City Park Players - Alexandria, LA

City Park Players Announces Cast - On Golden Pond

2008-05-07T18:49:00.002-05:00

Alexandria, May 7, 2008—Director Frith Harwood announced the cast for City Park Players’ production of Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond. The production is the third offering of the theatre’s 2008 60th Anniversary Season and opens June 12.

On Golden Pond is the warmhearted story of grumpy, retired New England professor Norman Thayer, Jr., and his spirited wife, Ethel, spending one final summer at their lakeside cottage in Maine. Generations collide and sparks fly when the Thayer’s middle-age daughter and her fiancé leave his teenage son with the Thayers, while they embark on a European vacation. Kathryn Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda starred in the beloved 1981 film based on this triumph of life, love, and family.

On Golden Pond plays June 12–22, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m., at the Bringhurst Park Theatre, 1802 Sylvester Street, Alexandria, Louisiana.

For tickets, reservations, or more information, contact the City Park Players box office at (318) 442-1800 or email cparkplayers@bellsouth.net.

Cast members include:

Frith Harwood - Director
Dr. Edgar Reed – Norman Thayer, Jr.
Lucy Azlin – Ethel Thayer
Allen Rowlen – Charlie Martin
Wanda Schenk – Chelsea Thayer Wayne
Zeb Matthews – Billy Ray
Stewart Riggar – Bill Ray

A premiere community theatre, City Park Players is committed to offering quality cultural activities and experiences to the entire Central Louisiana community through live theatre productions, programming, and education.

Opening Night - April 17 - "The Old Settler"

2008-04-14T18:46:00.001-05:00

April 14, 2008—Alexandria, LA: City Park Players Community Theatre of Central Louisiana announces the second offering of their 60th Anniversary Season, The Old Settler, written by John Henry Redwood. Directed by noted New Orleans actor/director Sh’riff Hasan, the production features a local cast and crew of stage veterans and newcomers.

Set in 1943, the story involves two middle-age sisters living in a bustling, jazzy Harlem during the waning days of the Harlem Renaissance. When a strapping young man fresh from the backwoods of South Carolina takes a room as a boarder in their apartment, old hurts and new tensions surface between the two sisters as romance brews between the older sister and the handsome newcomer. The play takes its name from a line in the play as the audience learns just how deeply two sisters can love as well as hurt one another.

The Old Settler is an American Theatre Critics Award-winning work by John Henry Redwood, recipient of the 2001 Bryan Family Foundation Drama Award for Southern Literature. The play was adapted for television in 2001 and presented by PBS, starring Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad.

In celebration of their 60th Anniversary Season, the theater will unveil a frameable art poster commissioned especially for the production and designed by local artist Jennifer Cooper, formerly of New Orleans. Available in limited edition, the posters will be for sale through the run of the show.

In keeping with the cultural setting of the play, the theatre also will raffle a Romare Bearden custom-framed print, entitled “Jammin’ at the Savoy.” Celebrated as one of the most creative and original visual artists of the twentieth century, Bearden is best known for his richly textured collages, two of which appeared on the covers of Fortune and Time magazines.

The Old Settler opens Thursday, April 17 and runs through April 27, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 with Sunday matinees at 2:30. All performances will be held at the Bringhurst Park Theatre, 1802 Sylvester Street, Alexandria, Louisiana. Discounted season tickets for the remaining productions in City Park Players’ 60th Anniversary Season remain available through the theater box office. Individual tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors (65 and older), and $5 for students with current ID. Group sales are also available.

For tickets, reservations, or more information, contact the City Park Players box office at (318) 442-1800 or email cparkplayers@bellsouth.net.

The Old Settler cast and crewmembers members include:

Sh’riff Hasan – Director
Karen Riley Simmons – Elizabeth “Bess” Borny
Rosa Metoyer – Quilly Borny McGrath
Sherman Desselle – Husband Witherspoon
Consondra “October” Davis - Lou Bessie Preston
Faith Johnson – Lorraine
Yvonne Lemons – Stage Manager
Ron Rachal - Lighting Design
Doran O’Donnell – Set Construction
Angie Hartman – Costume Matron
Pamela Kay – Property Matron
Classy Q. Parker – Light Board Operator

The City Park Players 60th Anniversary Season is made possible, in part, by grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Arts Council of Central Louisiana, and the Roy O. Martin Foundation. City Park Players’ production of The Old Settler is underwritten, in part, by CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital of Alexandria.

