Page 1

introduce you to some fascinating people; they are real, everyday people who chose, or fell into, a most unusual path. You, the audience, can tell me afterwards which side of the argument you think correct. Whether it is storytelling or acting, Lizs Circus Story is a tale of real people youll not soon forget.

Mary Harrison

I have heard an argument in theatrical circles that one-person plays arent acting; they are merely storytelling. Its the merely that annoys me. Storytelling is as old as human speech. Stories record our history, define our culture, communicate our ideas, inflame our imagination, and enrich our souls. They tell us about places we havent seen, and introduce us to people we never knew. The audience becomes part of the story, as each listener supplies his or her individual

understanding, and no two persons understand quite the same thing in exactly the same way. Any good storyteller uses timing, pace, energy, body language, and understanding of character. Every actor tells a story. So do dancers, painters, musicians, writers, and every other kind of artist. And every kind of art finds growth in the soul of its audience. I act. I direct. I even write a little, every now and then. But underlying all that, I am a teller of stories. On Sept. 21 I will

SAY WHAT???

SUN CITY PLAYERS

COMMUNITY THEATER

Volume 20 Issue 6

August 2015

Inside this issue:

Next Meeting Promo 1

Board Members and

Staff

2

Words and Music

Review

3

Two Comedies and a

Musical

4

Membership Facts 4

Presidents Points 5

Future Plans: Update

on Mountain View

5

Season Ticket Order

Form

6

Workshops and

Activities

7

Monthly Meeting

Menu

7

Clubhouse Schedule 8

Membership Form 9

Monday Meeting

Calendar

10

Copyright2015 Sun City Players Community Theater. All rights reserved.

Page 2

PLAYERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2015 President GREG ENGSTROM 920-988-7339 grege2471@yahoo.com Vice Pres. & Scheduling CAROL BOWMAN 623-265-6516 FGBCGB@aol.com Secretary MARTA SIGMON 623-815-0529 Mysong57@cox.net Treasurer BOB BUDORICK 623-972-2110 rbud4@cox.net Marketing PHIL ENGLISH 480-323-8575 vpenglish@hotmail.com Membership ANNA THOMPSON 602-403-2475 at80005@gmail.com Meeting Programs PALMA MITZEL 623-518-9994 PJMitzel43@gmail.com Actors, Producers, Directors MARY HARRISON 218-639-3561 fiddlefootbeader@gmail.com Buildings & Properties BILL LOSLO 623-875-7364 loslo2001@q.com

SCPCT PLAYBILL STAFF PUBLISHER ETTA MARCUS 623-337-4560 ettam1@outlook.com EDITOR JAN MURPHY 602-799-2227 murphjanet@gmail.com ADDRESS LABELS LAURA KUCHLER 623-875-3868 LKK3868@gmail.com MAILING DIRECTOR MARTA SIGMON 623-815-0529 Mysong57@cox.net PRINTING EARL BRACKEN 623-815-0017 bractalis@cox.net

August 2015

Page 3

Im not always able to attend the Players regular Monday night meetings, which are held the 3rd Monday each month at 7PM. However, I am very glad that I did not miss May 18th. I was so very, very proud to call myself a member of this talented and versatile group. This meeting, being the last one for this season, was Cabaret Night. At the suggestion of one of our dear members, Lavina Dawson, the theme for this particular Cabaret was Words and Music. The performance was dedicated to Lavina. I regret that there is not enough room in this column for me to boast of the talents of each performer. I will say that I would never hesitate to match our gifted members up against those of any other community theater group. In Vaudeville there was usually a lovely young

WORDS AND MUSIC

August 2015

truly tickled my funny

bone!

sign girl who would gracefully place the title boards on an easel to introduce each act. Our own Palma Mitzel handled this part of the program with great fineness and flair! She never missed a board-changing queue but my guess is that most of the men in the audience were far more aware of Palma than they were of what was next on the program. She did a great job! The Words portion of the program consisted of Barbara Blansits wonderful, original poems; they truly touched ones heart. Bill Lohmeyer shared a select group of inspirational readings. With his amazing speaking (and singing) voice, Bill can make even reading the city phone book sound like Tennyson! Next came Bunny Sherman; her clever rhymes and her delivery caught me quite off-guard and truly tickled my funny bone! Music contributions came from a few of our members who seem to know the path a song should take to target the place in each of us that spreads the enjoyment throughout our beings. Our

gifted singers were: Eric Emerson, who lends a smooth tenor touch to each song; Connie Groff, who took charge of the soprano notes with perfect pitch; Regina Heck, who added an age-old favorite with Pennies From Heaven that everyone enjoyed; and Patty Mason, Ginni Summers, and Marie Crossley (with a touch of Eric Emerson), who supplied memories of unforgettable female trios from the 1940s and 1950s that took each one of us back to a very different time in our lives. What a great job they did! The music portion of the evening was capped by a couple of audience sing-a-longs that we all had fun with. I feel compelled to note that our beloved Pat McDonald accompanied each these musical offerings, as only Pat can do. She is indeed a treasure! The evening was so enjoyable that I cant wait for our 2015-2016 season beginning in September. Hope to see you there! Dan Eldridge

