ENCORE! 2004
Encore! continues its outstanding tradition for another year with Dee Dee Pitcher as Director. The producer this year is Irene Hall , who doubles as stage manager and is assisted by Kathy Beferly. Erica Marden will be coordinating lights. This year's cast includes: Bea Pszonowski, Lena Luongo, Gerri Casey, Irene Hall, Shayna Loomis, Jean Gentile, Lorraine Lepage, Christine Netzer, Margaret Hillman, Allen Hillman, Angelo Gentile, Angel Douglas, Nathan Strong, Michael Chagnon, Lori Leblanc and Dee Dee Pitcher. Accompanist for the season is Heather Forsha (shown in seperate photo).
ENCORE! 2003
From the Curtain Up! - Encore! continues into it's second decade with Director Dee Dee Pitcher at the helm. This year's show will include songs like "Singing in the Rain," "Sing, Sing, Sing," songs from "Bye Bye Birdie," and a special salute to Disney. The show will run every Tuesday evening at Steele Hill Resort in Sanbornton, beginning June 24 and running through August 26. The evening includes a three course dinner and the show and still costs only $25.00 per person, plus alcohol, tax and gratuity. It's a great night out with wonderful food and toe-tapping tunes. Start planning now for your summer evening at Steele Hill Resort. For reservations call Steele Hill at 524-0500
CAST: Bea Pszonowsky, Shayna Loomis, Dee Dee Pitcher, Lena Luongo, Loraine LePage, Irene Bauer, Gerri Casey, Jan Bergeron, Michael Chagnon, Ernie Bass, Michael Beverley, Warren Wheeler and Angel Douglas. Phil Breton will once again be accompanist.
Photographs below and right courtesy G. Graaskamp
ENCORE! 2002
From the Curtain Up! - Encore! begins its second decade of marvelous and exciting dinner theatre at Steele Hill Resort when the show opens on June 25. Director Dee Dee Pitcher has assembled another talented cast who are hard at work perfecting the music and the choreography for another wonderful Encore! season. The show will run every Tuesday evening from June 25 through August 27 at Steele Hill Resort in Sanbornton. The evening includes a three course meal and the show for $24.00 per person (tax, tip and bar not included). For reservations call Steele Hill at 524-0500.
This season's show features medleys from Grease, The Music Man, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In addition, they'll be some great pop music, a fun number celebrating tabloids, the traditional patriotic song, and even some tap dancing straight from 42nd Street.
Cast members include Carol Fitzmaurice, Bea Pzsonowsky, Margaret Hillman, Lorraine LePage, Dee Dee Pitcher, Irene Bauer, Louise Maheux, Lena Puliafico, Gerri Casey, Mo Demers, Ernie Bass, Peter Ayer, Warren Wheeler, Dan Carter, Angel Douglas, Alan Hillman, Wayne Sevin, Michael Chagnon, and Angelo Gentile. Phil Breton will be accompaning the group this year.
Encore! 2002 will also be appearing at the Scenic Theatre during Old Home Days in July.
Encore Backstage Crew 2003
ENCORE! 2001
The Pittsfield
Players' Encore! troupe was first formed in the winter of 1991, after
a request from the Laconia Hospital Board of Directors for a bit of entertainment
at their annual meeting at the Pheasant Ridge Country Club in the spring.
Dennis Bunnell directed that first show, with Karen Jordan as Musical
Director, Dee Dee Pitcher as Choreographer, and Phil Breton as Accompanist.
The original show combined some ensemble choral numbers from recent Players'
musical productions with a few new ensemble numbers and
various solo, duets, and small group numbers. Comedy was also included.All
ensemble numbers were performed in three or four part harmony, a choral
style that became the trademark of all future Encore shows.
The first Encore
show was so well received, and such a financial success, that the Players
decided to offer the show to Lakes Region resorts as a summer dinner theater,
with the intent of generating some steady income for the Scenic Theatre,
which the Players had just purchased. Martha Wagner, who was then president
of the Board of directors, and Maye
Hart, also a Board member, visited several resort sites to determine interest
in Encore. On their first visit to Steele Hill Resort in Sanbornton, Encore
was enthusiastically scheduled for dinner theater every Tuesday night
for the whole summer. The rest, as they
say, is history. Throughout the past ten years, the Encore shows have
entertained hundreds of people at Steele Hill Resort, and faithful fans
of the show, regular visitors to Steele Hill, appear each summer in the
audience to cheer the group on. Sixty talented performers have participated
through the years, and one performer - Lena Puliafico - has appeared in
all ten shows. Directors have included Dennis Bunnell, Karen Jordan (who
took over as director for the very first Steele Hill summer show) and
Maye Hart, who has directed the show for the past nine seasons. The group
has had three choreographers - San Rogers in 1993, Michael Chagnon in
2000, and Dee Dee Pitcher for every other season. Beside generating much-needed
income for the Players, Encore has become a major training ground for
singers and actors, who develop choral skills and stage presence and then
go on to enrich other productions, both the Players' and other groups',
with their talents. In fact, several Encore alumni have gone on to professional
performances.
Next year, 2002, long time choreographer Dee Dee Pitcher will take over
as Director of Encore, promising many more years of wonderful Encore shows
to come.
Encore photos from Steele Hill 2001 season, completed
Sept.18 & sent by Mike Lowery.
2001 Cast
Maye
Hart
Carol Fitzmaurice
Lorraine LePage
Jean Gentile
Bea Pszonowsky
Margaret Hillman
Dee Dee Pitcher
Gerri Casey
Lena Puliafico
Irene Bauer
Louise Maheiux
Christine Netzer
Angelo Gentile
Dan Carter
Allen Hillman
John Tousignant
Angel Douglas
Warren Wheeler
Mike Beverly
Mike Chagnon
Ernie Bass
Maye Hart, co-director
Dee Dee Pitcher, co-director
Jim Herrick, accompanist
Stage Manager: Kathy Beverly
Lighting: Erica Marden