The Update | Play About Poland Woman’s Tragic Death Is Delayed
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The premiere of a play about a Poland woman who died of a fentanyl overdose has been delayed for one year.
The play is about Amanda McAuley, an aspiring actor who died in 2023 at age 27.
Her mother, Donna McAuley, formed AM Wakeup Call, a nonprofit organization with a goal of raising awareness of fentanyl and preventing deaths. She had been working with Ohio playwright and producer Michael Forney to write and present a play at Powers Auditorium.
The play was scheduled to premiere Friday, Oct. 11, but has been postponed for exactly one year. It will now premiere Oct. 11, 2025.
McAuley postponed it to give her time to spread the word. She said she was also worried about downtown street construction dissuading people from seeing it.
“It’s going to be big, so we needed more time,” McAuley said.
She is also searching for the right actor to play her late daughter. “I’m picky about who will play Amanda,” she said. “I’m still trying to find the perfect Amanda.”
McAuley’s goal is to speak directly to young people about the dangers of fentanyl. Toward that end, she has scheduled an event at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Dobbins Early Learning School in Poland.
McAuley will speak at the event, which will also include a walk to raise awareness.
Registration will start at 9 a.m., with the walk at 10 a.m. The event will include food, music, a bounce house and raffles.
“I really want to change the mindset of kids [about drug use],” she said.
YSU Musical Theater Students Win Competition
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Two Youngstown State University musical theater students finished first at the National Association of Teachers of Singing tri-state chapter student auditions competition.
Brooke May and Ryan Bedi won in the women’s treble and men’s tenor, baritone and bass divisions at the event Oct. 5 at West Virginia University.
The chapter encompasses western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and West Virginia. Competitors must first pass a rigorous preliminary round before performing for vocal instructors who serve as adjudicators.
Lit Youngstown Sets Fall Festival
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Lit Youngstown’s eighth annual Fall Literary Festival will take place Oct. 17-19.
It will begin with a Gathering In event at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 at the McDonough Museum, featuring a live musical performance by the Tongue-in-Groove Band. The band will also accompany open-mic readers.
A keynote reading by Hanif Abdurraquib will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Wick Ave. Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist and cultural critic from Columbus. Youngstown Rayen Early College High School senior Lyric Saulsberry, winner of the 2024 CityVerse, will open with her winning poetry.
A reading featuring authors Ama Codjoe and Rachel Swearingen will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Tyler History Center on West Federal Street.
Codjoe is the author of “Bluest Nude” (Milkweed Editions, 2022), winner of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry. Swearingen is the author of the story collection “How to Walk on Water and Other Stories,” which received the New American Press Fiction Prize and was named the 2021 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year.
All events are free. For information, go to LitYoungstown.org.
‘Rocky Horror’ Film Event at Penguin City
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The cult film “Rocky Horror Picture Show” will be screened, with audience participation, at 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at Penguin City Brewing, downtown.
A cocktail hour with DJ Spruce and costume contest will begin at 7 p.m.
All proceeds from the show will go to Rebel Rescue Ranch, which helps small domestic and exotic animals in need.
‘Addams Family’ Musical at ACTS
SHARON, Pa. – ACTS Performing Arts Center, 40 S. Irvine Ave., downtown, will open its main stage schedule this weekend with “The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy,” directed by Ron Sinesio.
In this comical tale, choreographed by Erin Morell and with music direction by Joe Spurio, the quirky and ghoulish Addams family is set for their annual gathering in the graveyard with their ancestors, but things take a chaotic turn when Wednesday Addams introduces her new, and very “normal,” boyfriend.
The production will mark the debut of the theater’s new 16-foot-by-16-foot LED screen, which serves as a moving backdrop.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11-12 and 18-19, and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 13 and 20.
Tickets are $25 ($20 for students). For more information, click HERE.
Pictured at top: Amanda McAuley is shown with her mother, Donna, in this photo.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
