Announcing Our 95th Season

The Masquers has been around since the first Community Chest fundraising event in 1931 when a few friends got together to put on a show. What set them apart from other performers that night is that they kept putting on shows every year since.

The Masquers seasons consisted of two to four shows every year making them one of the oldest continuously operating community theater groups in the state. "The show must go on" seemed to be the motto for the group as they continued to present a slate of shows each season; even during WW II.

Beginning in 2020 and extending through 2021 we found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic which shortened our 89th season and caused us to rethink our 90th season. Not willing to give up without a fight, the Masquers resolved to "put on a show" even if it meant doing so on our own front lawn! And so, we continued our tradition and presented two shows in that 90th season even though we were forced to find alternative venues for each show.

Now that we are back to the Capitol Civic Centre on "The Masquers Stage" we are proud to present our 95th Anniversary Season.

Our first selection of the year is The Game's Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays.

Breathtaking mystery and high hilarity in equal parts, this play tells the story of Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, who has invited his fellow cast-members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. It is then up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears.

Winner of the 2012 Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Play from The Mystery Writers of America, this show features equal parts danger and hilarity. The suspense is non-stop in this glittering whodunit set during the 1936 Christmas holidays.

This show will be presented November 6-8, at the Capitol Civic Centre.

Our second show this season will be the drama Radium Girls.

In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease.

Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.

Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls is a fast-moving, highly theatrical ensemble piece for 9 to 10 actors, who play more than 30 parts—friends, co-workers, lovers, relatives, attorneys, scientists, consumer advocates, and myriad interested bystanders. Called a "powerful" and "engrossing" drama by critics, Radium Girls offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.

Radium Girls will be performed March 5*7, at the Capital Civic Centre.

The final show of the year is Roald Dahl's timeless classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Based on the famous novel by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features an original score composed by Marc Shaiman with lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray) and a book by David Greig. The score also pays homage to the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley score from the 1971 film with songs from the motion picture including "Candy Man," "I've Got a Golden Ticket," "Oompa Loompa Song," and "Pure Imagination."

The world-famous Willy Wonka is opening the gates to his mysterious factory…but only to a lucky few. Young Charlie Bucket and four other golden ticket winners will embark on a life-changing journey through Wonka’s world of pure imagination including chocolate waterfalls, nutty squirrels and the great glass elevator, all to be revealed by Wonka's army of curious Oompa-Loompas.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is your golden ticket to a crowd-pleasing, outrageous ensemble musical with plenty of delicious characters to entertain you all night long.

Camelot will be performed May 7-9, and the Capitol Civic Centre.