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. Visit our Website at www.cityparkplayers.org.

Tickets also available at:

Etc. by Downs
2800 Jackson Street
Alexandria LA 71301
(318) 473-4385

Arricka’s Shoes & Accessories
1335 Peterman Drive
Alexandria, LA 71301
(318) 475-6323

Weiss & Goldring Specialty
3601 Masonic Drive
Alexandria, LA 71301
(318) 433-9200

The Gold Mind
2975 Highway 28 East
Pineville LA 71360
(318) 442-4130

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Old Settler Cast Announced

2008-03-21T17:18:00.002-05:00

Alexandria, March 19, 2008—Director Sh’riff Hasan announced the cast for City Park Players’ production of John Henry Redwood’s The Old Settler. The production is the second offering of the theatre’s 60th Anniversary Season and opens April 17.

The story involves two middle-age sisters living in a bustling, jazzy Harlem in 1943, during the waning days of the Harlem Renaissance. When a strapping young man fresh from the backwoods of South Carolina takes a room as a boarder in their apartment, old hurts and new tensions surface between the two sisters as romance brews between the older sister and the handsome newcomer. The play takes its name from a line in the play: “An Old Settler is what folks up here call a woman pushing forty who hasn’t been married and don’t have any prospects,” as the feisty younger sister explains to her sibling’s young beau.

Actor-director Sh’riff Hasan, a native of New Orleans, is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute and California Institute of the Arts and brings more than thirty years of experience in professional and community theatre to his work.

The Old Settler is an American Theatre Critics Award-winning work by John Henry Redwood, recipient of the 2001 Bryan Family Foundation Drama Award for Southern Literature. The play was adapted for television in 2001 and presented by PBS, starring Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad.

The Old Settler runs April 17–27, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m., at the Bringhurst Park Theatre, 1802 Sylvester Street, Alexandria, Louisiana.

Individual tickets are priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students, and go on sale on April 1, 2008. Group sales tickets are also available. For tickets, reservations, or more information, contact the City Park Players box office at (318) 442-1800 or email cparkplayers@bellsouth.net.

Cast members include:

Sh’riff Hasan - Director
Karen Riley Simmons – Elizabeth Borny
Rosa Metoyer – Quilley McGrath
Sherman Deselles – Husband Witherspoon
Consondra Dorsey- Lou Bessie Preston
Faith Johnson - Lorraine
The City Park Players 60th Anniversary Season is made possible, in part, by grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Arts Council of Central Louisiana, and the Roy O. Martin Foundation. City Park Players’ production of The Old Settler is underwritten, in part, by CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital of Alexandria.

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. Visit our Website at www.cityparkplayers.org.

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St. Patrick's Day Fundraising Gala

2008-03-12T12:51:00.002-05:00

Please join the City Park Players on St. Patrick's Day for a Fundraising Gala at the home of our Board Member, Michael Davis, Esq. His address is 3132 Marye Street in Alexandria. RSVP is appreciated as we will be serving delicious food from Falcone's Table. Ticket are $50 per person and black tie is optional. There will be entertainment and door prizes.

Be sure to let us know if you will be able to join us by calling 318-442-1800. Jean will be pleased to take your payment in advance via credit card by phone or you may bring your check when you come. We look forward to seeing you.

Redwood’s The Old Settler replaces Wilson’s Fences

2008-03-05T17:55:00.001-06:00

Alexandria: March 1, 2008— City Park Players announces a change in its 60th Anniversary Season. The second of its five offerings, The Old Settler by John Henry Redwood, replaces Fences by August Wilson due to unavoidable scheduling conflicts with key cast members. Production dates remain the same for The Old Settler, April 17–27, at the Bringhurst Park Theatre.

“The Old Settler has long been on our short list of desired productions and we lose no degree of quality with its presentation,” said Ed Reed, CPP board president. “Although we regret that we cannot bring Fences to our community at this time, we believe our audiences will enjoy this award-winning production equally as much. City Park Players is committed to bringing the very best theater to Central Louisiana and the production of Redwood’s The Old Settler continues in that vein.”

