History

The Oswego Players and Beyond the Rainbow Productions are pleased to announce auditions for their October production Joseph Kesselring’s “Arsenic and Old Lace.” This classic black comedy farce will be directed by Kevin Colvin. The auditions will be a cold read from the script held at the Francis Marion Brown theatre in Oswego on Monday, September 9th and Tuesday, September 10th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. There are parts for 3 women and eleven men ages ranging from twenty to Sixty.

The Oswego Players will be holding auditions for their upcoming fall production "Night Must Fall" a dramatic thriller centered around murder, love and suspense. Director Gina Mazzoli is looking for a cast of 9 actors, 5 women and 4 men. These roles are large in nature with the exception of the additional inspector who has been added by the director for dramatic effect. Auditions will be held on Monday, August 7th and Wednesday, August 9th from 7pm until 9pm at the Francis Marion Brown Theatre located at Fort Ontario in Oswego NY. There will be no callbacks for this production and all auditioning actors will be asked to "Cold Read" from the script. No monologues are necessary. All characters will be required to do accents either upper class English or Cockney. Please be prepared to try using a accent and demonstrate this at auditions.

On the stage of the Frances Marion Brown Theatre at the Oswego Players, a veritable Titanic “museum” is being assembled to present their July production of Luke Yankee’s play “The Last Lifeboat”. The play explores the life and memory of J. Bruce Ismay, owner of The White Star Line. An upper-crust Englishman who always did what was expected of him, Ismay went to the best schools, married the right society girl (even though he was in love with someone else) and vowed to his staunch, unfeeling father on his deathbed that he would take over the family shipping business and build the biggest, most opulent ship the world had ever seen: the RMS Titanic. The production, part of the Oswego Players’ 85th anniversary season, will run weekends July 14 through July 23 at the Frances Marion Brown Theatre in Fort Ontario Park, Oswego, NY. Friday and Saturday night curtain times are at 7:30PM, with Sunday matinee times at 2PM. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Reservations may be made by calling 315-343-5138 or going to https://oswegoplayers.org. While the Last Lifeboat centers on the sinking of the Titanic and its aftermath, it does so through the memories of Ismay and those who lives crossed paths with him. To bring this to the stage, guest director William Edward White’s vision for the production is a Titanic Museum filled with images and memories. The walls of the theater are coved by real newspaper headlines and photographs of the victims and survivors of the sinking. To further create immersion of a Titanic museum, the lobby of the Oswego Civic Arts Center is graced with items from a local Oswegoian’s collection.

Every year, the Oswego Players, Inc. awards scholarships to two high school seniors who plan on continuing their education. The awards are dedicated after two members who hold a special place in Oswego Players rich 85-year history, Lawrence Rose and Marion Greene. They were both avid Oswego Players’ members and supporters of the arts. Each year, the Players identifies two graduating seniors who exemplify the qualities held dear by both former members of the theater group

It’s time to sit back, relax in a comfy chair in a beautiful little theater by the water and giggle, tee hee, and probably even laugh out loud. That is exactly what we plan on happening when the Oswego Players’ season opener, “The Savannah Sipping Society,” opens in a few weeks. Now here’s the reason we think you’re going to really enjoy this comedy. The play takes place in Savannah Georgia where four unique southern gals decide the best way to handle any life crisis begins with happy hour. Drawn together by fate, they strike out to intentionally embrace new life experiences with hilarious results. They discover that husbands, careers, and firm fannies may slip away but good friendships have staying power. So let us introduce you to the Ladies of the Sipping Society. First there is Randa (Sherri Metz). Randa is an uptight, workaholic perfectionist who recently had a meltdown at her architectural firm, was fired and escorted off the premises.

We know what you must be thinking! Who are these women? What are they smiling about? Why are they holding their hands up as if they are toasting someone? And what are all those boards in the background for? Well, it’s no mystery. Really it isn’t. The answers are very simple. Here goes… The four sippers include Beverly Murtha and Beth DeRouse in the front row, and Sherri Metz and Gina Wentworth standing in the back. These four talented young (lol) actresses are the main characters in the lively comedy, “The Savannah Sipping Society.” The show is the season opener for the Oswego Players 84th Anniversary year. They are smiling because they are having great fun creating the characters they will play in the Jones, Wooten, Hope comedy April 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 in the Oswego Players’ Frances Marion Brown Theater. As the titlesuggests, they are raising their hands in a toast (without glasses of course) practicing their sipping skills, of which they do a lot of in the play.

When Sara Galvin’s one act comedy, “Candy” is presented at the Oswego Players’ Open House this Friday, it will be the result of her winning the Don McCann Playwriting Competition for 2021. Don was a lifelong resident of Oswego, a former advertising manager for the Palladium Times, and a lover of community theater. The Players recently received a tribute to Don from Richard Sivers, a member of the Oswego Players and longtime friend of Don’s. It will be shared at this year’s presentation.

It always surprises us when someone says they have never been to a performance produced by the Oswego Players or, even more surprising, they have never heard of the group itself. That’s like living in Buffalo and saying you never visited Niagara Falls. Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but you get the point. As the OP celebrates its 83rd Anniversary this year, we wanted to share with you some of our history.