Page 4

Membership Facts

Did you know that our club now has 9 honorary members who have belonged to our club for 25 years or more? We thank Grant Merrell, Mim Grumstrup, Donald MacDonald, Francis Murphy, Marge Murphy, Sally Siekmann, Edward Smith, Peggy Smolnik and Betty Walley for their loyalty and dedica-tion. Members in the 20-25 years category are Donald Crooke, Sheila Harmell, and Marlene Jenner.

1996-2000 = 14 Members for 15 years or more 2001-2005 = 50 Members for 10 years or more 2006-2010 = 47 Members for 5 years or more 2011-2015 = 104 Members for less than 5 years

Were on the Web! suncityplayerscommunitytheater.org

Two Comedies and Musical On Tap for 2015 2016 Players Season

By Jim McConnell Sun City Players will be performing two comedies and a musical in the coming season; they promise to tickle your funny bone and keep a smile on your face. Members of the play selection committee have pored over dozens of scripts, and found these engaging offerings for your participation and entertainment. Auditions are scheduled for September 9 for Jean Kerrs romantic comedy Mary, Mary, the story of a recently divorced couple, Bob and Mary, who are brought back to a meeting with Bobs tax accountant to help unravel questions over Bobs sticky tax returns. Other characters include Bobs new fiance, Tiffany, and his war-time buddy, Dirk. While old differences between Bob and Mary are re-kindled, so are the feelings that originally brought them together. There are 3 male and 2 female roles. Dan Eldridge will be directing this production and opening night is October 30. Mary Harrison will direct the winter offering, Murder Most Fouled-Up, a mystery/ comedy by playwright Nikki Harmon. This play runs the gamut of witty dialogue to slap-stick as the heirs of Ridgely Randolph frantically seek the hidden millions of dollars in inheritance and the deed to the family estate. If they dont find them in 24 hours, the heirs will go penniless. Even the ghosts in the manor walls attempt to assist in the search. There are roles for four men and five women, though flexible casting is possible. Auditions are scheduled for November 11 with opening night slated for January 8. After much consideration, the musical offering has been moved to the spring production slot. Last produced

by Players in 1989, Annie Get Your Gun will once again get your toes tapping with Irving Berlins musical

standbys like Theres No Business Like Show Business, Doin What Comes Naturlly, and The Girl That I

Marry. Annie Oakley is the best shot around, and she manages to support her little brother and sisters by

selling the game she hunts. When she's discovered by Col. Buffalo Bill, he persuades this novel

sharpshooter to join his Wild West Show. It only takes one glance for her to fall head over heels for dashing

shooting ace Frank Butler, who headlines the show. She soon eclipses Butler as the main attraction which,

while good for business, is bad for romance. Butler hightails it off to join a rival show, his bruised male ego

leading the way, but he is ultimately pitted against Annie in a final shoot-out. Marie Crossley returns as

director, and has set December 3 as the date for auditions; the show opens March 11.

August 2015

Page 5

PRESIDENT'S POINTS Greetings from cool and rainy Minnesota. To my knowledge, this is the first August issue of a Playbill. Hoping to get an informational and marketing jump on the 2015/2016 season, we voted to put out a Playbill one month earlier than our traditional September starting issue. At May's board meeting we focused on 3 issues that were important to getting the next sea-son off to a good start: First, we considered the purchase of a printer and folding/stapling machine which could be set up and used to provide all of the club's future printing needs. Earl Bracken had re-searched this possibility and had provided the board with a terrific proposal that would pay for itself in a year or less. Also, Earl had volunteered to provide an air-conditioned space in his home (until a suitable space can be found to permanently keep the equipment), to be trained to run the equipment, and to physically do the printing for our needs for the begin-ning of the season. The board voted unanimously to purchase the printer and stapler/folder equipment. Since the expenditure would be more than $2000 ($3500 altogether), the pro-posal needed to be brought before the membership at a general meeting. The purchase was proposed to the membership at the May Monday night meeting and was accepted unani-mously. Earl reports that the equipment has been delivered and is working great. You should be reading this on paper that we have printed, folded, and stapled ourselves. Thank you, Earl, for one more wonderful thing you have done to make our club better. Second, we heard from the play selection committee as to their progress on selecting a musical for the upcoming season. The committee proposed Annie Get Your Gun and the board approved the choice. Third, we discussed arrangements for the September start for our new Wednesday morning club house meetings at Mountain View Community Center. Mary Harrison will be in charge of the Wednesdays in September. Please find details in this issue and on our website. Thank you again to everyone who works so hard to make our club function. I will be gone until early October. Carol Bowman will run the September board meeting and the September Monday night meeting. I look forward to seeing you all in October. Greg Engstrom

August 2015

Page 6

Page 7

PLAYERS CLUB

Starting on the second Wednesday of September, the Players will have the use of Mountain View auditorium on every Wednesday morning from 9 to 12.