The Old Settler received the 1998 American Theater Critics Award and was cited by American Theater magazine as one of the 10 most-produced plays in the United States for the 1999 and 2000 seasons, among other honors.

Professor Sh’riff Hasan of New Orleans will direct The Old Settler.

About the Play—Definitely Not a Western
Despite its name, The Old Settler could not be more unlike the old, old west. Set in 1943, the story involves two middle-age sisters—the elder a spinster, the younger recently separated from her husband-—living in a bustling, jazzy Harlem during the waning days of the Harlem Renaissance. When a strapping young man fresh from the backwoods of South Carolina takes a room as a boarder in their apartment, old hurts and new tensions surface between the two sisters as romance brews between the older sister and the handsome newcomer. The major tension of the play revolves around the choice the young man must make between his mature, church-going new love and his worldly and much younger girlfriend, whom he came to Harlem to pursue. The play takes its name from a line in the play: “An Old Settler is what folks up here call a woman pushing forty who hasn’t been married and don’t have any prospects,” as explained by the feisty younger sister to her sibling’s young beau. And, as the saying goes, “the plot thickens” as the audience learns just how deeply two sisters can hurt as well as love one another.

About the Director
In a career spanning more than thirty years, Sh’riff Hasan has built a formidable reputation in the theatre. An accomplished actor and seasoned director, Hasan has received accolades for his work on and in front of the stage, having applied his craft in hundreds of works.
A native of New Orleans, Hasan graduated from Tuskegee Institute and the Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy and earned the master of fine arts degree in theatre from the California Institute of the Arts. He has taught humanities, public speaking, and theatre arts at a number of universities, including Southern University of New Orleans, Dillard University, Tuskegee Institute, and Grambling University. He currently serves as Mentor/Artist in Residence with Young Audiences of New Orleans and can be seen in his one-man show, entitled A Meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

About the Playwright
John Henry Redwood was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1943. An ex-Marine, Redwood earned a PhD in Religion and appeared on Broadway in a Guys and Dolls revival and The Piano Lesson by August Wilson. He also appeared in numerous regional productions, including a one-man show entitled Paul Robeson, in which he depicted the baritone-voiced thespian, athlete, Rhodes scholar, and statesman. He turned to playwriting to create roles for himself and other African American actors. He died in 2003.

Redwood was best known for No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs, a dramatic commentary on racism and anti-Semitism in America, and The Old Settler, the bittersweet romantic comedy about a woman facing spinsterhood in 1940s Harlem and for which he gained national recognition. His other plays include Mark VIII:xxvi, winner of the 1986 AUDELCO Award for Best Play; A Sunbeam, recipient of the McDonald’s Literary Achievement Award; Acted Within Proper Departmental Procedure; and several one-acts. Redwood was named the recipient of the 2001 Family Foundation Drama Award for Southern Literature.

A premiere community theater, City Park Players is committed to offering quality cultural activities and experiences to the entire Central Louisiana community through live theater productions, programming, and education.

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Tickets on Sale Now for Steel Magnolias

2008-02-08T16:31:00.000-06:00

Alexandria—Director Diane Falcone announced the cast for City Park Players’ production of Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias. The production opens the theater’s 60th Anniversary Season on February 21.

Set in fictional Chinquapin, Louisiana, Steel Magnolias is based on the lives of Robert Harling’s mother and sister and their beauty shop friends in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The stage play inspired the enduringly popular 1989 feature film by the same title.

Steel Magnolias runs February 21 through March 2, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m., at the Bringhurst Park Theater, 1802 Sylvester Street, Alexandria, Louisiana.

Individual tickets are priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors (over 65), and $5 for students, and go on sale on February 1, 2008. Season and group sales tickets are also available. For tickets, reservations, or more information, contact the City Park Players box office at (318) 442-1800 or email cparkplayers@bellsouth.net.

