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Please Note This page is being updated and there may be a few glitches or errors until we get it completed. Thanks for your patience! In 1992 several strangers met and became friends during the Stage Door Ensemble’s production of The Pirates of Penzance. In 1994 Jan Sheldon and Sara Achor founded the Moonlight Players. With a monetary birthday gift from Jan’s dad, they decided to produce The Sound of Music with Jan directing, Sara music directing, Chris Walsh and Lee Matheny designing lights, and Diana White and Bonny Ray designing the costumes. This production included two separate casts of children and was performed at the new South Lake High School auditorium.
In November of that year Moonlight produced Nunsence to sold-out audiences at the Lakeridge Winery, ultimately completing 19 shows. The next spring they performed their first Shakespeare production, The Merry Wives of Windsor. They produced 3 more shows at the winery; Bye, Bye Birdie, the one-woman show The Belle of Amherst, and Into the Woods, which was the largest production to date. Props included a nine foot high hand which was dropped onto the stage from the curtains. Sunday shows at the winery had to compete with the Sunday afternoon tours going through the staging area. Since the winery was enlarging and needing more space, Moonlight began a frantic search for a new home.
In the spring of 1996, Moonlight produced the 2-man show, Greater Tuna at the Citrus Sun Club, the Mulberry Inn and a weekend’s performance at The Melon Patch Theatre in Leesburg. During the summer twin shows were produced at the Citrus Sun Club. You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy! The Musical were produced with a young persons cast and crew.
Our first official season began in October 1996 with Dracula, performed at Jenkins Auditorium as a Halloween offering. Cinderella, performed next at South Lake High School, featured a guest director, Alan Wilson, the artistic director of the Melon Patch Players. Back again at Jenkins we produced Steel Magnolias. We delayed the opening of Guys & Dolls 3 times, hoping to open at what we thought would be our new venue, Colony Cove Pier House. It was not to be, and so we finally opened the show in April at Jenkins, and ended the season there with Barefoot in the Park.
Our second season opened in November 1997 with Arsenic and Old Lace and in February of 1998 Moonlight produced Man of La Mancha, one of our favorites. Our second Shakespeare production was a reading of Macbeth, performed at the Mulberry Inn in Clermont. Local author/actor granted us permission to perform his adaptation of Alice in Wonderland at Jenkins Auditorium, and The Gin Game followed in July and an encore of Nunsense with most of the original cast in August.
Twice Around the Park opened our 1998-1999 season with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever following. At this time we signed the lease for our new Moonlight Warehouse Theatre and began renovations. The building was originally a car shop, with a metal lift stage right that clanged every time someone walked across it. In February Animal Farm, the Musical, performed at Jenkins, proved to be as revolutionary for the cast as for the animals the show depicted. The Odd Couple, performed in April, was our last show at Jenkins Auditorium.
July 31, 1999 was the grand opening of the Moonlight Warehouse Theatre. We invited members of the community to celebrate with us and attend our first production in the new theatre: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, set in the old west. The old garage door was still on the front entrance and proved to be a noisy distraction when patrons arrived late. Our first full season at the new theatre began with The Cemetery Club, and another production of Nunsence and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It also saw the first production of Le Silence Fait, the first show of the Moonlight Players Mime Bogglers, following weekly classes in the art of mime, with instructor Greg Powers. In January we had an acoustic folk music Wing Ding with much music and singing. The rest of the season followed with Love Letters, The Boys Next Door, The Fantasticks, and Rumors, which was the first show to be performed on our new raised stage.
The 2000-2001 season brought a new entrance door and our first Moonshadow program, allowing new directors to try their hand. The Show was Plaza Suite, with 3 people directing one of the three acts. This was followed by Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which featured a 20 minute tableau at the beginning of the show. The Foreigner followed, then, in October, our first live radio show broadcast from the theatre: The War of the Worlds. Greetings followed and Le Silence Fait II, followed by Bermuda Avenue Triangle, a reprise of Joseph, a young person’s production of Once Upon a Mattress, True West, and the melodrama, Love Rides the Rails.
Season 2001-2002 packed 9 shows into the year, beginning with The Rainmaker. Little Shop of Horrors featured two separate casts, one a complete young persons company, alternating their performances on the stage. Next, Dickens A Christmas Carol then our 3rd Le Silence Fait was performed by our mimes in January, followed by Godspell, Come Back To the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Fools, The Nerd, and our fall Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet.
The Rocky Horror Show opened our next season with several midnight performances and showed to sold-out audiences. It was followed by A Tuna Christmas with a new cast, Deathtrap, Camelot, Harvey, a 3-man cast of The Cmplt Word of God; The Bible Abridged, and I Hate Hamlet. We ended the season in August with a young company performance of The Wizard of Oz.
