New Stage Players spark new theater energy in Waterbury; first full production of ‘Middletown’ opens Nov. 7

November 3, 2025  |  By Gwenna Peters and Lisa Scagliotti

Play poster courtesy of the New Stage Players

There’s a fresh spark of creative energy on the scene in Waterbury as a new community theater group gains traction and momentum.This week, Waterbury’s New Stage Players community theater group is set to open its first full-length production of “Middletown,” a play that puts a contemporary spin on the Thornton Wilder’s 1938 classic, “Our Town.”  

Performances at the Grange Hall Cultural Center on Howard Avenue are scheduled for weekends starting this Friday, Nov. 7, and running through Sunday, Nov. 23. 

New Stage Players took up the Will Eno play earlier this year with a table-read exercise at the Grange Hall. A strong turnout for that event sparked interest for the group to move ahead with a full stage production and director Monica Callan announced auditions in July. 

Like the original set in 1901, Eno’s “Middletown” centers on themes of daily life, love and marriage, death and eternity, “creating a funny, whimsical, and ethereal theatrical journey for 21st-century audiences,” Callan describes in the play’s announcement. 

Now in final rehearsals, the ensemble cast prepping for “Middletown” features local talent: Nate Beyer, Rick Boyle, Louis Bronson, Monica Callan, Sarah De Bouter, Clarke Jordan, David Lagala, Susan Loynd, Fred Patchen, George Seivwright, Mo Seivwright, Dustin Spence, Marlena Tucker-Fishman, and Meredith Vaughn.

Louis Bronson and Fred Patchen in their roles as a mechanic and a cop. Photo by Monica Callan

Cast members Marlena Tucker-Fishman (as a doctor) and Louis Bronson (as a mechanic). Photo by Monica Callan

Meredith Vaughn (as Mary) with Nate Beyer (a doctor). Photo by Monica Callan

Testing the waters with comedy

Over the past several years, the New Stage Players began testing the waters with several events geared to both generate new material for the stage and involve community members who are willing to literally play a part.     

The project for the company, not surprisingly, is the brainchild of Monica Callan, the driving force behind the nonprofit Across Roads Center for the Arts and the ongoing restoration of the Grange Hall Cultural Center at the former Waterbury Grange in Waterbury Center.

In 2023, Callan and her husband Peter Holm were looking to fundraise for repairs at the Grange Hall Cultural Center. They put out a call for new plays that would be no more than 10 minutes long. Expecting just a few submissions, Callan said she hoped to receive at least eight solid entries that she could put together and cast for a fundraiser performance. 

To their surprise, they received 367 plays from writers from across the country, and multiple actors showed up for the casting calls. The result was a two-weekend production titled “An Evening of Comedy,” which entertained audiences this past February. Pleased with the project, Callan said she hopes to continue it in the future. 

Next came a different experiment. In April, Callan combined theater with community building by organizing a reading of the three-act classic “Our Town,” in collaboration with the Waterbury Public Library. 

Twenty people gathered in the Steele Community Room to participate in the reading of the Pulitzer Prize-winning American play set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, from 1901 to 1913. Performed thousands of times since it opened in 1938, “Our Town” is a play familiar to many from high school and college literature and theater classes. 

The first act opened with Tom Stevens as narrator, setting the scene in Grover’s Corners. Library staffer Judi Byron filled in with sound effects of a rooster crowing, bringing laughter from the group. The exercise was punctuated by snack breaks between acts, with everyone mingling afterward, chatting over the common shared experience. 

Callan said she chose “Our Town” to offer a reading of something familiar and to later compare with the next community reading event she was planning. That took place in May, when about 25 people turned out at the Grange Hall for a reading of “Middletown,” a modern version of the “Our Town” story, written in 2016 and likely not familiar to most theatre goers. 

New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood called Eno “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation.”  Eno is best known for his play, “Thom Paine (based on nothing),” which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2005, and has earned numerous awards. “Middletown” earned Eno the 2010 Horton Foote Award for Promising New Play when it was performed off Broadway at the Vineyard Theater in New York City that same year.  

Local resident Emily Gilde attended the May reading of “Middletown” and said it was the first play reading she and her husband had ever attended. “As relative newcomers to Vermont, we were enchanted by the notion of townspeople coming together in the old Grange Hall to entertain themselves by reading aloud,” she commented. 

She described enjoying one scene where an elderly doctor is reassuring a young woman regarding the imminent delivery of her first baby, where the actor captured the essence of the kindly, plain-spoken old doctor perfectly and had the audience rolling with laughter.

Later in a post on Front Porch Forum she called the performance “hilarious and touching.” She thanked the people who stepped up to read the script and commented further: “The venue also added to the magic. We are truly lucky to have such opportunities here… What a talented bunch of actors we have in our midst!”

Casting call

Like audience members who recognize a spark, those stepping up to take on roles say they’ve found something special, too. 

Harwood Middle School English Teacher Meredith Vaughn moved to Waterbury a couple of years ago from Jeffersonville. She took part in the February “Evening of Comedy” show, performing in three of the short one-act plays. 

