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WESTPORT, NY — The Depot Theatre in Westport is pleased to announce the cast of PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES, a crowd-pleasing, country-western musical tribute to life by the roadside.

The production features a talented multi-tasking cast of singers/musicians who portray Prudie and Rhetta Cupp, the generous gals from the Double Cupp Diner, and the guys from the gas station ‘cross the road. PUMP BOYS received unanimous raves on and off Broadway (including on the Depot Theatre stage in 1997!).  

Pulling double duty as music director and actor, Alexander LaPlante will be playing the part of L.M. LaPlate’s previous credits include Theatre West End PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES (L.M.), Orlando Shakes MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (Jerry Lee U/S), The Athens Theater Young Frankenstein (Fredrick), and The Orlando Family Stage ALLIE KAZAN AND THE MAGIC MANOR (Eric).

Alexander Peck will be playing the part of Jackson and guitar. He has varied credits in stage, television, and film as an actor and musician – as well as in orchestras in his native Canada, England, and the US. Among his theater credits are a previous Jackson in PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES at the Boarshead – Michigan Public Theater; Yepihodov (guitar) in THE CHERRY ORCHARD at the Caldwell Playhouse; and the Fiddler in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at the Alhambra Dinner Theater, Florida. Numerous summer stock appearances include MAN OF LA MANCHA (two times), BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS (also twice) as the Narrator, and he can be seen playing violin in several movies and daytime tv shows as a strolling restaurant violinist.

Addison Schuh makes her Depot Theatre debut as Rhetta. A recent graduate from Oklahoma City University, she is an NYC-based singer and actress. Some recent credits include Cinderella (INTO THE WOODS), Leilani (LEGALLY BLONDE), Julie Jordan (CAROUSEL), and Countess Helene (SHERLOCK & DAUGHTER; The CW Network 2025).

Bill Stokes returns to the Depot in the part of Eddie, having been in the orchestra for this season’s production of ANALOG AND VINYL. Bill started on violin at age nine and has been involved with music ever since. His credits include three summer seasons with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, teaching music in public schools, directing band and chorus, and in recent years has written a one-act musical. 

Michael Toperzer is making his Depot Theatre debut as Jim. His regional credits include MOONSHINE AND MISTLETOE (Rev. Nathe/Dewey/Jarret U/S), PASS/OVER (Mister/Ossifer U/S; Studio Theater DC), ROMEO AND JULIET (Friar Lawrence; CSC), ALICE IN WONDERLAND (The White Rabbit; CSC), A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Oberon/Theseus, CSC), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Fred, CSC). Off Off B’way: THE LAST POET ON MARS (The Attendant; Brooklyn Actors Troupe), Malvolio in TWELFTH NIGHT (Malvolio; Monday Theater Co.), and ROMEO AND JULIET (Tybalt, Paris; Verona).

Tiara Whaley will be playing the role of Prudie. Audiences will remember Tiara Whaley for her outstanding role as Rodeo Girl earlier this summer in the Depot’s production of ANALOG AND VINYL. Tiara is a Philadelphia-based actress and holds a musical theatre degree from West Chester University. Her favorite roles include Ti Moune (ONCE ON THIS ISLAND), Emmie Thibedeaux (CAROLINE OR CHANGE, Helen Hayes Outstanding Supporting Actress), Dorothy Gale (WIZARD OF OZ), and Heather Chandler (HEATHERS).

The production is directed and choreographed by DJ Salisbury, who has directed and choreographed over 115 shows across the USA and in Colombia. Favorites include LES MISÉRABLES (LA’s Scenie Award – Best Musical), THE FULL MONTY, RAGTIME, and THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES (10 productions!), MAN OF LA MANCHA, WEST SIDE STORY, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. DJ directed Disney composer Alan Menken’s Lincoln Center concert, an Off-Broadway rock musical, and numerous readings/workshops of new musicals in NYC.

“The simple, earnest relationships reminiscent of those in Mayberry, R.F.D. along with a bushel of original hummable songs — rockabilly to blues to folk — serve to make PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES the comfort food of musicals,” said DJ Salisbury, director/choreographer. “It’s just plain old, good-time entertainment.”

PUMP BOYS will run from August 8-25. Tickets can be purchased online at DepotTheatre.org or by calling the box office at 518.962.4449.

