New Las Cruces theatre group schedules major musicals

Diane Thomas, left, with Juli Stephenson during Black Box Theatre’s production of “The World Goes ‘Round.”

Peter Herman, Black Box Theatre

Nora Thomas Medina and Tommy Medina in Black Box Theatre’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Peter Herman, Black Box Theatre

Diane Thomas, left, with Juli Stephenson during Black Box Theatre’s production of “The World Goes ‘Round.”

Peter Herman, Black Box Theatre

Posted Saturday, August 3, 2019 12:41 am

Junk Drawer’s first production will be ‘Cabaret’

The newly formed Junk Drawer Productions will begin its introduction into Las Cruces theatre with a bang. It’s first show will be the 1998 version of the “Cabaret,” which has won three Tony Awards since it premiered on Broadway in 1966. It also spawned a 1972 movie that won eight Academy Awards.

There will be six performances of the show during two weekends: at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 4-5 and 11-12 and a 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Oct. 5-6 and 12-13 at the Mesilla Community Center, 2251 Calle de Santiago in Mesilla. Ticket prices are still to be determined.

The cast includes Matt Esqueda as the master of ceremonies, Meghan Lang as Sally Bowles, Mark Whitney as Clifford Bradshaw, Scott Brocato as Ernst Ludwig, Susie Ouderkirk as Fraulein Schneider, Quincey Burkhalter as Herr Schultz and Juli Stephenson as Fraulein Kost. Destiny Hunt, Zeta Shearill, Kerrigan Sivils, Susanna Odegaard and Melissa Loman will perform as the Kit Kat Girls; and Isaac Morales, Joseluis Solorzano, Mike Cruz and Ben Muckenthaler as the Kit Kat Boys.

The show’s four-piece live orchestra will include Mary Lynn Brown on piano, Diane Thomas on accordion, Tommy Medina on drums and Robert Garcia playing the banjo.

The show will be directed and choreographed by Nora Thomas Medina and produced by Diane Thomas.

The production is the updated 1998 version of “Cabaret,” incorporating some of the show’s best numbers introduced in the film version, including “Maybe This Time” and “The Money Song.”

By Mike Cook

There’s a new theatre group in town.

Junk Drawer Productions (JDP) formed in June in Las Cruces and already has a cast, director and live orchestra in place for its first production: “Cabaret,” which begins rehearsals in September and will open in October. And, the nonprofit’s founders are already making plans for a production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in late March 2020, during the 50^th anniversary of that rock opera.

“We’ve gotten a lot of support already,” said Las Cruces musical theatre performer Diane Thomas, the owner of JDP. A performing arts teacher for more than 30 years, Thomas started a K-12 musical theatre training studio and a light opera company in Tucson. In Las Cruces, she has directed and starred in musicals at Black Box Theatre and Las Cruces Community Theatre, including “Sweeney Todd,” “Pippin,” “Into the Woods” and “The World Goes ‘Round.”

“Cabaret” will be her18^th musical production. Her “advisory council” includes daughter Nora Thomas Medina, who has also directed and performed in musicals on Las Cruces stages and will direct and choreograph “Cabaret”; and musical theatre veterans Matthew Esqueda and Juli Stevenson, both of whom are in the “Cabaret” cast.

“Cabaret” cast members are a mix of well-known Las Cruces musical performers and several newcomers to the local stage, including New Mexico State University students and staff, Thomas said.

“If you’re a theatregoer in town, you’re going to know many of these people,” she said, “but I like that you’ll also see some new faces.”

“Cabaret” is the “perfect fall show,” Thomas said. “It’s very timely,” Esqueda said, noting that the story includes abortion, the rise of fascism and gay rights. The show is a combination of “really important topics and really great music,” said Nora Thomas Medina.

“Cabaret” performers will arrive at their first rehearsal in September with all their lines and songs memorized, Medina said. That way, it can be ready to open with four weeks of rehearsal and one of tech rehearsal.

Esqueda, who is learning to speak some German, a little French and English with a German accent for his part as the master of ceremonies in “Cabaret,” said he and other cast members are already learning their parts. “We may not be in rehearsal, but we are rehearsing,” he said.

Thomas said one of her goals with JDP is to create another musical theatre opportunity for Las Cruces performers and audiences. She said she picked performance dates in October and late March of 2020 that won’t conflict with musicals at other Las Cruces theatres.

Thomas said she’s hopeful next spring’s JDP production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” can “take advantage of the musicians in this town,” which she said is “filled with amazing contemporary musicians.”

“We need to make opportunities for people,” Thomas said. “We have people here who are quite skilled and quite experienced in what they’re doing.”

Thomas said Junk Drawer was chosen as the name for the new production company because it is a mix of performers with different backgrounds and experiences, musical styles, venues and large-scale and smaller shows.

“Everything is up for grabs,” Thomas said. “Anything will go.”

JDP welcomes volunteers, ideas for upcoming productions and actors, singers and musicians who want to audition for “Jesus Christ Superstar” and other shows the company will produce.

Find Junk Drawer Productions on Facebook, where you can message Diane Thomas. Or reach her at mamarose64@gmail.com.

Mike Cook may be contacted at mike@lascrucesbulletin.com.

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