The Walpole Footlighters' Technical Director, Dan Sheehan, won the DASH Award for Best Set Design for a Play at the 2013-2014 DASH Awards Gala, held at the Scottish Rite Museum and Library in Lexington, Massachusetts, on October 16, 2014. Dan won for his design for the Footlighters' February production of The Fox on the Fairway by Ken Ludwig.  

Dan's set had a peaked roof upstage with French doors looking out on the golf course, painted by Paul Collins.  A realistic stone fireplace built from foam and a built in bar stocked with liquor bottles added to the members room of the golf course.

The DASH (Distinguished Achievement and Special Honors) Awards are sponsored by the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres (EMACT). This season, 131 shows were reviewed by DASH consultants. The competition gets tougher every season, so congratulations to Dan!

The Walpole Footlighters received three nominations for DASH Awards this season.  The DASH (Distinguished Achievement and Special Honors) program is sponsored by the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres (EMACT) each year. 

We congratulate our members who were nominated:

Dan Sheehan - Best Set Design for a Play, The Fox on the Fairway
Bette Lavery - Best Set Dressing for a Play, The Fox on the Fairway
Bette Lavery and Paul Collins - Best Set Dressing for a Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone


To be eligible to participate in the program, the producing group must be a member of EMACT in good standing and may not pay actors a stipend that exceeds $200.  

The Gala and Awards Ceremony will be held Saturday, August 16, at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, Mass.  The reception begins at 6:00 pm and the awards ceremony starts at 7:30 pm.  To purchase tickets, go to this link: http://www.ticketstage.com/EMACT.

The Walpole Footlighters are pleased to announce the cast of The Fox on the Fairway:


Louise: Jessica Corey
Justin: Dan Delaporta
Pamela: Ann-Marie Weaver
Dickie: Andrew Shiels
Muriel: Ninette Cummings
Bingham: Dan Kirichok

Congratulations to those cast, and thank you to all who came out to audition!

We will be holding auditions for our winter comedy, The Fox on the Fairway, directed by Frank Moffett, on 
November 5 & 7 at 7:00 PM.  Auditions will consist of readings from the script.  The director prefers that you attend both audition nights if possible.

Synopsis and character descriptions:

A tribute from Ken Ludwig to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s, The Fox On The Fairway takes audiences on a hilarious romp which pulls the rug out from underneath the stuffy denizens of a private country club. Filled with mistaken identities, slamming doors, and over-the-top romantic shenanigans, it’s a furiously paced comedy that recalls the Marx Brothers’ classics. A charmingly madcap adventure about love, life, and man’'s eternal love affair with… golf.

Character descriptions are as follows. The ages listed are the stated ages of the characters, not necessarily the required age of the actors.

HENRY BINGHAM (mid 40s): Director of the Quail Valley Country Club. He is witty and cynical at times, much like Basil Fawlty from the British sitcom. He gets into a high-stakes bet on a golf tournament and is determined to do what it takes to win. He is also unhappy in his marriage to Muriel and becomes involved with Pamela.

PAMELA PEABODY (39): A member of the Quail Valley Country Club. She is very attractive and sophisticated, but a bit loose and a bit of a drinker. Throughout the production, she aids Bingham in his plans to make sure their club wins.

JUSTIN HICKS (25): Bingham' new eager-to-please assistant who volunteers his services as a golfer to help Quail Valley win the golf tournament. He is romantically involved with Louise and proposes to her early on, but becomes emotionally distraught when things become difficult between them.

LOUISE HEINDBEDDER (23): A waitress at the Quail Valley Country Club. She is very attractive, and a bit flighty, but studious. She gets engaged to Justin early on, but a mishap results in her becoming very upset over their future together, making her cry at a moment’s notice.

DICKIE BELL (mid 40s): The director of the rival Crouching Squirrel Country Club, with whom Bingham gets into a high-stakes wager. He is a bit obnoxious, including his fashion sense, but tries to come off as good-natured. He is Pamela’s ex and has a thing for Bingham’s wife, Muriel.

MURIEL BINGHAM (40s): Bingham's wife, who runs an antique shop, which becomes part of the wager between Henry and Dickie. Generally overbearing and stern, she somehow has a soft spot for Dickie.