Highlights from the Newsletter

Dec, 1999

 
 
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Greetings, Players!

Congratulations to Kate Henchman, who is the proud grandmother of Laurence van Someran, born Nov. 30, 1999, at a birth weight of 7 lbs. 4 oz. Kate has been in England helping with new baby and mother caretaking duties, and we all want to see pictures when she returns!

Gladys Forman broke her arm and is recuperating at home, and Jean English has just had rotator cuff surgery. We wish them both a speedy recovery; their addresses are in the membership book if anyone would like to send them get well greetings.

Sean Kavanagh directed the First Parish Youth Theatre production of Scrooge 2000, a modern day musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which was performed the first weekend in December. It featured a cast of 38 middle school and high school youth. Sue Minor provided music direction and accompaniment, Art Crooke designed and ran the lighting, and Jan Taylor kept everything under control backstage as the Stage Manager. It was a splendid production; kudos to them for giving all of those kids such a great experience!

Corinne and Artty Kinsman have recently returned from New York City, where they attended a kick-off fund-raising party and show to celebrate the launching of son John Kinsman's new production company, "Ring of Fire Productions". They report that the event was a great success; we wish John good fortune in his new endeavor.

Fund raising update: Terrific news! We have raised the $20,000 we needed to be eligible for the $20,000 matching grant from a local charitable foundation by our Dec. 31 deadline! We are now at 97% of our fund-raising goal, and are thrilled with the support we've received from the community. If you haven't made your donation yet, won't you please do so and help us get to 100%? If you have, thank you so much, you have made a valuable investment in a healthy future for the performing arts community in Concord.

The "Welcome Winter" performance was a wonderful event, it seems to get better every year. It featured the mummer's play "Saint George and the Dragon"; The A Cappella Singers singing holiday madrigals, traditional carols, and Hanukkah songs; Orion's Sword, a Morris Dance group performing the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance; and a children's singing game led by Heddie Kent. Lida McGirr directed "St. George", and Kate Henchman organized the A Cappella Singers. It was exciting to see the big crowd that followed the parade of singers and actors down the Milldam and into 51 Walden. Parts of the play and the singing were reprised the following week at the Minuteman Arc during the West Concord Holiday Open House.

Have you ever had a hankering to be a stage manager (a real one, not the character in Our Town)? The Players would love to have a wider pool of people to draw from who enjoy stage management, so we are considering offering a mentoring program to train folks in this skill. Think about whether you might be interested, and stay tuned! And, if you already know you'd like to learn to stage manage, please let us know so that we can get you involved.

 

Here's a reminder that the Concord Players Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday, March 19. Mark it on your calander and save that date.

Please remember to send your news to me at sara@sb.org, or Sara Ballard, 9 Stacey Circle, Concord, MA 01742. I really want to hear from you. This is the last newsletter of this century, and we wish a very happy new year/ century/ millennium to you all (and, yes, I know that there's controversy about whether the new millennium starts now or in 2001, but, I say, why not have an excuse to celebrate it twice?). Cheers!