Cast and crewmembers include:

Diane Falcone - Director
Susan Hathorn - Truvy Jones
Becky Hooter - M'Lynn Eatenton
Lauren Heatherington - Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie
Kathleen Pharis - Ouiser Boudreaux
Theresa Louviere - Clairee Belcher
Karen Burns - Annelle Dupuy-Desoto
Ann Melichar - Stage Manager
Doran O’Donnell - Set Design
Stu Riggar – Sound Design
Ron Rachal - Lighting Design

A premiere community theater, City Park Players is committed to offering quality cultural activities and experiences to the entire Central Louisiana community through live theater productions, programming, and education. Visit our Website at www.cityparkplayers.org
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City Park Players Cast to Ride on Mardi Gras

2008-02-04T15:55:00.000-06:00

Alexandria—City Park Players’ Steel Magnolias cast and crewmembers will ride in the new Krewe of Provine Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday, February 5, Mardi Gras day. The parade begins at the parking lot of the Coliseum on Highway 28 West at 3:00 p.m.

Written by Robert Harling and directed by theater veteran Diane Falcone, Steel Magnolias opens City Park Players’ 60th Anniversary Season on February 21. The play runs February 21 through March 2, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. All shows will be held at the Bringhurst Theater, 1802 Sylvester Street, Alexandria, Louisiana.

Individual tickets are priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students, and go on sale on February 1, 2008. Season and group sales tickets are also available. For tickets, reservations, or more information, contact the City Park Players box office at (318) 442-1800 or email cparkplayers@bellsouth.net.

Cast and crewmembers include:

Diane Falcone - Director
Susan Hathorn - Truvy Jones
Becky Hooter – ‘'Lynn Eatenton
Lauren Heatherington - Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie
Kathleen Pharis - Ouiser Boudreaux
Theresa Louviere - Clairee Belcher
Karen Burns - Annelle Dupuy-Desoto
Stu Riggar – KPPD Radio Announcer
Ann Melichar - Stage Manager
Doran O’Donnell - Set Design
Stu Riggar – Sound Design
Ron Rachal - Lighting Design

A premiere community theater, City Park Players is committed to offering quality cultural activities and experiences to the entire Central Louisiana community through live theater productions, programming, and education. Visit our Website at www.cityparkplayers.org.

Auditions for Steel Magnolias

2008-01-04T15:02:00.000-06:00

City Park Players’ Steel Magnolias Audition Dates—City Park Players announces auditions for our 2008 60th Anniversary Season opener, Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling. Roles are available for 6 women ages 19-ish through 67-ish. Performance dates are February 21–24 and February 28–March 2. Production director Diane Falcone will conduct the auditions at the Bringhurst Theater, 1802 Sylvester Street, Alexandria, Louisiana, Monday and Tuesday, January 7 and 8, 2008 at 6:00 pm.

For more information, contact City Park Players at (318) 442-1800 or email cparkplayers@bellsouth.net.

About the Play
Set in fictional Chinquapin, Louisiana, Steel Magnolias is based on real people and events occurring in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Six southern belles share laughter, tears, and strength through their seasons of life, all from the intimate setting of a beauty parlor. The stage play inspired the enduringly popular 1989 feature film by the same title.

2008 - 60th Anniversary Season

2008-01-04T14:52:00.000-06:00

City Park Players announces stellar 2008 60th anniversary season featuring lower ticket prices and award-winning productions

Alexandria: City Park Players 2008 60th Anniversary Season—City Park Players Community Theater of Central Louisiana announces our 60th Anniversary Season. The season will include some of the most popular productions from our six decades of community theater in Central Louisiana. In appreciation of sixty years of community support, the theater’s board of directors has lowered ticket prices in every category as part of the yearlong celebration.

The anniversary season opens with Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias, a national favorite with a local connection. Set in fictional Chinquapin, Louisiana, the play is based on real people and events occurring in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Six southern belles share laughter, tears, and strength through their seasons of life, all from the intimate setting of a beauty parlor. The stage play inspired the enduringly popular 1989 feature film by the same title. Directed by CenLa theater regular Diane Falcone, Steel Magnolias plays at the Bringhurst Park Little Theater Thursdays through Sundays, February 21st–March 2nd.

Following our anniversary kickoff, master playwright August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences will depict the painful relationship between Troy Maxson, a down-on-his-luck former professional baseball player and his son, Cory, an award-winning athlete who has been offered a college football scholarship. Troy is a proud and bitter man who was prevented by racism from playing major league baseball and now, at age fifty-three, earns a meager living as a garbage collector. He has built inner fences around his emotions that neither his family nor his best friend can cross. Fences plays at the Bringhurst April 17–27.

