The Depot Theatre and the Westport Wadhams Community Alliance are pleased to present a staged play reading of ADMISSIONS by Joshua Harmon on November 16 at 3pm at the Westport Heritage House. The reading is produced by Saranac Lake-based Adirondack Stage Rats.

ADMISSIONS is a new play in which main character Sherri Rosen-Mason is head of the admissions department at a New England prep school, fighting to diversify the student body. Alongside her husband, the school’s Headmaster, they’ve largely succeeded in bringing a stodgy institution into the twenty-first century. But when their only son sets his sights on an Ivy League university, personal ambition collides with progressive values, with convulsive results. A no-holds-barred look at privilege, power, and the perils of hypocrisy.

The staged reading is directed by Beth Glover and features Fran Yardley, Laura-Jean Swanson, Tyler Nye, Laura Menzie, and Peter Corley.

The event is free and open to the public. The Westport Heritage House is located at 6459 Main St, Westport, NY.

MEET THE CAST

Peter Corley (Charlie Luther Mason) recently played Harrison in Analog & Vinyl at The Depot Theatre. In the last year he appeared in two Martin McDonagh plays, as Katurian in The Pillowman and Ray in Beauty Queen of Lenane, as well as George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, Billy in Stoppard’ s The Real Thing and Fred/Young Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, all in Northwest NJ. He’s a graduate of the musical theater program at New York’s Circle in the Square, where he played Konstantin in The Seagull, Cooper in Island Song, and as guest artist alum returned for productions of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, and LaChiusa’s See What I Wanna See

Laura Menzie (Ginnie Peters) is thrilled to join the ADK Stage Rat’s for another reading. Previous acting credits with the Rats include Blackbird and Radiant Vermin. Laura has also worked with Pendragon Theatre, Saratoga Shakespeare, Titan Theatre Company, Stages Rep, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Franklin Stage, and others. She has also worked in Mexico with Icaro Teatro and in the UK with TCSquared Theatre Company. Laura currently teaches Acting and Voice and Speech at Skidmore College. For more information visit lauramenzie.com

Tyler Nye (Bill Mason) spent his summer in Westport performing Every Brilliant Thing at the Depot Theatre. Previously with the ADK Stage Rats: readings of None of the Above and Radiant Vermin. His credits at Pendragon Theatre in Saranac Lake include Our Town, Doubt, Deathtrap, Baskerville, and Shipwrecked!. Other regional favorites include The 39 Steps and See How They Run. Tyler grew up in the Adirondacks and appears as Uncle Drosselmeyer in the North Country’s Nutcracker. Off-Broadway: The Mystery of Irma Vep, Twelfth Night, The Glass Menagerie. Off stage: Associate General Manager at Lake Placid Center for the Arts. tylernye.com

Laura-Jean Swanson (Sherri Rosen-Mason) has several acting, directing, and choreography credits from NYC and Mpls, MN. She has been associated with over 30 Pendragon theatre productions and is a SUNY Plattsburgh Theatre Department professor. An improv specialist, she leads improv therapy sessions with Veterans and teen groups. LJ also does production work through the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Fran Yardley (Roberta) is delighted to be involved with yet another marvelous Stage Rats Production with some of her fave fellow actors. Some past roles include Fanny in Painting Churches, Kimberly in Kimberly Akimbo, Sister Aloysius in Doubt, and Abby in Arsenic and Old Lace. Fran’s memoir/history, Finding True North, explores her fifty years in the Adirondacks woven with the history going back to the mid-1800s. Thanks to Karen and Beth for creating a generous space for us all to aspire to really terrific theatre.

Beth Glover, Director (she/her) Her passion for theatre began with a Southern upbringing that valued storytelling. Directing credits: Analog & Vinyl at Depot Theatre, Honky Tonk Angels at Pendragon Theatre, 9 to 5at SUNY Plattsburgh, Southern Comforts & Bakersfield Mist for Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts & Adirondack Stage Rats, Wicked City & Heroes for Depot Theatre, and more for Adirondack Stage Rats, co-founded with Karen Lewis. Selected acting credits: 6 Broadway National Tours, Off-Broadway, Goodspeed Opera House, Papermill Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre Co. of DC, etc. Favorite roles: Blanche, A Streetcar Named Desire, Big&Lil Edie, Grey Gardens (BACC Award Best Actress). Complete credits: www.Beth-Glover.com

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About the Adirondack Stage Rats

ADIRONDACK STAGE RATS is a collective of theatre artists and devotees dedicated to creating theatre that inspires, enriches, and educates residents of, and visitors to, our region. Utilizing minimal lighting & set pieces ADIRONDACK STAGE RATS creates “small-batch” personal, intimate, thought-provoking productions for adventurous, discriminating audiences. adirondackstagerats.com

About the Depot Theatre

The Depot Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre located in a historic, functioning 1876 train station in Westport, N.Y., and it is the only theatre in the Adirondacks that operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. In addition to its volunteer board of trustees, the theatre depends on the support and generosity of its loyal donors, volunteers, and community members. Committed to promoting and providing exposure to the performing arts in the Adirondacks, the Depot Theatre invites all to “Take a journey without leaving the station.” DepotTheatre.org

About the Westport Wadhams Community Alliance

The mission of The Westport-Wadhams Community Alliance is to nurture collaborations among public and private entities and support economic growth, cultural vitality, and environmental sustainability in the Westport-Wadhams community. gowestportny.com