Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s just days before Santa makes his appearance in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and members of the local theatre community are baking cookies, relaxing in front of the TV and getting plenty of sleep. No, probably not. Most likely, the directors, technicians and actors who are part of the stage scene are recovering from performances or rehearsing for upcoming ones. Even at the holidays, these folks rarely take a moment for themselves. So in an effort to give them a hand, The Weekender asked them to share their holiday wishes. Santa, if you see this, could you be especially generous to these folks? They’ve been very, very, good. (Well, mostly . . . )
“This is a wonderful time for culture and the arts here in NEPA. My wish for 2010 is for continued cooperation between the local arts groups and for everyone to continue to produce the high quality productions that, in many cases, are better than the Broadway tours that come through (Little Theatre’s production of “Rent” comes to mind). I urge everyone to attend at least one community theatre show in 2010, especially our local mayors and commissioners. We are getting wonderful support from the community, but I have yet to see any politician who isn’t running for reelection attend a show. With the exception of Walter Mitchell, who is everywhere.”
“After celebrating five rewarding, successful and unexpected years together this year, my biggest wish is for the Impulsive Players to enjoy many more years of success and for all of my thespian companions in NEPA to have a happy, safe and thoroughly enjoyable holiday and a prosperous New Year filled with unlimited budgets, perfect casts and highly attended productions!”
“I’d love to see Bracken bring some new theatrical works of art to the stage that NEPA has not seen before (or at least in a long time)! I’d also love to win the “community theater lottery” so that all local companies can have a space to perform that magically meets their needs, is affordable and has heat and air conditioning. Is that too much to ask?”
“I would love for Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre to get a million dollar blessing to restore the building, create storage space and establish an endowment that will carry this 87-year-old institution right through this century and beyond!”
“I would like to obtain an all encompassing building to build sets and props, test equipment, store my equipment and live in. Maybe, just maybe, including a performance space.”
“My holiday wish would be for fewer theatre companies. Over the past 10 years, it’s been my experience that there are soooo many personalities who just form their own theatre companies and put on their own shows. I would love see actors in this area work together to create vibrant, quality and successful theatre. Live theatre in this area is a dying art, and unless we work together to combine the talent pools, work toward corporate sponsorship and rebuild our theatres, community theatre will become extinct in this area. If people could just get over their personalities and work together doing something they’re passionate about, we could raise community theatre in this area to a whole new level and insure that it flourishes well into the future. I also wish for a law that a theatre company cannot exist unless it owns its performance space. That would help with a lot of what I just mentioned.”
“I would like to see someone do ‘Souvenir’ about Florence Foster Jenkins, a local woman who became world famous for her bad singing.”
“My Christmas wish for local theatre would be for more regional media coverage and promotion of theater arts like The Weekender does. Great work is being done by local performers, directors and theaters in our region and is often missed due to lack of awareness. Most performances are $10 — it’s the best entertainment deal in town!”
“DGM Productions holiday theatre wishes include an ‘Unlimited Free Pass’ with MTI for purchasing rights, free personal assistants for all of our owners, a warehouse full of actors and techies stored on shelves sorted according to personal talents and a standing ovation in a big red box with a green bow.”
“I would like to see theatres not repeat anything they have done in the past 10 years. There are so many shows that have not been done or have not been done in a while.”
“My Christmas wish: That all the local theatres have a smashing 2010 and also that The Bracken Theatre Company would get together for a show where you can say bad words on stage. … I mean, if it is in the script.”
“I am so boring! Same as always — a stellar cast — but this time for (Misericordia University’s) spring production of ‘Harvey.’”
“My wish would be for the NEPA theatre community to start taking more risks again. No so long ago, the theatre community gained a strong audience for deeper works and more avant-garde productions. But over the past few seasons, people got ‘safe.’ Recently a handful of shows such as ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ have given the audiences a chance to see deeper stuff, however, more often than not, directors must mount independent productions just to see a show they are passionate about put on the boards. So here’s hoping for seasons filled with variety in the upcoming years.”
“I would like to see Bracken Theatre and KISS join forces to mount a production of ‘Flowers for Algernon’ at KISS’s new space to benefit the Special Olympics. Summer or Fall of 2010 would be ideal. Wish part two would be for Little Theatre to do ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ as their opener next season directed and designed by Joe Sheridan.”
“My wish is for the continued support of Wyoming Valley for all the community theatres and the arts in general. The realization of the talent and opportunity provided by such institutions whether for the youngster performing his first production or the old participant realizing a dream they may have had for years. What a void there would be if we couldn’t provide an outlet for the amazing talents of our local people! Imagine our Valley with no theatre, no dance, no concerts, etc. In essence, my wish is for a continued venue for all those potential future actors, dancers and singers to be able to touch their dreams and aspire to their moment of glory.”
And that about says it all.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! Here’s to a season of full slates, full houses and full coffers!
w
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