With his marriage and his business on the rocks, Tom Walker moves from Boston to Tarrytown, New York, to take up residence in a condominium left to him by a relative he never knew. A Victorian era eyesore that “went condo” in the ‘eighties, the house, it seems, has a storied past.
Blissfully unaware that his unit is already occupied, Tom carries his stuff, such as it is, into the condo. In fact, he just keeps missing the other occupant, who wakes, eats, shaves, and cuts his hair before setting out with a jacket and his bowling ball. Oh, and his name is Rip (it’s stitched over the pocket of his bowling shirt).
Tom is greeted by his new neighbor, an incorrigibly nosey young woman named Katrina “Kat” Van Tassel. She lives across the hall with her musically challenged boyfriend, Brom Bones. Kat quickly fills Tom in on the other residents, including the crotchety Marie Heyliger-Vander Heyden, her socially awkward 19-year old “niece,” Judith, and the shadowy Nick Scratch (“I think he’s a serial killer”).
Summoning her boyfriend from his studio in the cellar, Kat introduces Tom to Brom (“Hey, that rhymes!”). At Kat’s urging, Brom makes up a song on the spot about Tom’s shirt. When Tom says it sort of reminds him of “Little Brown Jug,” the aspiring songwriter is deeply offended, insisting he’d never even heard of the song. Before she leaves, Kat persuades Tom to allow her to throw a “Welcome-Tommy-To-Sleepy-Hollow-Condos” Party. At his place, of course.
And that's when all hell breaks loose. Literally.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Condominium Association, Inc., is an original play by David Meyers,
author of The Last Christmas Carol. The premiere production was staged by the Pickerington Community Theatre on October 20, 2007, at the Violet Township Grange Hall, under the direction of Melvin C. Spring.
In the photo at left, cast members are staging a reading of Act I at the Pickerington Violet Festival.
Production Details:
The play, which runs approximately 2 hours, calls for a cast of 4 males and 4 females. The set requirements are a living room/dining room with a window, fireplace, four doors, and a hallway. Production rights can be obtained by contacting the author directly through his Facebook page by clicking here: David Meyers.
In the photo at right, Marie Heyliger-Vander Heyden is telling Tom, Kat, Judith, and Brom about her "relationship" with Washington Irving, who wrote about her late husband..
Brom's lack of any discernable talent makes The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Condominium Association, Inc., something of an "anti-musical." Although there are three songs, they are not supposed to be performed well. The actor who originated the role of Brom had never played guitar before, but taught himself the three chords he needed to know during rehearsals and garnered some of the biggest laughs when he make mistakes. (Oh, and members of his fan club call themselves "boneheads.")
Tom is startled by the sudden appearance of Roz Purdy, real estate agent, who also operates as a psychic under the name Madame Rosalinda Perdieu. She informs him that the condo occupies the most haunted piece of real estate in the Hudson River Valley, overlooking the actual site where Ichabod Crane met the Headless Horseman. When Tom asks how it can be the actual site of a fictitious event, Roz replies that Canadian researchers proved it. Before he escorts her out, Roz suggests that Tom allow her to conduct a séance “just to clear the air.”
Roz later crashes the party in order to introduce herself to Marie. She also reveals that she is quite the expert on the history of the Van Tassels and various Hudson Valley legends. When she suggests once again that they hold a séance, Kat and Judy eagerly agree. Even Marie succumbs to Judy’s pressure to join them. While awaiting a “sign” from “Steve” – Roz’s spirit guide – they are gobsmacked by the unexpected return of Rip Van Winkle who, it seems, has been living in the house for many decades.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Condominium Association, Inc.
