The St. Kilian Players will be presenting their 14th annual summer show this and next weekend at the parish's auditorium. This year's production, Camelot, will feature over 100 volunteers who have been hard at work for the past few months creating the story of King Arthur, to be played by Rob Hoerburger, and his round table.

Opening shows begin tomorrow, July 28 at 8 p.m. and continue on Sunday, July 29 at 2 p.m. Next weekend, August 3, 4 and 5, the show will run at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Members of the cast and crew have been working diligently since May to put the production together. St. Kilian's allows anybody graduating from eighth grade or older to participate in the production, and nobody who auditions is turned down. According to this year's director Nora Bardak, each year many familiar faces return to participate in the production.

Bardak, an original St. Kilian Player who started with Father Chuck, creator of the theater group, said she never thought such a small theater group would become so successful.

"Since the beginning, when Father Chuck ran the show, anyone who came down to audition is in the play. We never turned anyone away and they came back year after year," she said. "We have varying ages, varying levels of dancing and singing abilities, and we always make it work."

Bardak added that participating in the play group not only occupies time, but gives members a sense of belonging.

"We really are like a family," Bardak said. "We network and stay in touch throughout the whole year, not just during production time. We have shared each other's triumphs and sad times in life. We're good friends."

While the group is open to anybody over the high school level, cast and crew members firmly remember their affiliation to the parish.

"The only thing we explain to people is that we do pray," Bardak said. "We pray at the beginning and end of every rehearsal ... we really do feel that we are God centered."

She added that nobody is obligated to pray, but are asked to respect those who do and it has never caused a problem.

"We are very fortunate that people who believe in other religions and those who don't believe in a God feel comfortable here," Bardak commented.

The Players are governed by a board of directors, which holds meetings throughout the year, even when a production is not in progress. Approximately one month after the show, the board meets to discuss profits, which are given to the church. Since members of the production work as volunteers, money generated from ticket sales is often given to the parish. The only other things funds are occasionally used for are improving or updating equipment, putting together the program or purchasing materials necessary for the production.

Since the volunteers perform for no profit and all money is obtained from ticket sales, board members do solicit prior to the show by asking local corporations and residents to take out ads in their program.

The board of directors generally meets three times a year when a production is not in progress. When they meet to discuss profits earned for the church, members also do an evaluation of the show and critique what could be changed or improved. The other two meetings held throughout the year are open to suggestions from members of the Players, giving everybody the opportunity to express their opinions.

In addition to the board, there is also a play selection committee, which chooses the production's director and play each year. Committee members, who may be anybody 16 year of age or older, are chosen at random. Every year those interested in working on the selection committee place their names in a hat and then five names are chosen. Those five people then decide who will be the new director, and of which play.

Those interested in becoming a play director select a play, then come before the selection committee and present their choice to them and explain what they would do as director. Since the director has a big job to do in respect to every aspect of the production, they are not allowed to be a member of the cast. According to Bardak, who's making her debut as director this year, there have been seven different directors in the past seven years since Father Chuck left.

Main characters in this year's production, aside from King Arthur, include Guenevere, played by Margaret Barrett, Lancelot, played by Brian McKenna and Pellinore, the comedic relief in the performance, played by Bob Domingo. In addition to the main characters, the rest of the cast and the crew, this year the Players have a 20-member pit orchestra made up predominantly of music students from Farmingdale High School.

Songs to be performed include If Ever I Would Leave You, I Loved You Once in Silence and the feature hit Camelot. The show will be performed in St. Kilian's air conditioned auditorium. Residents may purchase reserved tickets at St. Kilian Rectory, 485 Conklin Street from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for $10 each. All local residents are invited to enjoy this production of a magnificent story.