 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Players Notes This section will change as more of our family donate facts and stories. This Players Note comes from WP President Charlie Lawson Thanks to everyone for a wonderful season this year. I am proud of the quality of each production the Players presented, and know that it was only with the hard work of our volunteers and support of our patrons. Every year becomes more and more of a challenge to community non-profit groups, due to the busy schedules of everyone and only so much time to commit to an organization. Whether working with or attending to see the end results, we all seem to be caught up in the mad rush of daily living. Add to the mix soaring gasoline and oil prices, and an economy continuing to question its solidity, and most people just want to stay at home and feel safe and secure. Thanks goodness for brave and optimistic souls such as yourselves that venture out and do battle with daily living and live life to the fullest, regardless of the challenges.The Waynesboro Players are fast approaching their 50th Anniversary. Who would have thought many, many years ago that a small group of displaced DuPont and General Electric workers new to town and looking for something to channel their creative juices into after work would have been the embryo for our group? We have come so far, from 1 or 2 performances a year to an intimate audience of 20 or 30 friends and co-workers, to 3 solid production presentations a year at the high school auditorium with a capability of 900 audience members a night. Productions involving many, many cast and crew and hours upon hours of rehearsals and set construction and backstage work. Verne Wattenberger, who was one of the founding members of the Players, had moved away from Waynesboro for a good while, and had come back into town to enjoy his retirement. Verne decided it was time he direct another production for the Players, and had to adapt from the earlier version of the Players being a few friends and members of his family to the version of open auditions, casting, costuming, set construction, prop accumulation, etc. A change that Verne took in stride. We knew Verne's stride had been broken, when on opening nite, he was standing on the outside steps watching car after car roll in and groups and groups of people milling in the parking lot. Lee McGratty was standing with him, and Verne asked "Why are all these people here and what's going on?" Lee replied, "Verne, they're all coming to see the Players' show you've directed!" Verne turned white as a sheet and hustled back into the building. Verne was used to an audience of 7, not 700! Times have changed, and Verne has passed on, God rest his soul. The year of 2007 brought many losses to the Players, in the way of theatre people from the early days who were crucial in building up our organization in one way or another. Margaret Collins passed away, having lost husband Fletcher earlier. Margaret and Fletcher were the backbone of forming many theatrical organizations and encouraging many individuals to continue on and pursue some sort of theater involvement for a career. Even those of us that were not career bound in theater were encouraged to continue our involvement and support for the arts. I credit them to being who and where I am today, both in theater and the community. We also lost Robbins Gates. We all loved Robbins, he was truly a character and as a director, knew what he wanted and would get it. Of the many times I was involved in a show with Robbins, two memories come to mind. One, he had to have a particular type of rocking chair for his role in a show. I ended up talking my Grandmother out of her porch rocker, promising to keep it for only 2 weeks and return it in likesame condition. The other Robbins tale is when he directed out at Oak Grove and I was the set builder. Robbins decided the set should be a library room. I felt a few real bookshelves loaded with books and the rest flat panels with books painted on them would be perfect. Robbins let me know that perfection would be all shelves loaded with real books. Robbins got his perfection! We also lost Ralph Degan. Ralph was more into Oak Grove Theater, but as most people will tell you, the line between one theater group and other can either be a thread or a concrete wall. Oak Grove and the Players are a thread apart, and share with each other to help promote the theater. In my early days with Grove, Ralph was the treasurer. Being a young and poor upstart, when I was honored with producing a show for Grove, the days of credit cards and open accounts hadn't been discovered by theater groups. It was a cash only basis. I would have to trudge into Klotz Brothers, where Ralph could be found weekdays. After laying out my imaginary budget, he would cut me a check for what I hoped to be enough to finance the show. Receipts to follow, accurate to the penny. We had many great moments this year. Clue the Musical was an amazing success, and set the precedent for creative sets. Four, 4 sided set pieces that rotate to form different rooms for each scene. A set crew that was choreographed for the changes. Clue was not just a Musical, but Magical. Father Knows Best brought in a element for the Players that we always try to emphasize. Family! This show brought in more groups of families and children than many in past memory. Whether parents reliving youth or wanting to demonstrate to their kids the way it used to be and maybe should be, who knows? Peter Pan the Musical was a delight. From having over 80 children audition for roles, to a set constructor's nitemare of enough set pieces to furnish 4 shows. Everyone onstage, backstage, and in the audience enjoyed being a part of this production. Seeing Peter Pan and Jane "fly" was a first for the Players, and having a full 3 walled set that rolled offstage to another scene change was also another first. A challenging show that tested the Waynesboro Players, and I feel we got an A+. Next season has already been set, with shows, directors and show dates established. It looks like a really fun and exciting roster of productions, and we hope to see many familiar faces in the audience, onstage, and backstage. We also hope to see many new faces, too! Someone asked me once what is the criteria for becoming a part of the Waynesboro Players. Do you have to be already involved in other theater, or show a real knack or talent, or have to know somebody to get in...? My reply was, "You just have to be warm-blooded." And I hold that true, anybody is welcome to come join in. Keep check on the website for audition date notices, or email us your mailing info and we'll get you on the mailing list. We want to continue heading toward our 50th Anniversary of presenting quality productions with an all volunteer base and being a non-profit community organization. But mainly we want to continue introducing our young (and old) to theater and having fun in the process! Thanks, see you at the theater! Charlie Charlie Lawson President Waynesboro Players Come create your own stories with the WP - Volunteer Today!
|