Retired New England professor and lovable curmudgeon Norman Thayer, Jr., and his spirited wife, Ethel, decide to spend one final summer at their family’s lakeside cottage in Maine in Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond. When the Thayer’s middle-age daughter, Chelsea, and her fiancé arrive to leave his teenage son while they embark on a European vacation, sparks fly and colliding generations ultimately forge common ground. Veteran director Frith Harwood directs this heartwarming and hilarious celebration of the triumphs of life, love and family, which plays the Bringhurst June 12–22.

A joyful salute to 1920s-era musical comedies, The Boy Friend sparkles with music, dance, and romance. Written by British composer and lyricist Sandy Wilson, this boy-meets-girl musical is set in the carefree world of the French Riviera. The story begins when Polly, the daughter of a millionaire, brags to her other socialite schoolmates of a fictional boyfriend who is “motoring down from Paris” to meet her at the upcoming carnival ball. Several solos, duets, and company production numbers later, boy gets girl and everyone, including the audience, goes home happy. A perfect summer musical fete, The Boy Friend runs August 7–17 at the Bringhurst.

Our season concludes with The Dinner Party, by America’s favorite playwright, Neil Simon. Simon’s comic genius explores the follies of love, marriage, and divorce in this story of three couples, three divorces, and one dinner party. Set in a lush, private dining chamber in a stylish Parisian restaurant, each of the principals arrives separately, surprised to find his or her ex-spouse in attendance. Sparks fly at full speed in this light romantic comedy ignited by Simon’s signature biting dialogue. Directed by Bringhurst pillar Edgar Reed, The Dinner Party closes the anniversary season October 2–12.

Subscriptions for the full City Park Players’ 2008 60th Anniversary Season are available now. At $24 for students, $40 for seniors, and $48 for general admission, 2008 anniversary season tickets reflect a 20% reduction from 2007 general admission prices, keeping City Park Players one of the best entertainment values in Central Louisiana. For more information call the City Park Players Box Office at (318) 442-1800 or email us at cparkplayers@bellsouth.net.

A premiere community theater, City Park Players is committed to offering quality cultural activities and experiences to the entire Central Louisiana community through live theater productions, programming, and education.

For tickets, reservations, or information call the theatre at (318) 442-1800.

2007-01-02T00:41:00.000-06:00

City Park Players

Familiar faces take on new positions.

When you visit City Park Players in 2007, you will visit two smiling faces-familiar faces-faces you have seen before. These are the faces of two friends, friends of the community and friends of the theatre.

These smiling friends are Terri Febuary, Managing Director of City Park Players, Central LA Community Theatre and Assistant Managing Director, Diane Falcone.

Terri and Diane have a long history with City Park Players as actresses, crew members, front of house volunteering, and years of on-the-job-training.

Terri has been associated with the Community Theatre since the end of 1996. In 2000, she began working as Box office Manager with then Managing Director, Wanda Schenk.

In August of 2003, Terri took up another passion, playwriting. She has written a number of plays. Four of her short plays were performed during the annual summer New Plays Festivals produced by Spectral Sisters Productions, Inc.(SSP) She is a regular attendee of the annual playwriting workshops offered by SSP. Recently, Terri participated as a panelist for the SWTFA (Southwestern Theatre & Film Association) workshop lead by Tammy Killian.

Terri wrote and produced "Village on the Red- an embellished historical play", which premiered in April 2006. Village on the Red was written to celebrate the bicentennial of Alexandria, LA. February 8-11, 2007, the play will be performed at the Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center. It will be open to the public and free of charge.

Mrs. Febuary has been on stage with CPP in "Barefoot in the Park", "The Wedding Band", "The Cemetery Club", "Odd Couple-the Female version." and others. At Theatre Louisiana College, she played the role of "Mattie" in a staged reading of, "Walking Across Egypt". She was also involved with the Spectral Sisters 10 Minute Play Festivals as an actress and as director.

She is a member of the Dramatist's Guild of America, the International Center for Women Playwrights (ICWP), where she is a member of the Granting Committee and a new contributor for the Christian Women's Leadership Magazine, "The Wall". Locally, she is a member of the Garden District Association; she is on the Board of Directors for Spectral Sisters Productions, and a member of Grace Church.

