.

Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian legend.

TRY AND MAKE SENSE OF ACT I

After a brief, narrative overview of medieval England, a Scandinavian village appears, with Finnish villagers along with the Mayor of the country on his fort singing the "Fish Slapping Song." The men grab tiny fish and LIGHTLY slap the women in the face with them. After a couple of slaps, the women pull out ENORMOUS fish and slap the men in return with great force. The narrator tells the frolicking Finns that he was talking about England, not Finland, so the scene shifts to a dreary, dark village with penitent monks in hooded robes chanting in Latin. King Arthur travels the land with his servant Patsy, who follows him around banging two coconut shells together to make the sound of a horse's hooves as Arthur

"rides" before him, trying to recruit Knights of the Round Table to join him in Camelot. Sir Robin, a collector of plague victims, and Lance, a large, handsome and incredibly violent man, meet as Lance attempts to dispose of the sickly Not Dead Fred. They agree to become Knights of the Round Table together, Lance for the fighting, and Robin for the singing and the dancing.

Well, that is just the first 30 minutes of the show. Eventually, five knights gather in Camelot—which looks like the Excalibur resort from Las Vegas—complete with showgirls, oversized dice and the Lady of the Lake headlining the Castle in full Cher get-up. God contacts them and tells them to locate the Holy Grail. During their travels, the Knights are taunted by lewd French soldiers who send cancan dancers after them. Yes, it is zany, completely nonsensical and you will laugh til you CRY!

A completely silly synopsis of Act II will be in the April Guilder.

IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!

The St. Dunstan’s family has so much talent that it often spills off our stage and is celebrated by our brethren community theater groups. Appearing in a Stage Two production of A Catered Affair at Stagecrafters in Royal Oak, (running through Sunday, Mar. 10) are Sue Mancuso, Gary Jones, Marc Myers, and former member, John Nowaczyk. Musical direction is by Matt Horn. You still have time to see it Mar. 7, 9 or 10, because we all know you will be coming to Opening Night for Almost, Maine, at St. D’s!

SYNOPSIS: A couple must decide whether to spend their life savings on a family business or to celebrate their only daughter's marriage with a lavish catered affair, providing her with the joyful wedding they never had for themselves. This bittersweet reflection on the complexities of relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children will tug at your heartstrings and make you laugh. A beautiful exploration of love and the true meaning of family, A Catered Affair features a melodious score.

"A CATERED AFFAIR" IS CROWD PLEASER

Cross-pollination is a beautiful thing. Perhaps you noticed that Village Players’ 90th season slate took up the whole inside back page of the Chicago program? With our slate in their program and theirs in ours, it helps both groups to reach out to an audience already interested in community theater.

Visit the auditions page on the St. D's website for details

Sue Mancuso with Jackie Gubow in "A Catered Affair" at Stagecrafters

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NEW DADS EVEN THRILLED WITH DIAPER CHANGES

Jake Zinke, Jeff Foust and baby make a family. We have some de-lightful baby pictures of Christian which we will share with you as soon as we get the legal go-ahead from Jake and Jeff. He already weighs over 9 lbs.!

Jake & Jeff + 1

One of the fun ways of getting people to chat about the show and St. Dun-stan’s is the 50/50 raffle. The giggles were abounding as one VERY tall gen-tleman (6’7”, he said) decided that the nose to toes was definitely in his best interest in the purchase of raffle tick-ets. It turned out that he is Kendall Doman’s uncle and everyone within three rows began chatting and laugh-ing and even asking him if he would be THEIR nose to toes surrogate. While selling the tickets, Pam Richards heard so many say, “This is our first time at this theatre! It is so friendly and nice—we’ll be back!” The money made for the theatre is nice. The good will and community outreach of engaging peo-ple so that they will want to return—that is priceless—as well as being a big part of the future of St. D’s! As the ’70s song says, “You don’t have to be a star, baby, to be in my show.” In each and every show, you can drive the van, ush-er or sell raffle tickets and be the cen-ter of attention in the pre-show bus-tle! You know you want to. Call Ruth Bennett to volunteer or email her at rbenmsc@gmail.com.

2 CENTS WORTH OF GOLD from Ruth Bennett

Ya just gotta love people who love St. Dunstan’s! When Ruth Bennett was asked for information she thought should be shared this month in the Guilder, she suggested information about Spamalot for all of us, so that we can talk it up with patrons in the lobby during Almost, Maine. Although Ruth has never seen Spamalot, she put the entire soundtrack on her iPod a few years back, she said, and listened to it so much that she felt like she knew the show. “It's so funny,” Ruth said in her sweet Pennsylvania lilt, “and it's going to be up against Sound of Music and Camelot, two old saws, and to me it's a relief to have something fresh and crazy. So the word has to get out about what this great show is. Oh well, that's my 2 cents, for whatever it's worth.” Gold, Ruth. Pure gold.

