Port Tobacco Players is pleased to announce our 2022 Memorial Scholarship Winners. Each winner will receive a $1000 scholarship to be awarded on or about August 1, 2022.

London Brooks, a student from St. Charles High School who plans to attend Towson University.

Nyla Joelle Brown, a student from St. Mary's Ryken High School who plans to attend Ball State University.

Anabel Jane Eschenbrenner, a student Great Mills  High School who plans to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Port Tobacco Players mourns the passing of Gordon Francis Brown, a talented actor and director who has graced our stage,  on May 5 2022.

Gordon Francis Brown age 95, passed quietly at the Winchester Virginia Medical Center on May 5, 2022. A World War II veteran, and youngest of five children born to Lillian and Harvey Brown in Tomah Wisconsin on June 19, 1926, Gordon married the love of his life, Marjorie Jane Maddox, on December 29, 1947. Living more than 50 years in Charles County, Maryland most of those years in LaPlata, they had seven children, 19 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren. 

Gordon had a very successful career in the federal civil service beginning as a GS-1 at the Civil Service Commission in 1943 retiring from the Office of Personnel Management in June 1979 as a federal executive, the Assistant Director for Federal Insurance Programs. He was a talented amateur actor and director with the Port Tobacco Players in La Plata Maryland, appearing in or directing numerous productions for that Community Theater group. With no formal musical training or knowledge of reading music, he was active as a tenor in several Church choirs. As a member of the National Association for Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), he twice served as that organization's National Secretary and was the president of the Bethesda Chapter for several years. He will be remembered for his quick intellect, his wonderful sense of humor, his optimism and enthusiasm for life, his love and support for his family, and his fervent belief in God and His Savior Jesus Christ. He is survived by his seven children, Cynthia Jane Johnston, Christopher Gordon Brown, Constance Lillian Estrada, Jeffrey Spencer Brown, Kathleen Frances Quillen, Kenneth Francis Brown, and Richard Matthew Brown. 

He will be laid to rest in the cemetery outside of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Pomfret Maryland following a funeral mass at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17. Following the burial there will be a reception in the church hall. Masks will likely be required for the funeral mass.

Published by The Washington Post on May 14, 2022.

Hello and welcome to Issue 7 of the Members News!  As always, please be sure to let me know if you have anything you would like to include in this forum.  If you want to share a special upcoming event involving our members or something theater related that might be of interest to folks, please send me a note at membership@ptplayers.com.

Let’s start with information from the Winter Membership Meeting that was held on February 19, 2022.  

Our new Board of Directors is:
            President  - Tara Water, Productions Chairperson
            Vice President – Jason Klonkowski, Public Affairs Chairperson
            Secretary – Carol Russell, Education Chairperson (Elected to a 3 year term)
            Treasurer – Mike Gahan
            Props Chairperson – Chris Magee (Elected to fill a 2 year term)
            Costume Chairperson – Janice Sagers (Elected to a 3 year term)
            Facilities Chairperson – Craig Hower (Elected to fill a 1 year term)
            History/Library Chairperson – Kaitelyn Bauer Dieguez (Elected to a 3 year term)
            Membership Chairperson - Carol Charnock
 
Welcome to those new to the board and congratulations to the officers and chairpersons.  
 
Our upcoming season (2022-2023):
 
            Fences – Directed by Craig Hower (runs September 23 through October 9, 2022)
            Hello, Dolly! – Directed by Ben Simpson (runs November 25 through December 18, 2022)
            Twelfth Night – Directed by Rachel Wallace (runs January 20 through February 5, 2023)
            TBD – Directed by Heather Bauer (runs March 10 through April 2, 2023)
            You Can’t Take it With You – Directed by Mike Gahan (runs May 5 through May 20, 2023)
            Ragtime – Directed by Tessa Silvestro (runs June 30 through July 23, 2023)
 
Congratulations to all these great directors and their show.  Keep an eye on the website and Facebook for audition dates!
 
And our One Act entry from 2019 – True Colors, written by our own Kim Bessler – will compete at the Liverpool International Theater Festival in Nova Scotia, Canada in October of 2023!  Best of luck!
 
Also coming up, Port Tobacco Players will be hosting the Maryland One Act Festival on February 10-11, 2023.  
 
Encore Kids will resume next season under the direction of Suzanne Donohue.  Camp Mockabee will run again this year – please watch the website and Facebook for application information and dates for each session.  

We opened our 2021 – 2022 season with a well-received production of 12 Angry Jurors.  In November we put on a musical revue entitled All Together Now!, which was a great fundraiser.  This was followed by a One Act show for Christmas – Tiny Tim’s Christmas Carol.  Although a “short” show, it was enjoyed by the audience and got our folks into the Christmas spirit.  January brought an enthralling performance of Macbeth.  We welcomed some new-comers to our performers and saw a lot of new faces in our audience – a win/win for everyone!  
 
March has seen the opening of our first full length musical since our shut down.  Little Shop of Horrors will opened on March 11, 2022 and will run for 4 weekends.  This will also be our first show at full capacity in the theater.  Masks are optional, but you must show proof of vaccination (or negative test result) for audience members.  Get your ticket soon for this great, campy show!
 
Have you seen the new lobby area?  It is beautiful!  The Construction Team Extraordinaire really out-did themselves.  The Art Deco detail work is so gorgeous, and the extended lobby is fabulous.  If you get a chance, come by and see the “new look”!
 
We will be cleaning up several areas in the theater this spring – the props loft, the set building area and the rehearsal hall for sure.  We will need many hands to make the work go quickly.  Dates haven’t been set yet, but we will be putting out an “all call” for help this spring to get a start on clearing out items that we no longer need.  Please lend a hand if you can.  We’ll need folks for everything from going through bins, hauling items to the dumpster, taking inventory of items in the props loft, etc.  Help us get re-organized!!!!
 
There are a couple of new Children’s Theater groups in the tri-county area.  It’s always wonderful to find new opportunities for our young actors and tech stars to learn and shine.
 
The Children’s Theatre of Southern Maryland (located in Calvert County) is up and running.  It’s open to children age 8 through graduating seniors.  For more information, you can check out their website at ctsmd.org.
 
Also in the area is the Actin’ Up Theater Troupe at the Upward Thrive Academy in La Plata.  They offer different sessions during the year for youth and teens, ages 8-17.    For more information, please email upwardthrive@gmail.com.
 
Remember our membership year ends on June 30, 2022.  If you are a current member, you will be receiving a reminder letter and envelope to renew your membership.  
 
Please let me know if you have anything you would like included in the next Members News!  
 
Carol Charnock
Membership Chair

With the current drop in Covid cases in the county, and the rising vaccination numbers, Port Tobacco Players will be revising our current Covid policy. Effective March 10th, 2022 PTP will be adjusting to "Mask Optional" within the building. Our policy will still require all to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test taken within the previous 72 hours.

Stay healthy, stay safe.

Read more on our Covid policies 

The PTP Board of Directors have decided to go virtual for their next meeting. The meeting will be on Wednesday, January 19th.  If you would like to attend please send an email to Chris at president@ptplayers.com for the Zoom link.