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Health & Fitness

Reopened Thomaston Opera House to Launch New Season

Upcoming shows coming to the venerable Thomaston Opera House

Chuck Stango, President of the Board of Trustees of Landmark Community Theatre, risked his life to appear on Backstage with Johnny O (9 to 10 am on FM 97.3, WZBG.) Stango, who is a criminal prosecutor by day and will soon be appearing in Titanic, joked that if you have a spot on Johnny O, you don’t miss it. Earlier this month the town of Thomaston voted yes in a "very Mayberry-esque" manner to let them produce theatrical productions at the landmark Thomaston Opera House. The final production before the theatre went dark was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It took 18 months plus to get this done because they lost a year when it didn’t go through the first time. Acknowledging that theatre costs money, Stango feels that the arrangement they reached will work for everyone involved. Landmark will manage the theatre and bring in other productions to the 500-seat theatre as well.

First up is the group called Curtain Call Kids, featuring students up to grade 8, which will present Willie Wonka Jr. during the second to the last weekend in March. A child with the last name Stango will play Mike TV. Then they will be launching the musical The Music Man. Auditions will be with Rob Angelotti (who is coming out of semi-retirement to direct) and probably the first week of February for a show the last three weekends in April. Actors of all ages are needed and this chestnut of a show is full of great roles and dance numbers.

In the fall, they will be the first local community theater to present Nine to Five the Musical in late September/early October. This will be followed by a Christmas-themed show in the winter and a summer show of some kind. All these planned shows are an attempt to reach out to those who haven’t been to the TOH in the past as well as bring back the crowds of standard audiences.

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