New Signature Acting Editions & Broadway Book Club Editions
Oh, Mary! by
Mary Todd Lincoln is tired of Washington, DC. The nation’s capital is so boring; she would much rather be onstage, where she belongs, starring in a cabaret. And if she can’t do that, she might as well drink. Or push her chaperone down the stairs. Or drink. The entire White House is fed up with Mary’s antics, most of all her bore of a husband, who can’t focus on anything except his silly Civil War. To get her out of his hair, Abe hires a handsome, up-and-coming actor to give Mary acting lessons, hoping to keep her busy and out of trouble, but the distraction ends up working a little too well. A riotous, campy, outrageous comedy that dares to ask: What won’t Mary Todd Lincoln do to be a star?
Clue Adapted from the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, written by Sandy Rustin, additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price
Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture based on the Hasbro board game CLUE.
It’s a dark and stormy night, and you’ve been invited to a very unusual dinner party. Each of the guests has an alias, the butler offers a variety of weapons, and the host is, well, dead. So whodunit? Join the iconic oddballs known as Scarlet, Plum, White, Green, Peacock, and Mustard as they race to find the murderer in Boddy Manor before the body count stacks up. Based on the cult classic film and the popular board game, Clue is a madcap comedy that will keep you guessing until the final twist.
A High School Edition of the play is available here.
You Can’t Take It with You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
Winner of the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The family of Martin Vanderhof lives “just around the corner from Columbia University—but don’t go looking for it.” Grandpa, as Martin is more commonly known, is the paterfamilias of a large and extended family: His daughter, Penny, who fancies herself a romance novelist; her husband, Paul, an amateur fireworks expert; their daughter, Alice, an attractive and loving girl who is still embarrassed by her family’s eccentricities—which include a xylophone player/leftist leaflet printer, an untalented ballerina, a couple on relief, and a ballet master exiled from Soviet Russia. When Alice falls for her boss, Tony, a handsome scion of Wall Street, she fears that their two families—so unlike in manner, politics, and finances—will never come together. During a disastrous dinner party, Alice’s worst fears are confirmed. Her prospective in-laws are humiliated in a party game, fireworks explode in the basement, and the house is raided by the FBI. Frustrated and upset, Alice intends to run away to the country, until Grandpa and Co.—playing the role of Cupid—manage not only to bring the happy couple together, but to set Tony’s father straight about the true priorities in life. After all, why be obsessed by money? You can’t take it with you.
An Old-Fashioned Family Murder by
A murder. A mystery. A mother.
It’s a dark and stormy night at the mansion of elderly Colonel Claythorne, and the pompous murder-mystery author Arthur Whittington is holding court with the Colonel’s family: his eldest daughter, Clarice, who is cold and glamorous; Clarice’s attractive fiancé, Jasper; Claythorne’s youngest daughter, Dotty, who is a big fan of Whittington’s; and Mrs. Shirley Peck, an unassuming but keenly observant visiting widow. When Whittington shares the news that the Colonel has modified his will to cut out one of his daughters—though which daughter won’t be revealed until the Colonel’s death—tempers flare. By the time Mrs. Peck’s son, (junior) Detective Paul Peck arrives at the house, there’s been a murder, and everyone is a suspect. With backstabbing, love, and Mrs. Peck’s mother-knows-best advice complicating the investigation, it soon becomes clear that nothing—and no one—is what it seems.
New Plays
Corners Grove by
A nod to Our Town, Corners Grove, shifts Thorton Wilder’s masterpiece into the twenty-first century, to a small town about forty miles south of San Francisco. George, Emily, and their friends are determined to live their lives on their own terms and to shed versions of themselves they’ve outgrown, whether that be their high school sweetheart or their gender identity. Life has only spun forward, and the only way for the residents of Corners Grove to keep up is to embrace the unknown and commit to their own truths.
Return to Seymour Street by Tom Dudzick
Childhood sweethearts Peter and Irene have found each other again after more than twenty years apart. After Irene shows up to an event promoting Peter’s latest book on paranormal experiences, Peter offers his childhood home to Irene for the home-renovation TV show she is producing. Irene brings her teenage son, Gary, with her in the hopes that Peter might be able to help Gary with the strange, possibly supernatural communications he has been receiving. As Peter and Irene’s romance slowly rekindles, they find themselves up against the house’s angry tenant, the ghost of Peter’s dead father—and he wants them OUT! Frightening ghostly confrontations, wild psychokinetic activity, and the unearthing of long-dead secrets all lead to a hair-raising showdown to see who can take possession of the family homestead.
The Last Seder by
The Price family has gathered for one last Seder. Matriarch Lily has been taking care of her Alzheimer’s-stricken husband, Marvin, for years, but the family has decided it’s best for all involved parties to move him into an assisted-living facility. Lily and Marvin’s four daughters and their plus-ones—ranging from brand-new to longtime partners—all arrive at the girls’ childhood home to help with the transition and instead end up fighting, divvying up keepsakes, and reliving memories. The Prices, who are always ready for a laugh or a cry, must face a bittersweet future as their family changes for good.
The Dreidel Players Present… Best Hanukkah Show Ever! by Jeremy Desmon and Victor Wishna
THE DREIDEL PLAYERS PRESENT…BEST HANUKKAH SHOW EVER! follows a troupe of passionate (but not-quite-ready-for-prime-time) performers as they band together to create the greatest Hanukkah show there ever was…in just eight days! As the clock ticks and the candles burn, the Dreidel Players scramble to discover the true meaning of the season and bring a little more light into the world. The result is a hilarious series of joyful, latke-scented sketches and scenes about all things Hanukkah—delivered tongue-in-cheek and hand-on-heart.
