"an amateur community theatre company 
providing quality and affordable dinner theatre, 
and small group entertainment for the  
surrounding community"  

Off Stage Productions

Where theatre comes to life

 

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Off Stage Productions, Inc.

"Where Theatre Comes to Life"


Dinner Theatre & Party Entertainment

Administrative &
Box Office Phone:

419-605-6708

Email:
info@offstagetheatre.com

Administrative Address:
211 S. Walnut St.
Van Wert, Ohio 45891

Performance Location:
Senior Center
220 Fox Rd
Van Wert, Ohio 45891

Off Stage Donation

Please consider making a donation to help support community theatre in this area.
Any amount is appreciated!

Off Stage Productions
is proud to be a member of
:
Ohio Community Theatre Association
PDF Print E-mail

Who's in Bed With the Butler? good fun

By BARB THOMPSON

For The Van Wert independent

cast

When was the last time that you laughed so hard you had to grab a chair to keep from falling?  Not a chuckle nor a snicker but a full-blown hee-haw that kinda’ took your breath away for a few seconds.

It just doesn’t happen as much as it used to, due to the state of the economy, but I’ve got a sure-fire prescription if you’re in the mood for high-quality-laughter and plenty of it.

Be sure to see the current Off Stage Production, "Who’s In Bed With The Butler?" playing now at the Council on Aging Senior Center on Fox Road. The cast will be waiting with laughs galore tonight at 8, plus April 18, 23 and 24 … four opportunities to treat yourself and friends to an evening of solid, old-fashioned fun and laughter.

Within the past week, the devoted cast of this play has worked diligently to erect a new stage, complete with doors, windows, columns, furniture, you-name-it, into a very believable living room of a recently deceased millionaire, Mr. William Olden.

The story comes to life when the sister of the deceased (Monica Campbell) and her legal advisor (Dan Bulau) arrive at the Olden Mansion to find out what’s holding up the dispensing of the bountiful treasures of Mr. Olden’s will … namely, art, antique automobiles and a multimillion-dollar yacht.

The plot thickens when three former mistresses of William Olden arrive at the mansion and immediately attempt to resume questionable connections with the Olden butler, Clifton, played by Ed Eichler.  (I thought about writing a review on just Clifton, alone.  He’s quite a doozie, folks; you’ll love him).

Each of the nine-member cast is an identical replica of the play’s character he/she portrays.  A detective, sent to expose the suspected plot, spends more time on the floor, semi-conscious, than he does upright.  Ralph Bowsher IV handles this role professionally, but I don’t know how he can possibly make it through four more performances.

The Olden maid, Agnes, is Van Wert’s Terri Stevens, and when she enters the stage, regardless of what’s happening at that moment, the audience bursts into laughter. She’s just that funny!  And can you believe she has a pet rat named Oscar?

Staci Kaufman, Mary Yackey and Cat White are the three “hot-to-trot” mistresses in the play and their antics are “over-the-moon,” but at the same time absolutely believable. They are beautiful women … who know it!

Jan Miller is “Susie,” an attractive lady who just happens to show up at the mansion, in the middle of all the crazy, non-stop activity, and ends up tying up a lot of loose ends, including the answer to the play’s title, Who’s In Bed With The Butler? See! – each character is vitally important!

For those of you not familiar with Off Stage Productions Inc., it is a dinner theatre treat, with a terrific meal catered by Grant’s Catering and served before “curtain call” at 8 p.m. So arrive hungry and about an hour earlier than showtime.

David Lianez is director of this incredible play and he’s assisted by his wife, Jane, and Jerri Bacino.  Everyone pitches in on props, set construction, costumes, light and sound, publicity, etc. Monica Campbell handles the photography and Doug Shell is master of the website.

I can’t overemphasize the pure joy that wafts throughout the Senior Center facility as this theatre group works together to make the night special for everyone – performers and patrons alike.

Just think about it, Folks, these performers and crew members devote weeks, perfecting a stage comedy for your and my entertainment.  So spread the news and let’s fill every chair tonight, Saturday, Sunday and next Friday and Saturday evenings (April 23 and 24).

Let’s get behind them and let them know how much we appreciate all their efforts, skills and especially, the laughter they bestow on all moving creatures … even Oscar, the rat.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 18 April 2010 21:20 )
 
OSP Web Site Wins Awards PDF Print E-mail

OSP and web master Doug Shell received three prestigious awards from the Ohio Community Theatre Association at their September annual conference in Cincinnati.  We are proud that others recognize our efforts to get out the message of live theatre.

 OSP won for “Excellence in Web-site Design," Excellents in Web-site Content,” and “Outstanding in Web-site Functionality” for their website offstagetheatre.com in a field of all civic theatres in Ohio.  Doug Shell is the web master for OSP and deserves the credit for this outstanding success.

The Ohio Community Theatre Association’s constitution reads: “The purpose of this statewide, non-profit service organization is to promote excellence and creativity in live theatre by providing members educational opportunities for growth in artistic and technical aspects of theatre, and to promote community awareness of, understanding of, and access to live theatre — alone or with other organizations."

Off Stage Productions, Inc., is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization.  We provide dinner theatre productions in the fall and in the spring.  Off Stage Productions is proud to offer patrons a quality live theatre performance in a relaxing and comfortable setting at a very reasonable price.  At the same time, we are able to provide a creative outlet to people who love to be involved in the production of a live play.

Last Updated ( Monday, 28 September 2009 08:02 )
 
OSP Partners with Senior Center PDF Print E-mail
Van Wert, Ohio - Off Stage Productions, Inc. is partnering with the Senior Center to present their dinner theaters in a new and improved location.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 February 2010 21:00 )
Read More...
 
Help us Advertise the show PDF Print E-mail

signyard
Every time you hear someone say "Help Support...." these days, you automatically think, "how much is this going to cost me" right?  Well here is an opportunity to "help support" Off Stage Productions and it won't cost you a dime.

Last Updated ( Friday, 08 May 2009 17:00 )
Read More...
 
Gift Ideas . . . PDF Print E-mail

The perfect gift idea!

Gift Certificates are available for a future dinner theatre show.

Good for any upcoming performance, they can be personalized with the recipient’s name.  We'll even mail them to you!

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or
call 419-605-6708 for more information.

ticketyellow

Last Updated ( Friday, 08 May 2009 18:28 )
 

Off Stage Asks You!

What types of shows would you like to see Off Stage produce? sorry musicals are not an option at this time
 

Off Stage Productions

is funded in part
by a grant from the

 

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OSP Videoclip

Want to see what it takes to put together a theatre set for a live production...check out the video below.  We set up a camera and took a snapshot every three minutes over the course of two days, as we worked on getting everything ready for our production of "Let's Murder Marsha".  It's a lot of work as you will see, but it's also a lot of fun, and we would love to have you join us and get involved.  Check out our contact us page and let us know that you want to help, there is always pleanty to do!


osp_video

Click the image above
or click here
to view the video.