Harold Dershimer News

Kentwood Players proudly presents THE IMAGINARY INVALID by Moliere, an outrageous satire of medicine and its practitioners, opening Friday, January 13 through Saturday, February 18, 2017 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. There will be a champagne and dessert reception between 7:00-7:30pm for season subscribers and members attending the Saturday, January 14 performance. The production is directed by Susan Stangl, who just happens to be a medical doctor adding her unique spin to the production, and produced by Sheridan Cole for Kentwood Players. Featured in the cast in alphabetical order are Harold Dershimer, Mitch Feinstein, Drew Fitzsimmons, Sydney Holliday, Daniel Kruger, Zachary Leonard, Aaron Merken, Lezlie Moore, Michele Selin, Beau Smith, and Jenna Tovey.

Kentwood Players presents WAIT UNTIL DARK, a suspenseful thriller by Frederick Knott, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, opening Friday, September 9 through Saturday, October 15 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by Kathy Dershimer and produced by Jenny Boone by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Featured in the cast in alphabetical order are Samantha Barrios, Stanley Brown, Ty Budde, Harold Dershimer, Brian Roach, and Ixchel Valiente.

Kentwood Players, the community theater group based at the Westchester Playhouse, was founded in December 1949 by Jan and Arky Marcom, for whom the group's annual Marcom Masque Awards are named. The first Marcom Masque Awards were presented for the 1957-1958 season with 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' winning the award for Best Play.

Kentwood Players presents "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris from May 13 through June 18, 2016 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. The production directed by George L. Rametta and produced by Lauren A. Jarvis by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. Inc. The cast features (in alphabetical order) Pauline Bugembe, Harold Dershimer, Jeremy Patrick Hamilton, Jen Kerner, Matt Landig, Damon Rutledge, and Andrea Stradling.

Kentwood Players proudly welcomed Mamie Hansberry, the sister of "A RAISIN IN THE SUN" playwright Lorraine Hansberry, to their production of the classic family drama on Sunday, January 10, 2016. Ms. Hansberry attended the play with several family members and shared how proud her entire family is of "everyone who has ever been a part of it." She has seen hundreds of productions in the past six decades and remarked that each member of the Kentwood Players cast "brought their own unique understanding and insights into her sister's remarkable characters."

Kentwood Players proudly presents Lorraine Hansberry's classic family drama "A RAISIN IN THE SUN" from Friday, January 8 through Saturday, February 13, 2016, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by Harold Dershimer. Here's your first look at the cast! The production directed by Harold Dershimer and produced by Kathy Dershimer by special arrangement with Samuel French. Featured in the cast in alphabetical order are Rashod Davenport, Ruth Featherstone, Lawrence Hatcher, Daniel Kruger, Jean Michels, Patricia Newman, Shannon O'Connor, Damon Rutledge, Isaiah Suber, and Charlotte Williams.

Here's your first look at the musical murder mystery 'SOMETHING'S AFOOT' that spoofs detective stories, most particularly Agatha Christie's, And Then There Were None (a.k.a. Ten Little Indians). The play involves a group of standard British mystery characters (the Cockney servants, the brash retired military man, the imperious dowager, the snoopy spinster, the ne'er-do-well nephew, the ingenue couple) who are invited to the lake estate of Lord Dudley Rancour. When the wealthy lord is found dead, it's a comical race against the clock and some outrageous booby traps to find out whodunit.

Here's your first look at the musical murder mystery "SOMETHING'S AFOOT" that spoofs detective stories, most particularly Agatha Christie's, And Then There Were None (a.k.a. Ten Little Indians). The play involves a group of standard British mystery characters (the Cockney servants, the brash retired military man, the imperious dowager, the snoopy spinster, the ne'er-do-well nephew, the ingenue couple) who are invited to the lake estate of Lord Dudley Rancour. When the wealthy lord is found dead, it's a comical race against the clock and some outrageous booby traps to find out whodunit.

Kentwood Players presents Neil Simon's 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' from tonight, July 10, through August 15, 2015, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045.

