This Weekend: The Cherry Orchard

Inside The Cherry Orchard

Upcoming production The Cherry Orchard, presented by the Wenatchee Valley College Drama Department and Icicle Arts, premiers Friday, April 16.  This was the last play written by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and originally premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre on January 17, 1904, just seven months before he passed away due to illness.

The Cherry Orchard, directed by Leavenworth resident and WVC drama faculty Jan Johnston, includes local college students and members of the community alike. Featured actor and Leavenworth resident Jeanine Salter, who has been extensively involved with Leavenworth Summer Theater (acting and directing) since 1997, will play Madame Ranevsky. Salter’s directing credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Showboat, The Sound of Music, Kiss Me Kate, A Christmas Carol, and most recently, The Pirates of Penzance.  A few of her stand-out performance roles with LST include: Golde (the Momma) in Fiddler on the Roof, Gretchen in The Student Prince, and the Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol. Jeanine has also been active in other theaters here in the Upper Valley, performing in Apple Blossom Musicals as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Jack’s mom in Into the Woods, and most recently, Penny Sycamore in You Cant Take it With You with Music Theater of Wenatchee. Jeanine achieved her BFA in the professional actors training studio at the University of Illinois and performed in Chicago and Sacramento before making the Pacific Northwest her home.

Another Leavenworth resident, David Brameld, who also has experience in many Leavenworth Summer Theater productions including Kiss Me Kate and A Christmas Carol, will portray Leonid Gayef, the sister of Madame Ranevsky. These two characters are joint owners of the Ranevsky country estate and cherry orchard in Russia, which is the setting for the play.

Icicle Arts and WVC Drama Department present The Cherry Orchard, on April 23 and 24 at 8:00 p.m. at the Campus Theater at Wenatchee Valley College, 1300 Fifth Street. Tickets are $5 for students and seniors, and $10 for adults, available only at the door.   
-Jennifer Hutzel