Stage setup in the black box. TJ PEREZ/ COURTESY
By Kaylin Flam, Contributor
The Manhattan College Players are back for the 2023-2024 season with events and performances all year. The new executive board has been announced and they are optimistic about the events to come.
Tess Nunan, the Players’ producer, is in charge of overseeing the general meetings, ensuring the board and members are comfortable in their positions and helping the club run smoothly.
“I ran last year after being secretary on the board for two years, and being producer was always a goal of mine for my senior year,” Nunan explains.
Despite major cuts to the club’s budget, Players’ producer, Tess Nunan, says the upcoming season is not changing as much.
“The only thing that has changed is that we had a show not in the public domain lined up for our fall mainstage, and then we had to switch that to a public domain show to save money,” Nunan says.
Ana McCabe, Players’ developmental director, said that this year’s e-board is looking forward to this season, though they admit the recent budget cuts will push them to be even more creative.
“You’ll see a lot more creative freedom and we’re gonna have to get creative with sets and with costumes,” said McCabe. “There is kind of a stereotypical saying for actors, it’s ‘the starving artist’, and I feel like it’s diving into that part of theater which I think will be fun to experience without actually being in the ‘starving artist’ point of life.”
McCabe’s role as developmental director focuses on working with other MC clubs and organizations that could collaborate with Players. The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, a national theater program, will often come to the Players’ productions and review them, and McCabe is in charge of scheduling the show reviews.
“I wanted to join this position because I’ve always been in theater my entire life and I really appreciate what Players at Manhattan has done for me with getting to know people and having a space where I’m comfortable and confident to do something,” said McCabe.
TJ Perez’s role as production manager focuses on the production of the performances, such as managing and overseeing the production teams, meetings and assigning roles and booking rehearsal spaces.
“I love management and I love theater a lot, and this is a position I will be pursuing after school, whether it’s in film, TV, or theater. I just love doing behind-the-scenes production,” Perez explains.
Players announced via their Instagram account on Aug. 29 that the fall mainstage production will be Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, a show within the public domain that allows performances without having to pay for the rights.
The play is one of Shakespeare’s earlier works and one of his first comedies, centering around two sets of identical twins separated with chaos ensuing in the search for each other. The performances for the fall mainstage will take place on Nov 17, 18 and 19.
“It is definitely one of his funnier comedies, and one of the shorter ones, which is also good because I know Shakespeare can be taxing for actors as well as an audience,” says TJ Perez, Players’ production manager.
Aside from the fall mainstage production, Players also host an annual cabaret with different themes each year. Performers will pick a song that goes along with the chosen theme to create a lineup of different musical acts.
“[The Cabaret] is very very fun. It’s our little musical aspect in the fall, so that we’ve got music and play in both semesters,” says Perez. The performances for the cabaret will be Dec. 7, 8 and 9.
The MC Players have many events planned for the semester. For further details follow their Instagram page, @playersmc, to remain updated on the most recent news.