More details, information about the Depot Theatre Academy, and news updates can be found online at DepotTheatre.org.

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About the Depot Theatre

The Depot Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre located in a historic, functioning 1876 train station in Westport, N.Y., and it is the only theatre in the Adirondacks that operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. In addition to its volunteer board of trustees, the theatre depends on the support and generosity of its loyal donors, volunteers, and community members. Committed to promoting and providing exposure to the performing arts in the Adirondacks, the Depot Theatre invites all to “Take a journey without leaving the station.” The Depot Theatre’s 2024 programming is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, with additional support from the Essex County Arts Council Cultural Assistance Program Grant supported by the Essex County Board of Supervisors.

The Depot Theatre Academy is a robust educational experience for area youth and a pathway for those interested in pursuing a profession in theatre—whether that’s backstage or on stage.

 

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Tiara Whaley, Peter Corley, and Aja Downing in the Depot Theatre’s ANALOG AND VINYL.

A strength of the Depot is its perfect pitch for knowing when to poke smoldering social issues and when to let sleeping dogs lie. There are so many eye-averting troubles we must confront today at every turn that the luxury of escapism feels to be just what we needed.

Analog and Vinyl is a light and welcome beach-read of a musical that asks little of us, except that we sit back and enjoy an evening free of worldly encumbrances.

The scene of Analog and Vinyl is a vintage record shop operating out of a defunct convenience store, and from the get-go the set makes us happy — nostalgic posters of Steppenwolf and such, papering over walls that retain the garish 7-Eleven color scheme.

This is the lonely stamping grounds of the stressed Harrison, played by Peter Corley, whose lot in life is a blind devotion to the pressed albums of old that have lost out to the inferior but more convenient strains of the digital world.

Peter Corley

Corley aptly channels his inner Eeyore while still maintaining an appropriate hint of optimistic light (not an easy balancing act, but Corley pulls it off), by way of a stone cold assurance that one of these days the unwashed masses will see the error of their ways and come flocking to his store for LPs. (We in 2024 America know that, theoretically, he was right, and somehow this knowledge makes Harrison both more endearing and situationally valid.)

Helping Harrison in the shop, or trying to, is the air-headed Rodeo Girl (Tiara Whaley) who is a bubbly, amusingly difficult to explain presence. Though the plot of Analog and Vinyl is a bit uneven in spots, we’re all having fun so it can remain an article of faith that loose ends will eventually be tied and inconsistencies reconciled, at least close enough for a rom-com.

Tiara Whaley

Whaley skillfully takes a puzzling character and layers on complexities that grow as the show goes on, culminating in A&V’s best moment, Whaley’s rendition of “Vinyl Boy,” which brings down the house.

But the most delicious role of The Stranger is saved for the superb Aja Downing, who knows exactly what to do with a choice part. Of course you can’t spell “stranger” without s-a-t-a-n, and sure enough, the stranger has an offer that Harrison and Rodeo Girl can’t refuse. Or can they?

Aja Downing

As the two wrestle with their difficult decisions, more of their veneers crumble away and reveal tear-shedding vulnerabilities that make us feel far different about them than when they started out.

Director Beth Glover keeps the show hopping with levity until the plot can build momentum of its own. Also keeping toes tapping is a talented orchestra — Jane Boxall on drums, Bill Stokes on bass, and Andy Tompkins on guitar, with keyboards and music direction by Valerie Gebert — playing a lively score that is kind of essential to a show about a record shop.

THE ORCHESTRA –  (L-R) Valerie Gebert, musical director and keyboards; Andy Tompkins, guitar; Jane Boxall, drums; Bill Stokes, bass.

All told, the show leaves us far happier than when we came in, and not many diversions today can make that claim. Circumstances being what they are, the Depot’s Analog and Vinyl is a refreshing oasis from our cares in a day and age when, for a little carefree fun, we might even sell our souls.

 

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Tim Rowland contributed this review by the request of, and in collaboration with the Depot Theatre. Rowland is a journalist and New York Times bestselling author, whose humorous commentaries explore an eclectic variety of subject matter, from politics to history to the great outdoors. He and his wife Beth live on the Ausable River in Jay, N.Y.

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WESTPORT, N.Y. — The Depot Theatre in Westport, New York, is pleased to announce the dynamic cast of ANALOG & VINYL, the first production in the theatre’s 46th season main stage lineup.

