Melissa Gallardo, Contributing Writer

The Players of Manhattan College are more than just your average theatre ensemble or performing arts group, they’re a family. The values of the Players are shown through their dedication and welcoming atmosphere.

With many upcoming productions, including “The Murder’s in the Heir” and “The Dining Room” the students at Manhattan are to have a treat.

This year alone, there were an outstanding number of students who auditioned for “The Murder’s in the Heir” and a large majority of the cast is freshman.

“I’m excited for all the new talent and it’s an overwhelming response to this semester which we haven’t had in about two years,” Players Student Producer/Stage Manager Andrea Lopilato said.

On Family Weekend, Oct. 2 and 3, The Manhattan Players will be performing their continuation of “Murder’s in the Heir.”

“It’s a murder mystery the same way ‘Clue’ is set up with the maid, the butler, the old guy that has all the money and the family members that want all the money and he dies,” Players Student Producer/Director, Carlos Perez said. “It’s a comedy and a good complement to the drama that we do for the main stage [“The Dining Room”] and it’s also audience interactive where the audience gets to ask questions to the cast members.”

As a comedy and audience driven production, the audience members get to choose who murdered the old man. “I hope you guys pick a great murder for the murder mystery,” Perez adds.

One of the most serious productions during the semester will be the stage reading of a play titled “8” that deals with proposition 8, eliminating rights of same-sex couples to marry in California.

Auditions for “8” will be the week of Oct. 4 and performed on Oct. 24 directed by Andrea Lopilato.

The following production from the Players will be performed from Nov. 12-15 titled “The Dining Room.”

“The dining room examines the meaning of a what a dining room is in the last century and how the idea of the dining room has changed,” Martin Marchitto, the faculty advisor for the Players said.

Each scene performs in a different decade and audience members can see the changes from family dining room traditions with children being separated from an adult table in 1913 to present day ideas.

After each performance there is huge relief, excitement and joy. “We produce amazing things for people to actually see people come in and see feels good,” Perez said.

Information about Players auditions, show times and more can be found on their Twitter @PlayersMC, Instagram @ManhattanPlayers and Facebook.