For the Love of the Theater

The Potomac Players in scenes from Neil Simon’s God’s Favorite.

As the Potomac Playmakers approach their centenary, the show keeps going on

By Allison Hurwitz

Many moons ago, a young Barry Harbaugh took a class trip with the other seventh graders at Boonsboro Middle School to see a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” at the newly opened Kennedy Center. Sitting in the audience, he just knew he wanted to be a part of live theater for the rest of his life. Harbaugh could hear the stage calling his name, a beckoning that has never stopped. 

The Potomac Players in scenes from Neil Simon’s God’s Favorite

Some years later, Greg Berezuk was a pharmacist and retired U.S. army officer living in Germany. His 12-year-old son, who had taken an interest in theater, was auditioning for the local performance of “A Christmas Carol.” At his son’s pleading, Berezuk auditioned as well—and why not? He’d have to drive to rehearsals anyway. Lo and behold, he was cast as Bob Cratchit to his son’s Bobby Cratchit, which became his first of many roles in live theater. 

Both Harbaugh and Berezuk had caught the bug, igniting a passion for theater that would occupy a big presence in their lives and eventually lead each to serve as a president of the Potomac Playmakers. 

The second oldest community theater in the state (and fourth oldest in the country), the Potomac Playmakers couldn’t have arrived at this junction without some very dedicated members, an involved community, and a little kismet. 

Started by the Hagerstown Women’s Club, the original community theater of Washington County opened its first show, “Boomerang,” in 1926. For the next 90 years, with only a small pause during World War II, the Playmakers brought life to the Women’s Club stage in downtown Hagerstown.  

In 2017, however, the long-standing troupe found themselves at a bit of a crossroads and in need of a new performance space. Harbaugh, the board’s president at the time, was beginning to become discouraged with the search when his wife spotted a “for sale” sign along Washington Street on her way to dinner. The building, Cedar Lawn Missionary Church, was a little rundown from vacancy but certainly held potential.  

With its long, narrow pew-lined nave and little stage up front, it wasn’t too hard to imagine a new use for the space. But even after a few really good seasons, there just wasn’t the funds to buy the building. In a turn of luck, or what current president Berezuk calls a “kiss from God,” local patron of the arts Lee Stine took an interest in the company and donated $200,000 to secure the building. Later, nearby Warehouse Cinemas generously donated thousands of dollars of theater seats leftover from a major renovation. 

The Potomac Players in a scene from The Rocky Horror Picture Show

After a few years of restorations and repairs, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, the Playmakers finally received the occupancy permit for their new home in March 2020–a mere three days before Maryland shut down as the pandemic spread. While this could have gotten anyone down, the group used the time to do more work on the space and apply for grants for arts organizations affected by COVID.  

Now fully back in business, the Playmakers are seeing pre-COVID attendance numbers and settling well into their new home (aptly named the Lee Stine Theater). 

The all-volunteer group puts on at least four main-stage productions a year, supplemented by secondary performances, like a Halloween staging of the Rocky Horror Picture Show or one-act plays. The Playmakers also rent out their new building to other local arts organizations for performances. 

As such a long-running organization, one challenge they have faced is fighting a stigma that they might be staid or not as fresh as other companies. Adding edgier material about a diverse range of subjects, however, has become a priority for the troupe. 

“We still do our Neil Simon comedies, we still do our Agatha Christie murder mysteries, we’ve incorporated increasingly growing-in-scale musicals, but we always make sure that there’s at least one show that pushes the envelope,” says board member Jim Zuna. “Because the envelope needs to be pushed.” 

As they approach the 100-year mark, the Potomac Playmakers hope to increase their influence in the local arts scene as a whole. 

“We want the building to become an asset for the three-state region that we cover,” says Berezuk.  

A music studio holds recitals there at a very low rate, works by local artists are hung and sold from the theater walls during productions, and the Playmakers work closely with the Washington Arts Council.  

If they’d like to make it another 100 years, the Playmakers will continue to need community support–whether that’s volunteers to serve as board members, actors to appear on stage, or audience members to fill the seats. Their main challenge is finding “enough horses to pull the wagon,” says Berezuk. “We’ve always had our core group of people who bleed all over the stage for this company and support us. But to get more people to volunteer, people to usher shows, members of the board, is difficult.” 

“People will ask why we do it, because it’s unpaid,” says Harbaugh. “We’re all volunteers. It’s just a love of theater and a dedication to Playmakers that we continue to carry on.” 

The Potomac Players in a scene from the Sunshine Boys.