We are planning all kinds of workshops and activities, but we also want every single person in the Players to use this time to gather socially, chat, catch up with old friends and discover new ones, and enjoy each other. The venue is big enough so more than one activity can take place simultaneously. Wouldnt it be fun to have a few people running lines for their next play in one corner, someone practicing dance steps in another, a couple of people discussing old movies, someone else discussing set design, and you, as member, free to wander among them as the interest takes you?

Your board will hold its regular monthly meetings there on the third Wednesday of the month. All are welcome to watch, and there will be a spot near the end of the agenda for your questions and comments. The board does not take up much space, so other things could be planned for the same time. The board meeting should in no way hinder the regular social get-together.

Since I am a summer bird, I volunteered to organize the September schedule. Our snow birds will be trickling home then, but I will really need the support of all of you who are here to come out in September and use this time and space to claim this club house as our own. We are grateful to RCSC for this opportunity. Go, Players!

Mary Harrison

August 2015

MONTHLY MEETING MENU

By Palma Mitzel

Well, this is something newan August playbill!

There has been a lot of planning going on for the fall entertainment:

Mary Harrisons one-person play will open the season and welcome home weary travelers on September 21st. This play is a must-see, so put it on your calendar as an end-of-summer

highlight.

The Cabaret Variety Show on October 19th will surprise you with a lot of amazing talent. Get ready

for some side-splitting comedy and unusual acts in old vaudeville style.

On November 16th, the 22-piece All Star Band will be sharing their talents and love of music with us. This promises to be an evening of toe-tapping, enjoyable music which will put a smile on your face and a song in your

heart!

The annual Christmas party at Palmbrook Country Club will be held on Saturday, December 12th. We will have

wandering minstrels and a few other surprises for a little different take on singing Christmas carols.

All in all, we have tried to bring you some new, fresh ideas on entertainment and hope that you will enjoy the ride.

Page 8

August 2015

Page 9

Date Paid: ________/________/________ Check#: _____________ Amount: $______________

Sun City Players Community Theater 2016 Membership Please enter your information below. This data will be used for our mailing list and membership directory and to organize cast and crew for our productions. RCSC Card # ___________________ Last Name: _____________________ First: ____________________ Nickname: ____________________ Address: ________________________________________________ Sun City AZ Zip: _____________ Phone (1): ____________________ Year Joined: _______________ Birthday MM/DD: ______/_______ Phone (2): ____________________ Email: ___________________________________________________

WE NEED YOUR TALENTS Please mark your fields of interest: On Stage Behind the Scenes _____ Actor _____ Director _____ Sound Design _____ Singer _____ Producer _____ Lighting Design _____ Dancer _____ Book Holder _____ Props _____ Musician _____ Stage Manager/Crew _____ Costumes/Dresser _____ Set Design/Crew _____ Makeup

Miscellaneous _____ Play Selection _____ Hospitality _____ Computer Skills _____ Advertising/Publicity _____ Membership _____ Office Skills _____ Ad Sales _____ Art Work _____ Graphics Design _____ Ticket Sales _____ Publications _____ Web Design _____ Usher _____ Audience Only

Classes (S=student, I=instructor) _____ Acting _____ Dance _____ Lighting Design _____ Sound Design _____ Makeup _____ Publishing Software _____ Other ______________

Dues are $5.00 per person. Make checks payable to Sun City Players Community Theater.

Mail a copy of your Sun City Recreations Center (RCSC) Card, your check,

a self-addressed stamped envelope and this form to:

Anna Thompson 13819 N 109th Ave, Sun City, AZ 85351

August 2015

Page 10

August 2015

MONDAY MEETING CALENDAR

September 21 Mary Harrison will star in a one-act,

one-person play, Lizs CirCus story

October 19 Cabaret Variety Show

November 16

All Star Band

December 12 Christmas Party at Palmbrook

Sun City Players Community Theater

10725 W. Oakmont Drive

Sun City, AZ 85351

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SUN CITY, AZ PERMIT NO. 168