Thursday, January 11, 2007
Blithe Comedy
The Newtowne Players kick off the 2007 season tomorrow with Noel Coward’s sublime comedy “Blithe Spirit” in the Three Notch Theater. The three-act play begins with writer and society man Charles Condomine, played by Randy Geck, who finds himself in an unusual predicament. Following a whacky séance, he finds himself afflicted with a spirit that will not leave him alone, but only he can see or hear. But this is no garden-variety spirit, nor is it an evil spirit like those from horror movies. This spirit is far, far worse. It is the ghost of his first wife Elvira, played by
Sole Survivor Continued from page A - 1 nothing has really changed at all in the last decade and a half. “In 1994, there were 41 Republicans [in the House of Delegates],” O’Donnell said. “In 1998 there were 35. In 2002, there were 43 and in 2006, there are 37. As you can see, we have held steady at 39 seats, plus or minus four, for the last 16 years.” When asked about the staggering losses Republicans suffered locally and in Maryland, O’Donnell attributed a large part of it to the national mood. “There are always some local factors, but I think the overriding results statewide were the result of the national election,” O’Donnell said.
Single Party Rule Continued from page A - 1 “I don’t care what organization it is, whether it is in the private or the public sector, we need competition,” McKay said. “There has to be competition for ideas, for spending money; competition to lead to better ideas and to do a better job. Competition is healthy and necessary.” Not everyone feels the return to a one party system is bad, however. Del. John L Bohanan (D – 29B) expressed strong optimism that this is a good thing for Maryland and good for Southern Maryland. Bohanan was recently promoted to two leadership roles and will serve as Chairman of the Educational and Economic Development subcommittee operating under the House Appropriations Committee, and as Chairman of the Spending Affordability Committee. Del. John F. Wood Jr., (D29A) pointed to the appointment of Southern Maryland delegates to high ranking committee assignments as a step in the right direction for the region. Wood serves on the House Appropriations Committee. In addition to his post as Minority Leader, O’Donnell serves on the House Environmental Matters Committee. Sen. Roy Dyson (D-St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles) is
Fire Chief Continued from page A- it was an honor that there were enough peers that even wanted to nominate me and thought that I could do a good job,” she said. Craig will also have plenty of support from her family – her husband of two and half years, Gary, and her 14-month old son, Matthew. “I’m supportive,” Gary said as he took a pause from chasing little Matthew around a big empty room in the Mechanicsville station. “She’s been doing it a long time before we met.”
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Stacey Park. What ensues is an evening of laughs for the audience, usually at Charles’ expense, as they take in the outrageous antics of both Elvira, and current wife Ruth, played by Rebecca Delorme. As the play moves on, the tension grows between Charles and both wives, as well as the tension between the wives, even though they cannot interact directly. Charles spends a good deal of the play trying to figure out a way to rid himself of Elvira and send her back to the other side. The discord between the wives reaches a climax towards the end of Act II, setting the stage for the final act. Blithe Spirit runs through Jan. 21, and five more productions are planned through
the year. Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” has already been cast and will run March 2 – 18. “Annie” is scheduled to run May 11 – 27, Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is set for Aug. 10 – 26, George F. Walker’s Photo by Bryan Jaffe “Bedroom Farce” is slated From left, Charles Condomine (played by Randy Geck) Madame Arcati (Melissa Johnson) Elvira (Stacey Park) and Ruth Condomine for Oct. 12 – 28 (Rebecca Delorme) are stunned by the developments in this scene. Blithe Spirit opens tomorrow night and runs through Jan. 21. and the season while the cast of “The Odd competition as an actor last sonifying the characters, they will close with Ray Cooney’s Couple” is already work- year, is trying her hand at di- have a fast, energetic pace and “It Runs in the Family” Dec. ing together in another. And recting this year. With a cast a lot of action.” 7 – 16. while these two casts work on featuring Sarah Golden RaleyCell spoke on last year’s With all these plays their shows, another crew is Dale as May, Paul “PJ” Baker attempt to perform “Cheatscheduled, in addition to other fervently rehearsing the short as Horace, and Greg Rumpf, ers” by condensing it from events such as the Celtic Fes- David Ives play “Time Flies” “Time Flies is a quick look at two acts into one, and said it tival, which ran Saturday, the for this weekend’s Maryland the lives of two Mayflies who was a valuable learning expeThree Notch Theater is liter- Community Theatre Festival learn they only have until the rience and the troupe is better ally buzzing with activity. Association’s 22nd Annual next morning to live. prepared for what they will Actors prepare them- Short Play Competition. “It’s going really well,” face this year. Last year was selves for the opening of Morriah Cell, who com- Cell said of the production. Newtowne’s first time com“Blithe Spirit” in one room peted in the Theater Festival’s “The actors are really per- peting in the festival.
