A beloved Queens community theatre group is inviting locals to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a special production.
The JC Players will perform “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10 at the Glendale-Maspeth United Methodist Church, located at 66-14 Central Ave., and the Community United Methodist Church, located at 75-27 Metropolitan Ave.
Directed by Barbara Auriemma with musical direction by her husband Frank Auriemma and choreography by Christine Hinz, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” is a comedy series full of live music, dance, and whimsical scenes.
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” is a musical written by Stephen Sondheim, adapted from the book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. In 1966, Melvin Frank and Michael Pertwee adapted the musical for film.
The play is a farce comedy about a Roman slave named Pseudolus who aims to gain his freedom by helping his master, Hero, win the heart of his love interest, Phelia.
This show includes cast and crew spanning three generations, including family members, uniting Queens residents from all parts of the borough, who volunteer to perform the production.
“My daughter, who was 13 at the time, was one of the first members. So we got jealous.. We joined in ‘96, my husband and myself, and then in ’97 is when I started directing for them,” Barbara explained.
Since then, Barbara has directed every single show and her family, including her four children and two grandchildren, have been involved in the community theatre.
“My choreographer [Christine Hinz], she met her now husband through our group. She has two children, and they all perform with us also. So my children perform, and now my grandchildren have also performed with us,” Barbara said.
Barbara said it was fitting to reintroduce “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” for the 30th anniversary, as the play is a fun, lighthearted production.
“ We just want to put on something that somebody will sit back to, forget their troubles and have a very good afternoon or evening,” she said.
Barbara credits the support of the Queens community and the pastors of the Glendale Maspeth-United Methodist Church and Community United Methodist Church for the long-standing success of the community theatre company.
“ We’ve been around for a long time, and audiences have been very, very faithful. They love to come and see us, [and] to come and talk to us, and it’s just an overall wonderful feeling,” she said.
This year’s production has 20 returning members and five new cast members. Barbara said she hopes the increased interest continues, and encourages anyone with a knack for theatre to join JC Players.
“ We’re hoping that if somebody maybe has a little bit of theater in their blood, that they will join us. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in an acting capacity, but there’s always room for whoever wants to give us a hand,” she said.
Cast member Andrés Luke Caamal, who plays Hysterium, said he looks forward to portraying the complex character.
“He’s a fun character to play because, with so much going on and like how he solves each problem in his own way, it, it’s a nice actor’s challenge,” Caamal said. “He’s a, a very tense character. If any little thing goes wrong, he is going to react the way he does, which is very overwhelmed and out of sorts.”
Caamal has been a member of the theatre group since 2019, and described the troupe as a close knit group.
“When I started it was the usual people, but like in the last…two or three years we’ve expanded our community a little bit and we’re getting word out a little more,” he said. “So more people are starting to stick around and it feels really good to know that, we’re all just kind of like becoming more friendly with each other and like remaining friends after the show is over.”
Caamal emphazied that community theatre is an important outlet for local actors like himself.
“It feels good every time when I, perform. Acting and performance in general, helps me and is a creative outlet. I am a big, enforcer of having, community theater as an accessible outlet for, creative pursuits and emotional, outlet as well,” he said.
Below is a list of performance locations, dates and showtimes.
Glendale-Maspeth United Methodist Church
66-14 Central Ave., Glendale
• Friday, Aug. 1, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, Aug. 2, at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, Aug. 3, at 8 p.m.
Community United Methodist Church
75-27 Metropolitan Ave., Middle Village
• Saturday, Aug. 9, at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, Aug. 10, at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for general admission, and $22 for seniors ages 65 and older and children under the age of 13. Tickets can be reserved at jcplayers.weebly.com or by contacting Randi Marshall by phone at 917-647-7526 or by email at randi817@hotmail.com.
