Nettle Creek Players will offer its first professional show in more than two years in Hagerstown, and audiences will be treated to air conditioning and indoor seating along with Broadway hits.
NCP will offer what organizers call a charming musical revue with familiar tunes by the late Stephen Sondheim that a narrator will tie together. They hope to draw current residents and those returning to town for Hagerstown’s Jubilee Days festival weekend.
The cast of six singers, two pianists and a narrator will offer two shows of “Side by Side by Sondheim” at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 30, and Friday, July 31. Singers Tanner Puterbaugh, Jules Pickett, Daniel Silva, Ellie Buening and Linda Ward and narrator Bob Green appear on stage alongside pianists Genevieve Baird and Lisa Ginn.
Director Margie Hamm, who also serves as board president, called the performers “a fabulous group.”
About 200 seats are available for each performance in The Meeting Place at 11 E. Main St., which now sits on the original tent site in downtown Hagerstown.
Tickets can be purchased online at nettlecreek.ludus.com or at the door. They are $15 for adults/seniors ($16.55 online). Groups of 10 or more are $10 each ($11.30 online). The show is recommended for mature audiences.
The musical revue that spotlights the composer and lyricist’s early works was first performed in London in 1976 and then ran for nearly a year on New York’s Broadway from 1977-1978.
“Side by Side” includes hits such as “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music,” “Comedy Tonight” from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Side by Side by Side” from “Company” and several tunes from “Follies,” including “Losing My Mind,” “Could I Leave You?” and “I’m Still Here.” Tunes from Sondheim’s later productions such as “Into the Woods” and “Sweeney Todd” aren’t included.
The nonprofit theater was originally formed in 1971 and is known for many years of summer stock theater under a giant circus tent in downtown Hagerstown.
Hamm said they’re pleased to be able to perform during Jubilee Days, which is now earlier in August. When NCP had a summer stock troupe featuring some college students and faculty, their season had to end before Jubilee Days traditionally took place.
Through the years, many of its performers have become familiar faces in area venues including Richmond Civic Theatre. Some have served as NCP board members or volunteers to keep Hagerstown’s theater program alive.
Connections made through NCP run deep. Hamm met her husband, Mark, 52 years ago when both were actors.
Like many arts organizations, NCP has faced challenges in rebuilding audiences after pandemic pauses.
Hamm said audiences returning in 2023 were less comfortable in the tent, noting heat, rainy conditions and difficulties hearing actors while fans were running. The board decided they could perform anywhere, and The Meeting Place has been ideal.
Tickets go on sale soon for upcoming fundraisers: a Fleetwood Mac cover band called Fleetwood Back at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at Dougherty Orchards & Winery in Cambridge City, and NCP alum Laura Krell in a one-woman show on Nov. 14 at Richmond’s Reid Center.
How to go, donate
What: Nettle Creek Players’ “Side by Side by Sondheim”
Where: The Meeting Place, 11 E. Main St., Hagerstown
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 30, and Friday, July 31
Cost: $15; groups of 10-plus, $10 each; at nettlecreek.ludus.com or at the door.
Donate: thenettlecreekplayers.org or P.O. Box 24, Hagerstown, IN 47346.
Info: 317-340-6401
A version of this article appeared in the July 29 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
