Cat Delaney

As Welfarewell is about to go up in Monroe Illinois, the director, John Campbell sent me an e-mail depicting the first bank heist scene being filmed. Like the production staged by Michael Darmanin at the English Drama Group in Salzburg, Austria, in 2011, Campbell’s troupe opted to film the bank robberies in local banks (with…

Welfarewell is being staged by the Monroe Actors Theatre Company, Monroe, Illinois (southwest part of the state, close to St. Louis, Missouri), in February 2013. So, it won’t be much of a stretch to have Esmerelda unable to dig in the frozen ground to bury poor old Merlin… Here’s the link! www.masctheatre.org/

Welfarewell goes up in November at the Waterville Opera House in Waterville, Maine! Directed by Juli Brooks, Esmerelda and the jailbirds (yes, and that pesky lawyer lad, Alfred) will grace the stage for six performances November 9 to 11 and 16 to 18. Aqua City Actors Theatre (ACAT; how’s that for coincidence!) says on the…

The St. Marys Community Players are sending up Welfarewell from October 25 to November 4, 2012, directed by Gretchen Rozek. St. Marys (the Stone Town) is a pretty town slightly south of Stratford, in southwestern Ontario, easily accessible from Stratford, London, Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. St. Marys Community Players  

The University Players, University of Windsor, in Windsor, Ontario, will be staging Welfarewell as part of their 2012-2013 season, a collection of comedies. The play runs  22-25, Nov. 28-December 2, 2012, and is to be directed by Liza Balkan. For all of Essie’s fans in southwestern Ontario and Michigan, this is a great location!  

The 20-show run of Welfarewell at The Curtain Club Theatre in Richmond Hill, Ontario (just north of Toronto) enjoyed an inspired cast, full houses and standing ovations! Thanks to dear friends, actor Geoff Kolomayz, and artist Ted Nasmith, for taking in the show and cheering on the efforts of Esmerelda!

The drama students at the University of Windsor, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, under the guidance of Esther Van Eek will be staging Welfarewell this fall, likely in November. Fans of Esmerelda in the Detroit area can just hop across the bridge or through the tunnel and spend an evening with Essie and her jailbirds, rich…

Esmerelda and the girls will be on stage at the Odyssey Dinner Theatre in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan this upcoming spring. Directed by Layla Shuparski, the show will run in April and May 2012.

Director of the May 2011 production of Welfarewell in Austria, Michale Darmanin, and his University of Salzburg colleague, Andreas Schachermayr, are set to translate Welfarewell into German. Darmanin’s troupe, The English Drama Group, are staging Welfarewell in its original English form in Salzburg and Vienna. Mr. Darmanin has received numerous inquiries from German-language theatre groups…

Esmerelda’s name will be up in lights. Cat is pleased to announce that Big Nickel Motion Picture Factory has optioned the screenplay rights to Welfarewell. Plans are underway to secure top talent to direct and act in the film. Right now this is under development and we’ll keep you posted on progress, including who will…