Wheaton Drama has been nominated for a 2017 Best of Wheaton Award in the category of “Not for Profit Arts Organization.”  In 2014 we won this honor, due in large part to the direct support of our members and community supporters.  We hope we can count on you to do the same for us this year.

It’s just this easy…

To cast your vote:
1.) Visit www.wheatonchamber.com.
2.) Click on the “Best of Wheaton” banner.
3.) Enter your email address.
4.) Our category is No. 15 on the list of nominees. (You do not have to vote for every category.)

NOTE: You may cast one vote per email address per day.  That means if you have three different email addresses, you can vote three times each day.  VOTE EARLY … VOTE DAILY … VOTE OFTEN.

Wheaton Drama proudly announces the cast of “Outside Mullingar.”

Playwright John Patrick Shanley’s bittersweet comedy, set in the Irish Midlands, runs March 24 through April 15:

Anthony Reilly: Aaron Hoge 
Tony Reilly: Bill Donaldson
Aoife Muldoon: Jean Austin
Rosemary Muldoon: Leah Rae Witt

The Wheaton Drama Scholarship is available to graduating seniors from a Wheaton Drama area high school who are entering a post-secondary institution in the subsequent academic year.  Students will be evaluated on their theatert arts activities in the school and community, including coursework and volunteering.   All applications must be postmarked no later than March 31, 2017. 

Please see form for specific instructions: 

wheaton-drama-scholarship-application-2017

Know a child who loves acting? Give them the perfect gift—theater!

In this six-week course, young performers will learn basic acting techniques while developing their imagination and creativity. Through improvisational games, this ensemble-building class will foster students’ self-esteem and help them become independent thinkers, both on and off stage.

January 10 – February 14, 2017
(Makeup date, if necessary: February 21)

Tuesday afternoons

Grades K – 4: 4PM to 4:55PM

Grades 5 – 8: 5PM to 5:55PM

$100 per session, per child

*Note: Classes are subject to change, based on enrollment.

Registration is now open. For more information, please contact Elyse Wadzinski at wdieducation@wheatondrama.org or call 630.260.1820 and leave a message specifying your interest in these workshops.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Outside Mullingar

Auditions: Jan. 22–23, from 7–9 PM

Callbacks: Jan. 25, from 7–9 PM

Auditions will consist of readings from the script. Please arrive by 7 with your headshot and résumé.

To help the production team, please email mullingarwdi2017@gmail.com with your contact information, targeted role and the date you plan to attend. We will provide audition sides on or before Jan. 20.

Performances will be March 24 through April 15, 2017—Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Performers must be available for Tech Week (March 19–23) and for strike (evening of Monday, April 17).

Auditions, rehearsals and performances will be held at 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton, IL, 60187.

Characters
(All are native-born Irish farm people; actors must deliver authentic accents):

Tony Reilly (70s): A no-nonsense man of the land. He is sly, though, and rather unsentimental—until nature and the passing of time reveal to him the elemental connections in his life.

Anthony Reilly (Early to mid-40s): Tony’s youngest child and only son. Devoted to the family farm, but with a wistful, dreamy sensitivity. A deep emotional wound has persisted for decades.

Aoife Muldoon (70s): A recent widow in declining health, she is piecing together the meaning of life. Deeply devout, yet still sharp-tongued. Afraid of nothing—except her daughter, Rosemary.

Rosemary Muldoon (Mid-30s): Aoife’s only surviving child. Hell on wheels, yet with a deep well of emotions and keen vision of reality. Proud yet pragmatic, she is robust and sharp of wit.

About the play:

Outside Mullingar is a charming and compelling tale of two families, based on playwright John Patrick Shanley’s heritage. It is a tag-team sparring match, a testament to love in all its forms, a clever comedy, and a tale of an awkward romance that is anything but inevitable. This story of adjacent family farms in central Ireland spans several years and concerns property legacies and disputes, vendettas, questions about personal identity, wars against nature, and people’s connection to the land and to one another.

Outside Mullingar is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service Inc., New York.