Our 2003 – 2004 season opened with The Importance of Being Earnest, and for Halloween, the stage adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery. For Christmas we again did The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with a new cast of children, and Lost in Yonkers, Annie, The Cmplt Wks of Wm Shkspr (Abridge), and ended our season with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, which was again set in the old west and completed our 10th season.
In October, our 2004-2005 season brought Snoopy! The Musical which was quickly put together by cast and crew after 3 hurricanes whirled through central Florida and a mishap with the rights to Grease, followed by Man of La Mancha, and another showing of Nunsense with a new cast. Continuing the 2004-2005 season was the Moonlight & Stars Benefit Gala presented by the Second Star Guild at the Elks Club. In June we presented Oliver! and our fall Shakespeare was Taming of the Shrew.
We began our 2005-2006 season in November with Scrooge, The Musical, followed by Into the Woods, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Over the River and Through the Woods, and ended with Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona, set in the 1980’s.
In September of 2006 we opened with Shakespeare’s Hamlet, alternating with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and followed by Annie Get Your Gun. Next, Urinetown, the Musical, Moon Over Buffalo, and The Secret Garden were performed. All Stars, written by a local author and actor Tom Kline was a summer show, and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, set in 1969, ended the season.
The 2007-2008 season opened with the classic, Peter Pan, with a wonderful illusion of flying, even on the small stage. The chiller musical, No Way To Treat A Lady was performed in October, and January brought back Guys and Dolls. Next came Barefoot in the Park, Clue, The Musical, based on the Parker Brothers board game, then The Dinner Game. During the summer Moonlight presented 9 Months, another show by local author Tom Kline, and the season ended with Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, set on the island of Messina, and inhabited by pirates, with one of the most elaborate sets ever.
Our 100th show will open the 2008-2009 season: Carousel. 1994/1995 1 Sound of Music J.Sheldon Jul 1994 So. Lake High School 2 Nunsense J.Sheldon Nov 1994 Lakeridge Winery 3 Merry Wives of Windsor Caroline ----- Mar 1995 Lakeridge Winery 4 Bye Bye Birdie J.Sheldon July 1995 Lakeridge Winery 5 Belle of Amherst R.Amos Sep 1995 Lakeridge Winery 6 Into the Woods J.Sheldon/C.Walsh Nov 1995 Lakeridge Winery 7 Greater Tuna J.Sheldon Apr 1996 Mulberry Inn, Citrus Sun Club 8 Snoopy!..... J.Sheldon 6/96 Citrus Sun Club 9 You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown C.Walsh 7/96 Citrus Sun Club
1996/1997 10 Dracula J.Sheldon/D.White Oct 96 Jenkins Auditorium 11 Cinderella A.Wilson..... So. Lake High School 12 Steel Magnolias C.Walsh...... Jenkins Auditorium 13 Guys & Dolls J.Sheldon... Jenkins Auditorium 14 Barefoot in the Park C.Walsh...... Jenkins Auditorium
1997/1998 15 Arsenic & Old Lace S.Davis Oct 1998 Jenkins Auditorium 16 Man of La Mancha J.Sheldon Feb 1999 Jenkins Auditorium 17 Macbeth J.Hunnicutt Mar 1999 Mulberry Inn 18 Alice in Wonderland J.Sheldon Jun 1999 Jenkins Auditorium 19 The Gin Game L.Elison Jul 1999 Colony Cove 20 Nunsense J.Sheldon Aug 98 Jenkins Auditorium
1998/1999 21 Twice Around the Park L.Elison Sep 98 Jenkins Auditorium 22 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever J.Sheldon Dec 98 Mulberry Inn 24 Animal Farm J.Sheldon, S.Davis Feb 99 Jenkins Auditorium 25 Odd Couple L.Elison Apr 99 Jenkins Auditorium Moonlight Warehouse Theatre Opening D.White June 1999 26 A Midsummer Night's Dream J.Sheldon Jul 99 Moonlight Warehouse Theatre
