Moorestown Theater Company's Scenes and Songs II Opens Friday

Tom McHale’s son serves as the inspiration for the Moorestown Theater Company’s next performance, which begins Friday night.

McHale’s son, Nicholas, attends St. Joseph’s Prep and is enrolled in a competitive theater program. Each time there is a casting call, some talented performers get left out, but a few years ago, the Cape and Sword Drama Society came up with a solution:an all-inclusive program where no one got cut. The program featured musical selections from a variety of shows, giving multiple students the opportunity to put their talents on display.

When McHale learned of the solution, he adopted the Night of Scenes for the community theater stage.

Last year, Scenes and Songs made its debut in Moorestown, and the show took off.

It’s back this year with Scenes and Songs II, which will showcase 15 different musicals and plays. The show opens Friday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m.

The production will include a scene from Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, with Channel 6abc News Anchor Rick Williams playing the sloppy, easygoing ‘Oscar Madison’ and MTC Producing Artistic Director Mark Morgan playing the neat, uptight ‘Felix Unger’.

The show expands from one week in 2013 to two weeks this year with a cast of 41 adults, 18-and-up.

Another performance is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m. Performances are also set for Saturday, Sept. 20 and Sept. 27, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day.

Shows will be performed at Westfield Friends School, 2201 Riverton Road in Cinnaminson.

All tickets must be reserved and are $10. They can be ordered online at www.MoorestownTheaterCompany.org. They can also be purchased at the door an hour before curtain time.

Due to some mature dialogue and lyrics, MTC is suggesting a rating of PG-13 for this production. For more information, visit the MTC Website, or call 856-778-8357.

Besides The Odd Couple, there will be scenes performed from these other plays or television programs: The Breakfast Club; Death Of A Salesman; Monty Python’s Flying Circus; and Moonstruck.

There will also be songs performed from these Broadway musicals: A Chorus Line; The Full Monty; A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum; Hair; How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Into the Woods; Little Women; The Phantom Of The Opera; Rent; and West Side Story.

McHale, a Moorestown resident and financial planner for PNC Investments, will direct the overall production and six of the individual scenes/songs.

The other members of the Directing Staff for MTC’s Alternative Stage ’14 are: Directors Bruce Jordan (Moorestown), Brendan McHale (Moorestown), Morgan (Moorestown), Carol Ann Murray (Moorestown), Debbi Nanni (Moorestown), Mark Pinzur (Cherry Hill), Chris Resavy (Lumberton), and Thom Sirkot (Merchantville); Vocal Directors Murray and Pinzur; Choreographers Lizi Baldwin (Delanco), Julia McHale (Moorestown), Kaitlin Tumulty (Moorestown), and Kathy McHale Williamson (Allentown, PA).

The Productions Staff consists of Morgan (Producer), Murray (Producer and Costume Manager, and Properties Designer), Beverly Bennett (Music Director, Mount Laurel), Annette De Rosa (Assistant Producer, Moorestown), Taylor Adair (Technical Director, Moorestown), Resavy (Stage Manager), Sirkot (Costume & Make-Up Designer), and Bridget Gibbs (Hair & Wig Designer, Moorestown).

The attached image was provided by the Moorestown Theater Company: Channel 6abc News Anchor (and Moorestown, NJ resident) Rick Williams will play the sloppy, easygoing ‘Oscar Madison’ and MTC Producing Artistic Director Mark Morgan (also from Moorestown) will play the neat, uptight ‘Felix Unger’ in a scene from Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, one of 15 musicals or plays that will be represented in the Moorestown Theater Company’s ‘Alternative Stage’ production of Scenes & Songs II.