Ensemble cast brings mainstage play ‘Step on a Crack’ to Goshen College Nov. 2-11

 

Event: Goshen College fall mainstage play – “Step on a Crack” by Suzan Zeder
Dates and times: Nov. 2, 3, 9, 10 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 4, 11 at 3 p.m.
Location: Umble Center
Cost: $8 general admission, $5 students & seniors
For more information: To reserve tickets, call the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566 or e-mail welcomecenter@goshen.edu

GOSHEN, Ind. – Children will love Ellie and her imaginary friends. Adults will appreciate the serious topics of family changes conveyed through whimsical perspectives.

 

The Goshen College Theater Department will perform “Step on a Crack” by Suzan Zeder as the fall mainstage play on Nov. 2, 3, 9, 10 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 4, 11 at 3 p.m. in Umble Center. Michelle Milne is directing this electrifying production with an ensemble cast of six actors that will appeal to audiences of children and adults alike.

 

“I have wanted to do a children’s show for a long time,” Milne said. “A well-written show that appeals to both kids and adults allows actors, designers and the director a lot of latitude with the fantastical and magical elements, and it provides a lot of creative opportunities. This show is one of those.”

 

“Step on a Crack” revolves around Ellie Murphy, a young girl, who lives happily with her widowed father, Max. They go bowling, eat TV dinners and she loves to play with junk. Life changes for Ellie when her dad remarries and suddenly she has a stepmother. To cope and escape her problems, Ellie and her imaginary friends launch into a fantasy world. They pretend they are breaking out of prison, meeting Cinderella and Snow White, and enacting Ellie’s own funeral where “everyone is really sorry for all the mean things they did” to her.

 Only by running away and discovering what it is really like to be alone does Ellie begin to come to terms with herself and her own need for connection with her very real parents.

 

“Ellis is just a really funny girl who does really funny things as she tries to cope with change,” Milne said about the play that includes several songs and piano accompaniment.

 

Milne said that the play is appropriate for school-age children and older. “Kids will be excited about it, but adults will also really like it.” School children from Parkside and Chandler elementaries will have the opportunity to enjoy the show on Thursday, Nov. 8 as part of school activities.

 

The playwright, Suzan Zeder, has been recognized nationally and internationally as one of the nation’s leading playwrights for family audiences.

 

Milne is pleased with how the cast has worked together. “They all have so much energy and creativity, and they work really well together – like a small music ensemble might,” she said.

 

In the cast: Deanne Binde (Jr., Lake Park, Minn.), Adriel Santiago (Fr., Sellersville, Pa.), Krista Ehst (Sr., Bally, Pa.), Angela Noah (Fr., Bay City, Mich.), Patrick Ressler (Fr., Lititz, Pa.), Tara Hershberger (Sr., Hesston, Kan.).

 

In the crew: Michelle Milne (director), Mike Honderich (assistant director), Sarah Noah (stage manager), Doug Liechty Caskey (producer), Jerry Peters (technical director), Kevin Koch (set and costume designer), Laura Dentler (light designer, master electrician), Doug Hallman (sound designer), Andrew Landis (music director), Emily Swora (music director), Alison Brookins (props crew, assistant stage manager), Chelsea Kaufman (props crew, assistant stage manager), Grace Magnan (assistant technical director), Leah Moreno (assistant stage manager), Laura Nimigan (assistant stage manager), Matt Harms (master carpenter), Jesse Shoemaker (master carpenter), Jonny Meyer (master electrician), Aaren Myers (costume shop manager), Sandy Slabaugh (production assistant), Lydia Short (pianist), Ana Yoder (pianist).

 

Umble Center is accessible to wheelchairs and people with other physical limitations.

 

Tickets cost $8 for general admission and $5 for students and senior citizens. They can be reserved by calling the Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566 or e-mailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu.

 

Upcoming Goshen College theater productions:

Winter One Acts
Feb. 1, 2 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 3 at 3 p.m.

 

Spring mainstage: Absolutely Perhaps by Luigi Pirandello
March 28, 29, April 4, 5 at 8 p.m.; March 30, April 6 at 3 p.m.

 

May Term Musical: Quilters
May 18, 19, 20

Editors: For more information about this release or to arrange an interview, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

 

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.