TINHORNS AND DOLLS, GET READY: UPDATE ON 2013-2014 SEASON

GUYS AND DOLLS REPLACES JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

We’ve received the rights from the publishers to present “Boeing- Boeing”, “Spelling Bee”, “God of Carnage”, but unfortunately, we did not receive the rights for “Jesus Christ Superstar.” In its place, however, we are pleased to announce that we will be presenting the classic, “Guys and Dolls” for our June show in the Greek.

We are still searching for directors, music directors and choreographers for next season and we’d love to hear from you. If interested, contact Anthony Marsalese at tonyjeff@comcast.net and prepare a brief director submission before April 1.

Looking forward to another successful St. Dunstan season.

THE MORNING LINE ON GUYS AND DOLLS

New York and Damon Runyon’s best characters meet in this delightful musical by Frank Loesser. Gangsters, gamblers and other characters from the New York underworld mix it up with saintly Salvation Army band members from the Save-A-Soul Mission and nightclub dancers from the Hot Box. Horse races, the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York, a gambler gone good because of a woman, and a well-known fiancée of 14 years are just a few of the highlights of this beloved show. The music is some of the best-known in musical theater, and the Greek is the perfect setting for the revival meeting and the revival of this spectacularly entertaining show. Guaranteed, it will be going Nicely, Nicely!

50/50 MAKES MONEY AND FRIENDS

OOPS! Correction to the February Guilder

When the February Guilder was published we forgot to include the name of Duffy Wineman's fiancé. Duffy Wineman and Jack Marwel will be saying their "I Do's" on May 25, 2013. Congratulations you two!

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Another openin’, another show! In just a few days we’ll be opening our fourth show of the season Almost, Maine with auditions for Spamalot shortly afterwards. It’s amazing that our 81st season is more than halfway over. Spring is one of my favorite times to be around the theatre. Our gorgeous setting starts to bloom. We also begin to mount what’s usually our most ambitious production of the year. It’s fun to see lots of members come out, roll up their sleeves, and help us put on a great June show.

I have one bit of exciting news to announce. We’re partnering with

the LK Bennett store at Somerset to do a fundraiser for the theatre. On Thursday, April 25th, they’re going to host a shopping event where they’ll donate 10% of the night’s proceeds to the theatre. The last shopping event they threw raised $1000 for the charity. The management team is very excited to partner with us; they’ve already contacted Hour Detroit and other publications in the area to make it a well-publicized event. I think this will be a great publicity tool for the theatre while raising some money for us as well.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t put in a plug for our Strategic Planning Committee as well. Tom Edson and I have received some responses from interested members, but we’re still looking for help. Do not be shy —we’re looking for all sorts of members to help us in some capacity. If you have any sort of interest, please let Tom (tedson@comast.net) or myself (paul.dorset@gmail.com) know.

I look forward to seeing everyone at Almost, Maine!

Contributors:Molly DorsetPaul Dorset

Susan HolmesDuncan MeinPam Richards

PRESIDENT'S NOTES by Paul Dorset

Paul and Molly Dorset at the "Chicago" After Glow

Reinstatement :Liz Schultz Lights Committee902 E. Windemere, Royal Oak, MI 48073248-840-2049 • eschultz427@hotmail.com New Members: Jessica Danley Make-up Committee • Sponsor: Paul Dorset36552 Dowling Ct., Livonia, MI 48150734-634-7708 • jessicadanley@me.com Nancy Knutson Tickets Committee • Sponsor: Pam Richards1704 Witherbee Dr., Troy, MI 48084 248-694-4644 • nknutson0@gmail.com

Updates:Barb Gowans has moved to:Oxford Place Tower2345 Oxford, # 726, Berkley, MI 48072248-677-3392 Mary Sue Meyer 's home phone: 248-673-3449 Margie Brooks' Cell Phone # is 248-515-9458

ROSTER UPDATES

It was love at first feel, on Valentine’s Day, as Mairo Towle said goodbye to her old hurty knee and hello to a new one that can keep up with the pace she sets! The operation went without a hitch and Mairo is ambulatory and ready to go if the healing will only hurry up! She feels great and thanks all her St. D’s friends for their well-wishes. From the pictures of her knee and face, you see that both are happy and smiling!

MAIRO’S KNEE HEALS

Growing up around creativity can be contagious! Maryse Richards, daughter of oh-so long-time member Pam, has proved to be a hot commodity in the local world of ice sculpture. Maryse decided to win every ice-carving competition she entered this year, and that is what she did: In Michigan: Holland, Plymouth and Frankenmuth; and in Ohio, Medina and Perrysburg. Covering the Plymouth Ice Festival, Channel 4 newscaster, Chuck Gaidica, said that Maryse was probably the only woman with a chainsaw he would turn his back on. Maryse often sends beautifully decorated cakes and cookies to cast parties—and you may remember her Ziegfield-like Bavarian pretzel, beer stein on a table and bratwurst headpiece creations for St. D’s production of The Producers.

MERMACORN SPARKLES IN FIRST PLACE

Maryse Richards and Lindsey Wood in front of their “Mermacorn”