(Additional photograph below.)
Merrimack Valley Stageworks, born from the ashes of the Pentucket Players, is staging five performances of the 1971 classic “Grease” in March.
Angelica Jeffreys, former president of Pentucket Players and regular actor with the group, stepped in to organize the new community theater ensemble after the 30-year-old acting troupe abrupt shut down in the middle of rehearsing “Murder on the Orient Express” last March.
The new president of Merrimack Valley Stageworks, Paul A. Magliocchetti, said a generous contribution from the Pentucket Players treasury allowed the new group to hit the ground running.
“I’ve always felt that theater and this kind of a project can do a lot to bring the entire community together. Who doesn’t like to go out and see a great show and have a good time?” Magliocchetti said.
The cash injection helped the group hire a director, Paul Metzger of Nashua, N.H., whom Magliocchetti said is well-known to North Shore audiences. Rehearsals involving 31 actors are underway three times a week at the HC Media studios in Haverhill. Jeffreys was able to convince Merrimack College to rent them the Rogers Center for Performing Arts.
He added that he welcomes the opportunity to lead the group after deciding not to run for re-election to the Haverhill School Committee this past fall.
The inaugural performance of “Grease” with its familiar songs “Summer Nights” and “Greased Lightnin,’” will be Thursday, March 12, through Sunday, March 15, at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover. Tickets are $25 to $40 and may be purchased on the Merrimack Valley Stageworks’ website, MVStageworks.org.
Jeffreys told WHAV the demise of the Pentucket Players left a “vacuum” she felt needed to be filled. So, she gathered a group of community leaders together last summer to brainstorm how to move forward. Soon, they created an independent nonprofit organization and named a board of directors. In addition to Magliocchetti, those serving are Gretchen Arntz; Matt Belfiore; Melinda Beliveau, Tracy Descoteaux, Brian Higgins, Colin Malette, Myles McMann, Barbara Rowell, Bryanne Caso Simpson and Jessica Wells.
The group still must raise more money to create a stable institution, Magliocchetti noted. Towards that end they are planning a cabaret night Saturday, Feb. 7, and a gala on the weekend of the “Grease” performances.
Jeffreys said she wants Merrimack Valley Stageworks to be “Haverhill centric” and, thus, are looking at other performances spaces locally including the Nicholas J. Ross Auditorium in Haverhill City Hall where the Pentucket Players performed most recently.
“We chose the Rogers Center this time because we needed a bigger performance space,” she said noting that the Rogers Center seats 600 whereas the City Hall auditorium seats half that.
Director Paul Metzger gives direction to actors starring in “Grease,” the inaugural performance of Merrimack Valley Stageworks, a new community theater group based in Haverhill. The musical will be performed five times Thursday, March 12, through Sunday, March 15, at the Rogers Center for Performing Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover. (Courtesy photograph.)