1999/2000 at The Moonlight Warehouse Theatre 27 The Cemetery Club J.Sheldon Oct 99 28 Nunsense J.Sheldon Nov 99 29 Best Christmas Pageant Ever C.Granokos Dec 99 30 Le Silence Fait G.Powers Jan 2000 Nunsense (reprise) J. Sheldon Jan 2000 31 Love Letters S.Davis Jan 2000 32 The Boys Next Door.............. Feb 2000 33 The Fantasticks J. Sheldon Apr 2000 34 Rumors N.Posner May 2000 35 Plaza Suite (3 acts) C.McEachern, L.Matheny, C.Granakos July 2000
2000/2001 36 Joseph & The Amazing J.Sheldon 8/2000 37 The Foreigner C.Walsh 9/2000 38 War of the Worlds (live radio) G.Powers 10/2000 39 Greetings G.Posner 12/2000 40 Le Silence Fait II G.Powers 1/01 41 Bermuda Avenue Triangle N.Posner 2/01 42 Joseph & the Amazing (reprise)................. J.Sheldon 4/01 43 Once Upon a Mattress J.Sheldon 4/01 44 True West C.Walsh 6/01 45 Love Rides the Rails A.Ahern 7/01
2001/2002 46 The Rainmaker C.Granokos 8/01 47 Little Shop of Horrors J.Sheldon Oct 2001 48 Little Shop of Horrors, Young Company C. McEachern Oct 2001 49 A Christmas Carol C.Walsh 12/01 50 Le Silence Fait III G.Powers 1/02 51 Godspell T.Morgan 3/02 52 Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean C.Walsh 4/02 53 Fools C.McEachern 6/02 54 The Nerd C.Walsh 7/02 55 Romeo & Juliet J.Sheldon/T.Morgan 8/02
2002/2003 56 The Rocky Horror Show J.Lindberg 10/02 57 A Tuna Christmas J.Sheldon 11/02 58 Deathtrap C.Walsh/D. Brown 1/03 59 Camelot T.Morgan 2/03 60 Harvey C.Granokos 3/03 61 The Cmplt Word of God J.Sheldon/T.Morgan 5/03 62 I Hate Hamlet S.Davis 6/03 63 The Wizard of Oz J.Sheldon/C.McEachern 8/03
2003/2004 64 The Importance of Being Ernest C.Granokos 9/03 65 Misery T.Morgan 10/03 66 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever J.Sheldon 12/03 67 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum C.McEachern 1/04 68 Lost in Yonkers C.Walsh 2/04 69 Annie J.Sheldon 5/04 70 Compleat Wks of Wlm Shkspr (Abridged) T.Morgan 6/04 71 A Midsummer Night’s Dream J.Sheldon 8/04
2004/2005 72 Snoopy! The Musical C.McEachern 11/04 73 Man of La Mancha J.Sheldon 2/05 Moonlight Gala by the Second Star Guild 4/23/05 74 Nunsense C.Walsh 5/05 75 Oliver! C. McEachern/T.Morgan 6/05 All Stars- Limited Run C.Granokos/Thomas J. Kline 8/05
76 Taming of the Shrew J.Sheldon 8/05
2005/2006 77 Lend Me a Tenor N. Lamb/D.Truscott 9/05 78 Scrooge, the Musical C.McEachern 11/05 79 Into the Woods J.Sheldon 1/06 80 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers C.McEachern 4/06 Moonlight & Stars Benefit Gala by the Second Star Guild 4/29/06
81 Over The River & Through The Woods C..Walsh/L. Burkett 5/06 82 Two Gentlemen of Verona J.Sheldon 7/06
2006-2007 83 Rosencrantz & Guildenstern – Dead N.Jessee 9/06 84 Hamlet N.Jessee 9/06 85 Annie Get Your Gun C.McEachern 11/06 86 Urinetown, The Musical J.Sheldon 1/07 87 Moon Over Buffalo D.Martin/D.Truscott 3/07 88 The Secret Garden N.Lamb 4/07 89 All Stars --Full Run L.Bushwitz 6/07 90 Urinetown, the Musical (reprise)................. 7/07 91 Shakespeare's Twelfth Night .... J.Sheldon 8/07
2007-2008 92 Peter Pan C.McEachern 9/07 93 No Way to Treat a Lady A.Ahern 10/07 94 Guys & Dolls J.Sheldon 1/08 95 Barefoot in the Park N.Lamb 2/08 96 Clue, the Musical N.Jessee 4/08 97 The Dinner Game C.Walsh 5/08 98 Nine Months T.Kline 7/08 99 Much Ado About Nothing......... J. Sheldon,J.Ousley 8/08 Much Ado About Pirates Special Event......... 8/16/08
2008-2009 100 Carousel D.Martin/S. McCoy Sep. 26-Oct. 26, 2008 101 Babes in Toyland C.McEachern Nov. 21-Dec. 21, 2008 102 Chicago J.Sheldon Jan 9-Feb 8, 2009 103 Biloxi Blues C.Walsh Mar. 13-Apr. 12, 2009 104 Li'1 Abner C.McEachern May 8-Jun 7, 2009 105 The Mikado N.Jessee Jul. 3-Aug. 2, 2009 106 Shakespeare J.Sheldon Aug. 28-Sep. 13, 2009 |