ANALOG & VINYL is a musical rom-com romp with a memorable score infused with the influences of Elvis Costello, the Beatles, and Brian Wilson. It’s a delicious, devilish tale of Harrison, a young record shop owner, Rodeo Girl, the seemingly spacey—yet weirdly wise—hipster obsessed with him, and a mysterious stranger who rocks their world with an offer they might not be able to refuse.

The part of Harrison is played by Peter Corley. This past year Peter appeared in two Martin McDonagh plays, as Katurian in THE PILLOWMAN and Ray in BEAUTY QUEEN OF LENANE, as well as George Bailey in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Billy in Stoppard’s THE REAL THING, and Fred/Young Scrooge in A CHRISTMAS CAROL, all in Northwest NJ. He’s a graduate of the musical theater program at New York’s Circle in the Square, where he played Konstantin in THE SEAGULL, Cooper in ISLAND SONG, and as guest artist alum returned for productions of I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE, and LaChiusa’s SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE.

Aja Downing plays the role of The Stranger. Downing graduated from The American Musical Arts Academy in 2016. Some of Aja’s previous roles were Annette in TJ LOVES SALLY 4 EVA, Lorrell in DREAMGIRLS, Jojo in CHERCHEZ LA FEMME, Cassandra in ALEX AND EUGENE, Christine Daè in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Aida in AIDA, and Ella Baker in BAYARD: A NEW MUSICAL.

Tiara Whaley will play the role of Rodeo Girl. She is a Philadelphia-based actress and holds a musical theatre degree from West Chester University. Her favorite roles include Ti Moune (ONCE ON THIS ISLAND), Emmie Thibedeaux (CAROLINE OR CHANGE, Helen Hayes Outstanding Supporting Actress), Dorothy Gale (WIZARD OF OZ), and Heather Chandler (HEATHERS).

“We saw so many amazing actors at our New York City auditions – any number of them could do a fine job in ANALOG & VINYL,” said Beth Glover, the show’s director and part of the Depot’s Artistic Production Management team. “But these three talents, Tiara, Peter, and Aja, not only knocked it out of the park, they knocked us out with their vocals and scene work. ANALOG & VINYL is dear to us and we love watching this joyful enthusiastic cast bring this funny, smart, heartfelt story to life, and we’re certain you’ll love it, too.”

The musical will be backed by a top-notch pit band led by Valerie Gebert, Director/Conductor/Keyboardist with National and International Tours of Broadway musicals including SIX, THE LION KING, WICKED, ANASTASIA, CINDERELLA, FINDING NEVERLAND, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, CABARET, JOSEPH……, SOUND OF MUSIC, WEST SIDE STORY, A CHORUS LINE and HELLO, DOLLY! Other members of the band are Jane Boxall (drums), Andy Tompkins (guitar), and Bill Stokes (bass).

ANALOG & VINYL will run from June 27 through July 14. Tickets can be purchased online at DepotTheatre.org or by calling 518.962.4449.

The Depot Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre located in a historic, functioning 1876 train station in Westport, NY, and it is the only theatre in the Adirondacks that operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association.

For more information about the Depot Theatre’s main stage and Academy youth programs and for news updates visit DepotTheatre.org.

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Analog & Vinyl
June 28 – July 14, with a $25 Preview on June 27
Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon
Book by Paul Gordon & Michael Berresse

RATED: PG-13 (Language)
PRODUCTION SPONSOR: The Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation

Analog and Vinyl is presented by special arrangement with Uproar Theatrics
www.UproarTheatrics.com

About the Depot Theatre

The Depot Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre located in a historic, functioning 1876 train station in Westport, N.Y., and it is the only theatre in the Adirondacks that operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. In addition to its volunteer board of trustees, the theatre depends on the support and generosity of its loyal donors, volunteers, and community members. Committed to promoting and providing exposure to the performing arts in the Adirondacks, the Depot Theatre invites all to “Take a journey without leaving the station.” The Depot Theatre’s 2024 programming is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided by the Essex County Arts Council. The Depot Theatre 2024 Season is sponsored by the Rogers-Carroll Family Foundation.

The Depot Theatre Academy is a robust educational experience for area youth and a pathway for those interested in pursuing a profession in theatre—whether that’s backstage or on stage.

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