"Brighton Beach Memoirs" is the semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene Trilogy, followed by "Biloxi Blues" and "Broadway Bound." This first play centers on 15 year old Eugene Jerome who lives with his family in Brighton Beach during the height of the Depression in 1937. He has dreams of becoming a star pitcher for the New York Yankees alternating with his growing awareness of girls. Eugene narrates the play with wit and takes us through his memories and reflections of himself and his family as they share their laughter, tears, and love as they navigate the hard times of the depression.

MAME, the 1966 multiple Tony Award winning musical, based on the biographical novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis and subsequent play and film Auntie Mame by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is a wonderful, warm, and witty narrative enhanced with Jerry Herman's evocative, lively, and sentimental music and lyrics. Bohemian Mame Dennis is a larger-than-life personality living in New York City during the Great Depression. Mame has a collection of eccentric, wealthy society friends and her life is one endless party; that is until her young nephew Patrick "walks into her life."

Kentwood Players kicks off its 65th Anniversary Year by presenting 'An Ideal Husband' by Oscar Wilde from tonight, January 9 to Saturday, February 14, 2015 for a six-week run todays and Saturdays at 8pm with Sunday matinees at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue, Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by T. Samantha Barrios and produced by Melodie S. Rivers and Terry Delegeane.

Kentwood Players kicks off its 65th Anniversary Year by presenting 'An Ideal Husband' by Oscar Wilde from Friday, January 9 to Saturday, February 14, 2015 for a six-week run on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with Sunday matinees at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue, Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by T. Samantha Barrios and produced by Melodie S. Rivers and Terry Delegeane.

Kentwood Players presents the Tony Award winning musical "Into the Woods" with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, from Friday, November 14 to Saturday, December 20 with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm, with two Thursday night performances at 8pm on December 11 and 18 at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue, Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by Shawn K. Summerer with musical direction by Catherine Rahm, produced by Lori Marple-Pereslete and Tony Pereslete by special arrangement with Music Theatre International.

American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is known for his immense contributions to musical theatre for over 50 years. He is the winner of an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer) including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and the Laurence Olivier Award. Sondheim fans are in for a treat this holiday season with two Sondheim shows playing within just a few miles of each other: Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse is presenting 'Into the Woods' and Chromolume at the Attic Theatre is presenting 'Putting it Together' with both productions opening on November 14, 2014.

INTO THE WOODS is tied together by an original story involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, their dealings with a Witch who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other storybook characters during their journey. Join Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Rapunzel, Jack the Giant Slayer, and many other famous storybook characters as they each venture into the foreboding woods in search of magical items, love, money, or simply a purpose in life. This classic mash-up of Grimm's fairy tales teaches all of us the true consequences of what it means to "get your wish."

On Sunday, July 20, the Kentwood Players performance of SORDID LIVES had 4 very special guests in the audience: playwright Del Shores and original cast members Ann Walker, Newell Alexander and Rosemary Alexander. After enjoying the show, they visited with the Kentwood cast and posed for photos on the set.

Kentwood Players will present 'Sordid Lives' by Del Shores from tonight, July 11 to August 16, 2014 for a six-week run on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with Sunday matinees at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue, Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by Kirk Larson and produced by Lori Marple-Pereslete and Virginia Mekkelson by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

This black comedy about white trash centers on a colorful family from a small Texas town who must come to grips with the accidental death of the elderly family matriarch during her clandestine meeting in a seedy motel room with a much younger, married neighbor. The woman's family must deal with their own demons while preparing for what could be an embarrassing funeral. This play is filled with adult situations and language

Kentwood Players, the community theater group based at the Westchester Playhouse, was founded in December 1949 by Jan and Arky Marcom. At the end of each season, all Kentwood Players members in good standing who have seen all six shows vote by secret ballot and then the group presents their annual Marcom Masque Awards to the winners in each category at an entertainment-filled awards ceremony, held June 28, 2014 for the 2013-2014 season..