In 2005, Terri returned as part-time office personnel at City Park Players. She also worked part-time with the Arts Council as Assistant House Manger and Assistant Box Office Manager for the many and varied productions and functions at the Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center.

She has three grown children, one grandchild and owns "Pro-draft" with husband Richard, with whom she has been married 35 years.

Diane Falcone has been performing and directing for a number of years. She attended Lee Strasborg Institute of Acting in New York City. Not long after she moved to Alexandria with her husband, Pete Falcone, her enthusiastic involvement with City Park Players brought her talent to every aspect of play production.

Her acting credits with City Park Players are extensive. Some of the plays, Much Ado About Nothing, Grease, Glass Menagerie, Little Shop of Horrors, A Christmas Carol, Cemetery Club and Moon Over Buffalo are a few of the many and varied shows the community has seen her perform on the Bringhurst stage. She performed a number of plays with LSUA's Empty Space Players and was double cast in the premiere production of, Village on the Red, in April of 2006.

Between 1996 and 1998, Diane taught as the Drama Director for Grace Christian School. While there, she directed, Meet Me in St. Louis and Pride and Prejudice. In 2000, she directed, Talking With... an "Extra Show" for CPP. She also directed Byron Marshall's short play, Third Class Rail, for Spectral Sister's Productions the summer of 2005. Recently, Family Playhouse commissioned Diane to direct the 2007 spring musical, Oliver.

Her involvement with Grace Church has given her opportunity to share her abilities. She was responsible for organizing and producing a two day women's seminar.

Besides the duties of Assistant Managing Director, Diane tutors acting to young people, assists her husband in his catering business, Falcone's Table, and continues to raise the youngest of their five children.

The City Park Players 2007 Season Membership Brochure is available today. Call or email your contact information to receive the brochure.

Phone #: 318-442-1800

Fax#: 318-442-1876

email#: cparkplayers@bellsouth.net

Or go to our website at: www.cityparkplayers.org

Our blog: http://cpptheatre.blogspot.com

Winners of Munchkin House Raffle-special story

2007-01-01T21:31:00.000-06:00

John & Diane Cain

Winners of the City Park Players

Munchkin House Raffle

December 18, 2006 the name was picked for the special one time only, raffle for the playhouse that was used on stage for the musical "The Wizard of Oz". It was in the Munchkinland scene.

The winner of the drawing was Mr. & Mrs. John Cain of Boyce, Louisiana. Followng is the story as sent out by email the day the received the playhouse.

"Although we did not make our goal for the Munchkin House Raffle, I have to say that the family who won is the most precious and deserving of anyone in Central Louisiana.

John & Diane Cain of Boyce, LA came to pick up the playhouse today. (I took a picture of them). They bought a ticket this past Friday night during the Family Playhouse show, "It's a Wonderful Life".
The following day, Saturday, their 10 year old grandson died of a rare virus called, MRSA.
Although they have 6 other grandchildren, the playhouse is to be a Christmas present for two little girls in their neighborhood whose father is in jail for 3-5 years. These children would not have a Christmas at all if not for the Cain's.

I think we can be proud that the spirit of Christmas is more than money, more than giving and receiving. It is love and compassion."

Later the same day, my husband saw the playhouse in the back of a truck. It pulled up to the Target Store the same time we did.

As the Cain's approached the front of the store where we were standing, I spoke with them again. Their smiles beamed cheerfully.

John Cain needed to find a place to wash his hands, because he had just finished changing a stranded woman's tire.

I called him "A Good Samaritan".

He said, "Well, she just looked so pitiful, I had to help her."

This is a story worth telling and retelling. This family living in the midst of tragedy gave of themselves to those in need. I was blessed to be a part of their lives, even for just a moment.

Terri Febuary

Welcome to City Park Players blog spot

2006-10-04T03:30:00.000-05:00

Come on in.

The show is entertaining

and the actors are waiting in the wings!

Pictures, posters & playbills of this season's performances.

Season schedules, fundraiser productions we and other performing arts organizations in our city are working on.

Come often-and enjoy.

Leave your comments and questions, read what others have to say about this award winning theatre.