Awards were Presented for the 2008 Season

 City Park Players announced the Viewers Choice Award winners on Sunday at the Hearn Stage in a reception honoring all the participants in the 2008 Season.  Plaques were presented as follows:

Best Performance by an actor in a Leading Role - Ed Reed as Norman in "On Golden Pond" - directed by Frith Harwood.

Best Performance by an actor in a Supporting Role - Michael Robertson as Andre in "The Dinner Party" - directed by Ed Reed.

Best Performance by a Male Newcomer    Bradley Smith -- as Lord Brockhurst in "The Boy Friend" by Sandy Wilson - directed by Tina Smith and as Albert in "The Dinner Party" by Neil Simon - directed by Ed Reed. 

Best Performance by an actress in a Leading Role - Lucy Azlin as Ethel in "On Golden Pond" directed by Frith Harwood. 

Best Performance by an actress in a Supporting Role - Wanda Schenk as Chelsea  in "On Golden Pond" directed by Frith Harwood. 

Best Performance by a Female Newcomer - Belle Bindursky asYvonne  n "The Dinner Party" by Neil Simon - directed by Ed Reed. 

Best Director Frith Harwood

Best Set "On Golden Pond"

Best Show on "Golden Pond" by Ernest Thompson. 

Viewers Choice Awards & Auditions

City Park Players announced the Viewers Choice Award nominees for its 2008 season, including Steel Magnolias, The Old Settler, On Golden Pond, The Boyfriend, and The Dinner Party. Season ticket holders, actors, and crew members submit their choices via ballots for Best Performance by a Male Actor, Best Performance by a Female Actor, Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Performance by a Male Newcomer, Best Performance by a Female Newcomer, Best Director, Best Set, and Best Show. 

Winners will be announced and receive their awards at a reception on Sunday, March 29 at 2:00 pm, at the Hearn Stage/Kress Theatre. Cast and crew members associated with the 2008 season are invited along with one guest each for no charge, however please make a reservation.  Tickets for everyone else are $10 and must be reserved in advance at 442-1800.  The public is invited.

City Park Players also announces auditions for the second production of our 2009 season, the comedy Social Security by Andrew Berman, Monday and Tuesday, March 30 and 31 at 6:30 pm. Three male roles and three female roles, all ages 35–70-plus, are available. Social Security is a hilarious commentary on family relations and caring gracefully for aging parents. Director Frith Harwood will conduct the auditions at the Hearn Stage/Kress Theatre, Fourth & Johnston Streets, downtown Alexandria. Performances are June 4–14.

 For more information about the City Park Players Viewers Choice Awards or auditions for Social Security, contact City Park Players at (318) 442-1800 or email cityparkplayers@gmail.com.

 A premiere community theatre, City Park Players is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to offering quality cultural activities and experiences to the entire Central Louisiana community through live theatre productions, programming, and education. City Park Players’ 2009 season is supported, in part, by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts as administered by the Arts Council of Central Louisiana.  Additional support comes from our patrons and donors and people like you who believe that community theatre enriches our lives and enhances our quality of life.

Ballots for Viewers's Choice are Available Now

We had quite the memorable 60th anniversary year. Now we invite you to let us know which plays and performances you thought were the best. It is time to honor those who worked so hard to bring the written word to life.

Ballots are available now. Request one by email then choose your favorites in each category and return the ballot as soon as possible.

Nominees in each category will be recognized at a reception at the Kress Theatre on March 29th. That’s a Sunday afternoon from 2 till 5. You are invited to attend. Tickets for this event are available at the door for only $10. Those who participated in the shows during the year are admitted free along with one guest. Please let us know if you are joining us by calling 442-1800.

Get your ballots in and make plans to celebrate the conclusion of another season of plays presented by City Park Players, your Central Louisiana Community Theatre. Opening night for the 2009 season is just around the corner. We’ll look forward to seeing you at the theatre.

Louisiana State AACTFest'09

Central Louisiana Community Theatre - City Park Players - was honored and pleased to host The Louisiana State AACTFest ’09 – It’s Your Turn To Shine on February 27 and 28 here in Alexandria, LA. This event was supported in part by a grant from the Roy O. Martin Foundation as administered by the Arts Council of Central Louisiana and GAEDA, the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority. Utilizing both the Coughlin Saunders Performing Arts Center and the Hearn Stage at the Kress Theatre, we welcomed representatives from 11 Louisiana Community Theatre groups plus AACT President, Bill Muchow, from Minneapolis, MN, Eugene Irby, AACT Region 6 Representative from New Mexico and Darlene DeLorenzo, AACT Region 6 Representative from Lago Vista, TX.

AACTFest is an adjudicated theatre performance festival held as part of the American Association of Community Theatre festival cycle. The cycle includes state and regional festivals and culminates with a biennial National AACTFest. This year’s National Festival is June 24-28, in Tacoma, WA. Performances of 5 different plays by 5 theatre groups from community theatres across Louisiana were presented. Each eligible entry was publicly adjudicated by judges, Cranston Dodds from Corsicana, TX and Dr. Rhonda Shook of LSU-A. The top two entries will advance to the Region 6 AACTFest’09 held in Kerrville, Texas on April 15-19, 2009. This honor was bestowed on Opelousas Little Theatre for their production of a selection from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and the City Park Players production of The Dinner Party by Neil Simon. In the event that these shows are unable to go to the Region 6 festival, the two alternates are: The Baton Rouge UpStage Theatre Company's production of the Pearl Cleage play A Song for Coretta and /or the Marksville, LA Le Theatre des bon Temps production of Murder is a Drag , an original play by the Unusual Suspects, a local theatre troupe.

A Louisiana state community theatre group organizational meeting was held as one of the events on Saturday. It was well attended by interested theatre groups and the next meeting is scheduled to take place on June 13. It will be hosted by Opelousas Little Theatre. For more information contact Wanda Schenk, local AACT Representative.