At a volunteer appreciation event on Wednesday, July 15th, the Garfield Center announced its 2027 season. The event also recognized two volunteers for extraordinary dedication to the GCA.

Volunteers Kathy Carter and Tia Glomb were celebrated as recipients of the “Extra Mile Award” for “above and beyond” volunteerism that exceeds the amazing time and dedication that GCA volunteers normally give to the organization. Carter and Glomb share Box Office hours coverage, while also frequently assisting with other program staffing needs.

With an attendee list of nearly 90 volunteers, the Garfield Center announced six programming slots for 2027. Traditional to past programming efforts, the GCA sought to provide opportunities for artistic ambition while also giving the community productions of interest. GCA’s Programming Committee is Steven Arnold, Nic Carter, Shannon Carter, Brad Chaires, Jen Friedman, Melissa McGlynn, and Mark Sullivan.

Opening the 2027 Season is “Rope.”  Written  by Patrick Hamilton, the production will be directed by Shannon Carter.  The Alfred Hitchcock film was based on Hamilton’s play.  “Rope” is an intense thriller that centers around a young, class-entitled university student who persuades a weak-minded friend to murder a fellow student for the mere sake of danger, and “the fun of the thing.”  They place the body in a chest, and to add spice to their handiwork, invite a few acquaintances, including the dead youth’s father, to a party.  They display the chest front and center as a supper table. While dinner conversations dwell on topics like crime, justice, and the value of life, a party attendee begins to suspect the chest’s contents and tensions begin to rise. “Rope” methodically ratchets itself up toward an ending that reveals the multiple failures of even the innocent. “Rope” will open February 26th and run through March 14th, 2027.

In the season’s second slot is “Schoolhouse Rock Live!”  The musical has a Book by Scott Ferguson, George Keating and Kyle Hall, the show features Music and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Kathy Mandry, George Newall and Tom Yohe. Directors for the production are Brad and Kendall Chaires.  Some may remember that this show started as an Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon series. The animated segments taught history, grammar, math and more through clever lyrics and memorable tunes.  The stage show follows Tom, a nerve-wracked school teacher who, before he starts his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching TV.  Various characters representing facets of his personality emerge from the set and show him how to win his students over with imagination and music, through such songs as “Just a Bill,” “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly” and “Conjunction Junction.” The production runs April 23rd through May 9th.

“Short Attention Span Theatre” takes up its traditional third spot in the Garfield Center season.  A long-established summer tradition, community audiences are always excited when it comes around each year.  “Short Attention Span Theatre” brings together a whole lot of actors and volunteers to produce 8 ten-minute plays, frequently producing world premieres of scripts by local playwrights while receiving hundreds of submitted scripts from all around the world.  2027’s SAST will be performed June 18th through July 3rd.

The GCA’s annual summer youth theatre camp, Playmakers, will be in session in 2027 from July 5th through July 30th, ending with its annual 3-day performance on the weekend of July 30th and 31st, and August 1st.  The title for the camp’s production will be determined early next year.  This very popular program introduces kids to acting, design, and play production, while teaching teamwork, introducing them to new friendships, and putting a great show on the stage together.

Next up in the 2027 GCA season is “Deathtrap.”  The play, by Ira Levin, will be directed by Michael Moore.  This funny, edge-of-your-seat thriller will be performed from September 24th through October 10th.  The play introduces us to Sidney Bruhl, a seemingly comfortable and successful writer of Broadway thrillers. These days, Sidney is struggling to overcome a string of recent failures and a shortage of funds. When a student in his writing seminar sends him a new script – a thriller that Sidney recognizes immediately as a potential Broadway hit – Sidney sees an opportunity. With his overly nervous wife’s help, he devises a plan to “collaborate” with the student, an idea which the younger man quickly accepts. But does Sidney have something else up his sleeve? And who is plotting against who? Add in a pesky, eccentric psychic and the play’s twists and turns leave you guessing, and laughing, right to the very end.

“The Wizard of Oz” is the final production slated for the GCA in 2027.  Opening December 3rd and running weekends through December 19th, the show will be directed by Becca Van Aken. This Royal Shakespeare Company version of the script is a faithful musical adaptation of the film that recreates the songs, dialogue and structure of the MGM classic film nearly scene for scene. The RSC version is adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company, has music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, with additional music contributions from Herbert Stothart, Peter Howard, and Larry Wilcox.  Who doesn’t already know the story of Dorothy and Toto? Whisked off to Oz, set on a quest by a Wizard, pestered by a green Witch, befriended by odd companions who are on their own search for a heart, a brain, and courage – these are the story elements that tug at the child’s heart that still resides within each and every one of us.

The GCA is thrilled and excited to produce these wonderful titles for our community in 2027.