What’s the appeal?

New Stage Players cast members in 'Specimens' by Donna Boyd presented at February's comedy night are (left to right): Meredith Vaughn, Mo Seivwright and Evan Lewis. Courtesy photo

“Participating in community theater gives me a chance to be creative and have fun. I can stay connected to that independent, imaginative part of myself, and at the same time, build friendships and feel part of something bigger in my community,” Vaughn said, adding that being in the comedy show was particularly fun. 

“I think as adults, we don't always make space for things that light us up creatively – or things we loved when we were younger,” she shared. “I feel like the process of working (and playing) with a group and feeling energized toward a common goal is really special and probably what we all need more of right now.”

Vaughn is in the “Middletown” production along with fellow cast member Mo Seivwright, who also was in the comedy show last winter. She moved to Waterbury Center relatively recently, too, and was pleasantly surprised to find a the New Stage Players practically in her backyard. 

“After being involved with community theater in Grand Isle County and moving to Waterbury Center, I was excited to see a new theater group starting near my neighborhood,” Seivwright recounted. “I had no acting experience prior to South Hero Players, but had been welcomed into a community of mixed seasoned and unseasoned performers – that’s why it is called community theater.” 

She said she found a warm welcome with the Waterbury company. “It‘s so fun to learn from each other and to see the progression from the start of auditions to showtime, front stage and back stage, lighting, sound and tech.”

Vaughn and Seivwright both said they would encourage those interested and/or curious to check out the upcoming show and consider getting involved. “Whatever your interest or talent, please come join us!” Seivwright said. 

A veteran at the helm

A veteran of the theater, Callan has extensive training, having attended Emerson College in Boston and later working in New York City with the Atlantic Theatre Company. Callan’s career credentials include writing, producing and managing.

Theatre can be a tool for changing people's perspectives of the world, Callan said, describing how she likes to watch audiences recognize new perspectives as they view a play. She said she enjoys picking up on how audiences focus on a play, gasping collectively, sighing in unison, and even starting to breathe in synchronicity. It’s not just the themes of a play that spark connections in the theater, but people actually sharing biorhythms, Callan said. 

Launching the New Stage Players evolved following the COVID-19 pandemic. The new company has been established as a nonprofit with a mission statement that says: “New Stage Players is committed to developing theater makers in our community, and telling stimulating stories of new and reimagined work that is inclusive, entertaining and resonates with audiences in an intimate theatrical setting.” 

Across Roads Center for the Arts is the group’s organizational sponsor, and the Grange Hall Cultural Center is the facility sponsor, Callan explained. 

Viewing the theatre as a collaborative art form, Callan said she sees a place for everyone who wants to be involved with the New Stage Players, whether it be acting, working on soundscapes, making costumes, choreography, promotion, set-building, etc. 

Cast members read on stage during the spring 'Middletown' presentation at the Waterbury Grange Hall Cultural Center in May. Courtesy photo

So, what’s ahead for the New Stage Players? Its website (currently offline due to some tech glitches) posed that question back to the community: “Is there a play you would like to hear read out loud?” it asked. 

The group is open to suggestions for plays to read in the future. Playwrights, directors, actors, or just “theater-curious” individuals are encouraged to offer ideas, particularly if they are not the “usual community theater fare,” it stated.

“This is not only an educational opportunity to expand our community knowledge of plays, but also to possibly consider them for future production and to introduce you to people who would like to support the project,” the group suggests. 

The site also teased to an ambitious project on the horizon: a script and musical score coming together for future production titled “Daisy and the Wonder Weeds,” written by Jean-Elliot Manning, with Executive Producers Brenda Caforia-Weeber and Eric Weeber. The new work for New Stage Players would be presented with Across Roads Center for the Arts at the Grange Hall Cultural Center.

Its short description: “This is a joyful and colorful story of respect for the life and world around us. It focuses on inclusion, responsibility, and the power of being our best selves for each other and our planet despite the dark forces that might intercede.” The show already has a motto, “Here Comes a Miracle!” taken from a song title in the score. 

But first, ‘Middletown’

'Middletown' leads Meredith Vaughn (as Mary) and Rick Boyle (as John). Photo by Monica Callan

Talk of shows to come can wait. The focus now is on this month’s project opening on Friday.  

Performances of “Middletown,” Nov. 7-23, will be at the Waterbury Grange Hall Cultural Center, 317 Howard Ave., in Waterbury Center. Showtime on Friday and Saturday nights is 7:30 p.m.; Sunday shows are at 2 p.m. 

Tickets: General admission. Opening night, Nov. 7, is $10; all other shows are $20. Purchase at the door or online. 

For more information or to reserve tickets at the door, call 802-244-4168.

The New Stage Players also extend their thanks to the production sponsor, New England Landmark Realty.

Finally, anyone looking to learn more or get involved with the New Stage Players can start with an email to info.acrossroads@gmail.com or a call to the number above.