"The Chesapeake Chicks" - by Peter Zachari - Quannapowitt Players (Reading, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: The CAST of Peter Zachari's "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through June 6, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“If I am dead tomorrow, know that someone here killed me.”
- ("Ann") / Peter Zachari
The Quannapowitt Players
Presents Peter Zachari's
"THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS"
Written by Peter Zachari
Directed by Angela Courtney Rossi
"Starting Lineup" Cast Includes: Matthew Lundergan as "Matthew," Kate Beattie as "Rita," Teri Muller as "Carrie," Theresa Chiasson as "Alice," Liz Robbins as "Gertrude," Chris Rose as "Officer."
"On Deck Cast" Includes - Steve Bermundo as "Matthew," Nora Falk as "Rita," Phyllis Uloth as "Carrie," Mary Ellen Macri as "Alice," Margaret Healey as "Gertrude," Tommy Mastrangelo as "Officer."
Additional Creative Team:
Producer – Nick Gould; Assistant Director – Kim Costagain; Stage Managers – Monica Bruno, Allison Rollings; Set Design – John Pease; Lighting Design – Bruce Pennypacker; Scenic Design/Painter – Maureen C. Bailey; Set Builders/Painters – Nick Gould, Jay Stone, Glenn Wakeley, Ken Tucci, Angela Courtney Rossi, Liz Robbins, Kate Beattie, Mary Ellen Macri, Lennie Chasse, Margaret Healey, Chris Rose, Steve Bermundo, Phyllis Uloth; Sound Design – Lennie Chasse; Properties Coordinator – Kara Schmitt; Costume Design – Kris Reynolds; Hair and Makeup – Jennifer Hurley; Intimacy Coordinator – Anna Silva.
Performances:
May 22, 2026 through June 6, 2026
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS, 55 Hopkins Street, Reading, MA. 01867-3917
TICKETS:
Contact QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS at # 781-942-2212 or email at boxoffice@qptheater.com www.qptheater.com
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(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
Quannapowitt Players (QP) rounds the bases with ease in the delightfully silly farce "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" now playing in Reading.
Editor’s note: There are two alternating casts for this show - one referred to as the “Starting Lineup” cast and one known as the “On Deck” cast - this review only concentrates on the May 22nd performance by the “Starting Lineup” cast.
As written, the jokes in the one-act comedy are clearly not all home runs but they certainly land on base more often than not.
What is a home run are the collective performances by the “Starting Lineup” cast as remarkably staged by director Angela Courtney Rossi.
An entire retirement home is turned upside down as everyone tries to figure out who may have committed a murder.
(Photo: Aspiring actress Gertrude (Liz Robbins) performs for her agast roommates in a scene from Peter Zachari's "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through June 6, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
Written by Peter Zachari in 2023, "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" debuted Off-Broadway that same year in a show directed by Zachari and featuring actress Karen Lynn Gorney (of “Saturday Night Fever” acclaim).
As the story begins - we are present day at the Fumagalli Manor, a senior home for the four surviving members of veteran female baseball team, "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS."
When the mourners return from departed teammate Ann's funeral, effervescent young Matthew (Matthew Lundergan) - recently hired to be their caretaker - presents them all with Ann's discovered journal.
In the journal, the four women read Ann’s cryptic final message:
"If I am dead tomorrow…know that someone here killed me."
Alexa – cue the “Law and Order” sound effect.
(Photo: Matthew Lundergan as "Matthew" and Teri Muller as "Carrie" in a scene from Peter Zachari's "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through June 6, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
For utterly preposterous reasons, in their final years these former teammates all wound up in the same place where they grew up as unofficially adopted orphans, the property now left to them by the departed owners who treated them all as family.
Contractually, it breaks down a little more specifically than that but, without divulging too much, it is better you see the show to more clearly understand.
And you'll want to see it anyway as "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" is a fun and completely disarming show less about baseball and more about murder, mirth and mayhem.
Adoring the walls of Fumagalli Manor are portraits of those "CHICKS" still living, now dwindled down to a mere four, all of whom may have had a motive for killing the most recently departed member, Ann:
- Rita (Kate Beattie) Ann’s twin who both loved and resented her sister.
- Aspiring actress Gertrude (Liz Robbins) whose suspected motive for killing Ann could be in how many roles she lost out on over the years due to the now-departed.
- Of course, Gertrude’s stunning lack of talent as an actress also may have played a small part in this, as well.
- Alice (Theresa Chiasson) a crass curmudgeon who was also involved in a sexual affair with the most recently departed Ann.
- And finally there’s Carrie (Teri Muller), a flighty spiritualist - a latent hippie who firmly believes in messages received from beyond the grave – produced here in the form of flickering lights and fluttering flies.
(Photo: Matthew Lundergan as "Matthew" and Liz Robbins as "Gertrude" in a scene from Peter Zachari's "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through June 6, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
Arriving on the scene to investigate is a police officer (Chris Rose) who may have one or two side gigs, as well, causing a slight conflict of interest as the investigation into Ann’s death continues.
From the moment the play begins, Lundergan is a riot as whirlwind Matthew who is as determined to uncover the truth as anyone – but might he also be considered a suspect?
Beattie as Rita is quite pleasing as the conflicted Rita who harbors a deep secret when it comes to Fumagalli Manor.
As the non-versatile Gertrude, Robbins leans heavily into showcasing just how non-talented an actress Gertrude is while annoying her housemates to no end.
In part due to the Zachari script but mostly due to the expert performances by Muller and Chiasson, the characters of Carrie and Alice (respectively) equally divide and conquer when it comes to the majority of laughs in "CHESAPEAKE CHICKS."
Chiasson especially has impeccable comedic timing and hits a grand slam on every single punchline.
A novel aspect to the QP show is the fine attention to detail in the set, such as when a picture is removed leaving a lighter framed space along the spot where the picture had resided.
A lot of cleverly timed lighting and sound cues and more than a few visual gags are also quite well executed.
Costumes, hair and make-up for the Quannapowitt Players' production all help to highlight the distinctive personalities of the characters, especially the four surviving "CHESAPEAKE CHICKS."
The show runs about ten minutes too long with the prevailing absurd premise devolving into utter silliness during those last moments - but overall, it is a wonderful kind of silly that will have audiences leaving with a smile.
(Photo: The "Starting Lineup" CAST of Peter Zachari's "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through June 6, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
Filled with heavy hitting performances, Peter Zachari's "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" continues from Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through June 6th, 2026.
Coming up in the fall at Quannapowitt Players will be Neil Simon's "RUMORS" beginning October 2nd and running through October 17th, 2026.
For tickets and information, contact the Quannapowitt Players at # 781-942-2212 or email boxoffice@qptheater.com
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Approximately one hour, 40 minutes with no intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
In Peter Zachari’s "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS" - Former players of the all- female baseball team, "THE CHESAPEAKE CHICKS," return from the funeral of an old team member, Ann, and are given her journal, with the cryptic final message. “If I die tomorrow, know that someone here killed me.”
It turns their lives upside down as everyone tries to figure out who did it.
Will they discover the truth before the killer strikes again?
Come join the madness in this new rollicking comedy!
ABOUT THE QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS
THE QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS has provided quality community theater for over 85 years in a converted historic 1853 Little Red School House in the town of Reading, Massachusetts. The delightful black-box performance space, with intimate seating for 150 patrons, has full handicap accessibility and parking.
55 Hopkins Street
Reading, MA. 01867-3917
# 781-942-2212
