2025 - 2026 Season Announcement!
The FungusAmongus Board of Directors are excited to announce 3/4 of our 2025 - 2026 season. We will announce our winter production in the coming weeks once rights are finalized.
This fall we will present “Cyrano de Bergerac”, by Edmon Rostand. “Cyrano” tells the story of a brilliant but self-conscious poet and swordsman, Cyrano, who is in love with his cousin Roxane. He is too insecure about his large nose to confess his love. Instead, he helps the handsome but inarticulate Christian woo Roxane by writing love letters for him. Roxane falls for the words, unaware they are Cyrano's. Ultimately, Cyrano sacrifices his own happiness for Roxane's, the play explores themes of love, self-sacrifice, inner vs. outer beauty, and the power of language. David Metcalf will direct and auditions will be in August.
For our holiday production we will present “A Sherlock Carol” by Mark Shanahan. Moriarty is dead, to begin with. And Sherlock Holmes is a haunted man. But, when a grown-up Tiny Tim asks Holmes to investigate the death of Ebenezer Scrooge, the Great Detective must use his gifts to solve a Dickens of a Christmas mystery! Six or more actors take on the beloved characters of Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens in this heartwarming and highly theatrical holiday treat for all ages! Tom Nelson will direct and auditions will also be in August. A SHERLOCK CAROL is presented through special arrangement with Dramatist Play Service.
And finally, we are excited to announce that our Summer 2026 production will be Disney’s Newsies with Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Jack Feldman and Book by Harvey Fierstein. NEWSIES is inspired by the true story of the 1899 newsboy strike in New York City. It’s a timeless story addressing the strength of a group against oppression. NEWSIES showcases a group of young, poor children, many of whom were runaways and orphans, just trying to sell papers to make enough money to survive. However, headlines were bad and papers weren’t selling. So the owners, Pulitzer, and Hearst, decide to raise newspaper prices to the newsies, making them sell twice as many for the same profit. This is an energetic, idealistic, musical, that will have you smiling one second and crying a minute later. NEWSIES captivates the strength that young people have when they join together and stand up against injustice. Kay Wilson will direct, audition info to follow and we will need many kids involved! NEWSIES is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com
Auditions for "Cyrano de Bergerac" & "A Sherlock Carol"
Thursday August 14 at 6 pm and
Saturday August 16 at 10 am
at the Dassel History Center.
Please audition for one or both shows! Bring your conflict calendar. Auditions will be cold readings from the scripts.
"Cyrano de Bergerac" Callbacks*
Monday August 18 at 6 pm
at the Dassel History Center.
*Callback will include a fencing/stage combat workshop. This is mandatory for all male auditioners age 45 and under. Any others, are also welcome, but not required. Please dress in non-restrictive clothing.
Register for Summer Youth Theatre Camp by July 17
FungusAmongus in conjunction with Dassel-Cokato Community Education will be putting on the Summer Youth Theatre Camp again this summer. Signups are now live on the Community-Education website. The camp will be held this summer July 28 - July 31, with the first four days of camp at the Dassel-History Center and the final rehearsal and performance at the Dassel-Cokato Performing Arts Center.
Join us for a week-long theatre camp where young performers will immerse themselves in the exciting world of acting, guided by the talented FungusAmungus Players! This interactive workshop is designed to help students build confidence, enhance creativity, and develop essential theatre skills in a fun and supportive environment.
Through engaging games and hands-on activities, campers will explore stage movement, blocking notation, and script scoring, while also diving into character development, scene creation, dialogue delivery, body language, and storytelling techniques. Led by experienced actors, participants will gain valuable insight into the art of performance, learning to bring stories to life.
Rehearsals will take place Monday through Thursday at the Dassel History Center, preparing students for their final dress rehearsal on Friday at the Performing Arts Center. That evening, campers will take the stage for a FREE showcase performance, celebrating their hard work with family, friends, and fellow theatre enthusiasts.
The registration fee includes a camp t-shirt. Sign up by July 17 to guarantee your shirt!
2025 Student Scholarship Awarded
The FungusAmongus Board of Directors are proud to announce that the recipient of our 2025 student scholarship is Jackie Luhman. A 2025 graduate of Dassel Cokato High School, Jackie has worked tech on a number of FungusAmongus productions the last two years and helped considerably with a number of productions, thank you Jackie!
The $500 dollar scholarship is open each year to graduating high school seniors or students currently enrolled in post-secondary education, who have been involved in Fungus productions. All money collected from concessions during Fungus productions is put into a separate fund specifically set aside to award these scholarships.
Farewell to “The Book of Mark”
Thank you to all that attended the performances of "The Book of Mark". Around $2,000 along with various non-perishable food items were collected and will be donated to the Meeker County and Cokato Food Shelf. Thank you for supporting this powerful production and your local food shelves!
Next Script Reading Scheduled
Our next script reading with be Sunday July 13 at 4 pm at the Dassel History Center. We will be reading the Mystery/Thriller "The Ghost Train". All are welcome to attend.
FungusAmongus at AACT Fest 2025!
A contingent of Fungi attended AACT Fest 2025 in Des Moines IA June 25 - 28 to enjoy the 12 shows from across the country and participate in workshops and celebrate Artistic Director David Metcalf receiving his national AACT award as noted below.
Artistic Director David Metcalf was awarded the Distinguished Merit Award by the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) at AACT Fest 2025. AACT presents this national award to individuals and organizations in recognition of contributions made to promote and develop the highest standards for community theatre. Congratulations David!
Also of note is that it has been officially announced that Minnesota will host the Region V AACT Fest and National AACT Fest in 2027!
Join Fungus in Corn Carnival & Red Rooster Days Parades
Fungus will once again be participating in the Corn Carnival Parade and Red Rooster Days Parades. All Fungi Alumni are encouraged to attend and pass out our season bookmark! The Corn Carnival Parade will be Monday August 11 and the Red Rooster Days parade will be Saturday August 30. More information to follow, so watch our social media pages and next months newsletter.
So many ways to have fun with FungusAmongus!
You don't need to be on stage to have fun with FungusAmongus. For example, we're always looking for:
AV Club members - learn to run sound or light for our shows!
Stage Managing / Crew Members. Do you want to help behind the scenes with the magic that goes on during the show? Help manage the stage and with set during our productions!
Treat wranglers. Could you bake some yummy bars for us to serve at intermission? Could you serve those treats and coffee at our shows?
Stud sensors. Can you drive a nail, or paint a wall, or perhaps work some interior design magic? Our set-building crew is looking for you.
Get started by contacting us through our website or social media channels.