“The same thing happened in 1994, there was a nationalized election that caused a change in control of the House of Representatives and the same thing happened this year. People were frustrated with the War in Iraq and with the Congress in general for a lot of reasons. People wanted change.” While the rest of the Southern Maryland Delegation is Democratic, O’Donnell feels this will not present an overall problem for the region or his ability to serve those who elected him. “We’ve always worked close together for the best interests of Southern Maryland,” O’Donnell said. “I expect this to continue going forward.” One of the biggest priorities O’Donnell sees is for the Delegation to ensure that Governor Elect Martin O’Malley
holds up the commitments made by Governor Bob Ehrlich to the transportation needs of Southern Maryland. “The Hughesville Bypass will be completed, and we are going to find out if the new governor will keep the promises he has made,” O’Donnell said. “We took a big step forward last year on projects like Great Mills Road, Chancellors Run and Route 5 by Leonardtown. And we obtained $1.5 million for the planning phase to get a new bridge over the Patuxent River. Hopefully, the majority will be able to convince the new governor that he should keep his commitments to the rural areas of the state and not focus solely on mass transit in the urban centers.” While he finds himself the leader of a party that lost a small number of seats,
O’Donnell still has plans for the upcoming session to do what is necessary for the residents of Maryland. “I want to remove the parole provisions from the mandatory minimum sentences we passed last year for child sex offenders,” he says firmly. “And there is other legislation in that arena. We need to be stricter in tracking and monitoring these predators.” When asked about judicial discretion in whether a sex offender must register on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry, O’Donnell feels it should be done away with and that all convicted child sex offenders should be required to be on the list. Del. Johnny Wood (D – 29A) expects O’Donnell to rise to his challenge and meet it head on. “He’s got his work cut out
for him,” Wood said, “But you know, as far as Tony is concerned, since he came to Annapolis he was pretty much the only Republican. I used to see the blood run up his neck and the hair stand on the top of his head on some things. I would tell him ‘Tony, the top of your head is going to blow right off!’” Wood said O’Donnell has really grown into himself in more recent years, and has learned to handle every situation he faces effectively. He sees O’Donnell as an excellent fit for his position as House Minority Leader. “I was glad for him that he got it,” Wood said. “He deserves to be Minority Leader and all, and he’ll do alright for them.” Much as O’Donnell was surprised by the election results in November, so too was
Wood, who said he did not expect to see Del. William Daniel Mayer (R-Dist. 28) lose his seat, nor did he expect former Calvert County Commissioner President David Hale (R) to lose his bid for a delegate seat as well. “The National sentiment helped, there is no question about that,” Wood said. “Everyone was down on George W. Bush, and it was very similar to [1994], when we had that big turnaround and the Republicans kind of just walked through. This here was almost the same thing, just with the Democrats taking over.” When asked his thoughts on this legislative session, and the challenges he will face against overwhelming odds, O’Donnell said “I am looking forward to it. It is a great honor to represent the citizens of Calvert and Saint Mary’s.
now vice chairman of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. “When you have 50 percent of our people in a leadership position one way or another it’s got to help,” Wood added. “I think it’s great because four years ago it was the other way, [House of Delegates Speaker Michael E. Busch] stripped Southern Maryland as far as leadership. Everything was in the big three.” O’Donnell agreed with Wood’s sentiments and said “Anytime you are in a position of leadership, you are in a position to have more influence on the process.” Bohanan and Wood echoed sentiments by O’Donnell in regards to the transportation needs of Southern Maryland, and said they plan to push for completion of the Hughesville Bypass, a new span for the Gov. Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge, and widening of Route 235 and Route 5. Regarding the budget, Bohanan said a $5 billion dollar deficit is projected in upcoming years and there will be no real estate surge this time to help balance it. “It was a one time blip that is over now and isn’t coming back anytime soon,” Bohanan said. According to Wood, the delegation will pursue several avenues to erase the deficit, but raising taxes was only a last resort.
“We have been looking at this knowing it’s coming for the last two or three years,” Wood said. “In order to give and provide the services and programs that the people in the state of Maryland want we need another source of revenue.” O’Donnell said he was “pleased to hear” Wood would not support raising taxes because it is something he has heard talked about amongst majority party leaders. According to O’Donnell, the source of revenue Wood discussed will either come from cutting down the size and scope of government, or raising taxes. He pointed to former governor Robert L. Ehrlich’s success in cutting the size of government by seven percent over his four years in office, in helping disband deficit issues. Another possibility for additional funding is the reintroduction of slots machine legislation. While Ehrlich was a strong supporter of slots, and had cooperation from the Senate, Busch repeatedly frustrated efforts to make slots a reality. O’Malley has expressed his own support for slots as well. Sizing up the situation, O’Donnell is uncertain as to the direction the budget will take. He knows that it will be necessary to introduce a new revenue source like slots, or to continue the Ehrlich administration of keeping govern-
ment small. But to do so will be difficult, because “I’m not
sure that political will-power is going to be with us going
forward,” O’Donnell said.
“Am I excited?” he laughed. “Sure!” “It’s going to be a challenge,” Craig sighed as she picked Matthew up into her arms. “It’s a big challenge to juggle everything. I think we’ll do a good job with it, though.” Her passion for firefighting, like the love she has put into her family, is plain to see. Being able, on top of that, to enjoy the camaraderie of working with her fellow firefighters and to know that she can help the people of the community is extremely satisfying, she said. The Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department has
been successful over the years and Craig does not anticipate making many changes. She will work to keep up with current trends and with the sometimes complicated new equipment that can help firefighters when they are in the field. And just as the equipment has changed, so have the faces of those working with it. Craig is living proof of that. “I think most people are excited,” Craig said. “People that I’ve talked to think it’s exciting to see that there’s a female chief in the area. Everybody’s curious to see how things are going to run.”
Newtowne Players Knocking ‘Em Dead with ‘07 Opener By Bryan Jaffe Managing Editor
The County Times