Greetings, Players,

and Happy New Year! We’re happy to announce the cast of The Price, our winter production, which will be performed on Feb. 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 23, and 24. The cast features Jackson Royal as Victor Franz, Leslie Wagner as Ester Franz, James Grana as Walter Franz, and Jack Sweet as Gregory Solomon. We have excellent production and technical teams, which consist of: Jim Murphy, Director; Gail Gauthier, Producer; Judy Forgione, Stage Manager; Heddie Kent, Props; Susan Tucker, Lighting Designer; Gladys Foreman, Costumes; Susan Sanders, Set Designer; Paul Gill and Michael Finke, Sound; Stephanie Cloutier, Publicity; Rik Pierce, Photographer; and Iain Bason, Program. This will be a wonderful and moving play, be sure to come and see it!

One of the props needed for The Price is a full sized harp. If you have one we could borrow (we will carefully protect it!) please call Gail Gauthier at 978-371-1397, or e-mail her at g29@gateway.net .We also need ushers and folks to work front of house for this production; please contact Gail if you can help out.

Get your tickets ASAP for the Colonial Radio Hour Show, the wonderful dinner and entertainment event at 51 Walden that will take place on Sat., Jan. 20th, as tickets are going fast. This fun filled evening is a benefit to raise funds for sending our award winning production of Jacques Brel... to the AACT National competition in Harrisburg, PA. Seating is limited, and we expect to sell out quickly, so don’t delay; we’d hate for anyone to be disappointed. Tickets are $35 each, and include a dinner buffet, coffee, dessert, and two drinks, as well as a fabulous show of comedy and music. In addition to the performance by the critically acclaimed Colonial Radio Theatre On The Air, we have our own Shana Dirik as a Special Musical Guest. Call 978-369-2990 for tickets.

The Shakespeare Workshop will be held on February 10 and 11, 2001, in Clark Hall, in the Hancock United Church of Christ in Lexington Center across from the Village Green. Parking is in the rear. The group will prepare for a performance of scenes on March 25 after the Players’ Annual Meeting. Antonio Ocampo Guzman, teacher and director at Emerson College and Shakespeare & Co., will direct. Hours are Saturday, Feb. 10, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sun., Feb. 11, 12 Noon to 5 P.M. A 10-20 line monologue from Shakespeare must be prepared and memorized. Scene work will follow the workshop on actors’ own time and on selected Tuesday eves. and Sun. afternoon, March 25. Scene work will be held in the Dance Studio at 51 Walden, Concord. The cost is $110. Make checks payable to the Concord Players, Inc., and mail to: Dorothy Schecter, 187 Partridge Ln., Carlisle, MA 01741. Class size is limited to 15. Acceptance is on a first come, first pay basis.

Here’s a note from the Producer of Jacques Brel... (Giselle Ganz)- ’We would like to have some help in the area of publicity. If you have a hankering for new ideas, an artistic eye, and a great imagination, maybe you would like to head up, or partner with someone, the publicity end of the fund-raising for bringing Jacques to Harrisburg. Please e-mail Gisele at Ganzchic@aol.com or call 508-872-6122, if you would be interested in helping out this great cause, as ‘Concord goes to the Nationals!’”

Saturday set building sessions for The Price will begin on January 6 at 9:30 AM. If you’d like to help, call (978-369-1379) or e-mail (artcor68@earthlink.net) Artty Kinsman with questions, or just show up. If you can swing a hammer or wield a screw driver, you’re qualified, and training is provided.

We would like to thank Kathy and Dana Booth for their recent contribution to The Players to help us with our trip to the AACT National competition in Harrisburg.

Jackson Royal reports that the Wellesley College Theatre production of Joan of Arc (in which he performs) has been selected by the American College Theatre Association Festival to compete in the Regional ACT Festival at the University of New Hampshire on January 27. If they win there, they will go on to compete in the National ACT Festival at Kennedy Center. Congratulations to Jackson and the rest of the cast, and we wish them well in their competition. Call Jackson (978-263-3628) for info if you’d like to attend.

Here’s a message from Mikki Lipsey: “Just a note to let you know that I’ve been cast in Boston Theatre Works all female production of The Taming of the Shrew which will be running the whole month of February (19 performances) at the Tremont Theater (next door to the Wang). I’m playing three old men!”

Gisele Ganz has been cast in Follies, yet another production at Turtle Lane Playhouse in Newton. She will play the roles of Emily Whitman and one of the show girls. The show runs February 9th - March 18th, Thursday - Sunday performances. For ticket information please call 617-244-0169. Also, check out Gisele in her first Internet ad at http://i-beams.com .

You may have read about the fire that destroyed the dressing room trailer at The Publick Theatre in Boston. This excellent theater company is struggling financially to recover from this loss, as they had no insurance on it. If you would like to make a donation to the fund that has been set up to replace the trailer, you may send it to Diego Arciniegas (their new Artistic Director), 165 Friend St., Boston, MA 02114-2025. You can get more information from their web site at www.publick.org.

I’d like to remind everyone that Concord Players members are always welcome to attend Board meetings. They are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM, usually in the Green Room. These meetings are a great opportunity for you to find out how our organization works, and to express your opinions to the Board Members on relevant topics. Please send your news to me at: Sara Ballard, 34 Aurora Lane, Concord, MA 01742, or e-mail me at sara@sb.org. The next newsletter deadline is January 23.