Greetings, Players!

URGENT NEED...... AND A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY!!! Here's the chance to co-produce with fabulous directors on wonderful plays! The Players need a co-producer for the winter show, Over the River and Through the Woods, directed by Paula Caplan, and/or the spring production of Chicago, directed by Mary Ann Swift. Contact Players President Artty Kinsman at 978-369-1379, or e-mail if you are interested.

A cutting of Side Man will be going to the EMACT festival at Brandeis. Our performance date is Wednesday, May 29, at 7:30 PM. It would be wonderful if as many people as possible would attend this show to cheer on the Players, and support EMACT in general. Mike Jacobs is Director; Gail Gauthier, Producer; Jackson Royal, Stage Manager; Rick Shamel, Lights; Mark Elliott, Sound; Matthew Rabkin and Mike Finke, Set Design; Katy Blair and Marlene Mandel, Props; Pat Kane, Costumes; Jack Wickwire, Makeup; David Bearg, Mike Finke, Rik Pierce, and Leslie Wagner, Crew. We would appreciate any crew help on Wednesday afternoon to bring the set to Brandeis, and on Sunday to bring the set back to 51 Walden. If anyone is interested in helping with this, or being a member of the running crew, please email Gail

This is a reminder that there will be a Showbus on Wednesday, May 15, to see Lend Me a Tenor at the Lyric Stage Co. in Boston. The bus will leave 51 Walden at 6:30 PM for a 7:30 curtain. The cost is $30, and will include ticket, bus, and refreshments en route. Call Patricia Till if you'd like to go.

Take Note - date change! The date of the Spring Frolic has been moved from June 2 to June 9 to avoid conflicting with EMACT. So do join us on June 9 at 7:02 and 1/2, or 7:03 and 3/4, or some similarly zany time (I haven't been informed exactly what it is this year!) for socializing, entertainment, and delicious strawberry shortcake.

Niela Miller, a new member who recently joined the Players, is offering these local workshops and would enjoy having you attend, and tell your arty (and aspiring to be arty) friends:

ARTSMAKERS' PLAYSHOP: FRIDAY, MAY 3 (for those who create in ANY medium, including performance). A most unique day awaits those of you who paint, sculpt, write, act, dance or otherwise spend your time making art, and who rarely get to interact with other artists. We will gather for a day to exchange notions about our creative process, try out media other than our own, make discoveries, get inspired, and have a good time!

CREATIVE EXPRESSION FOR ADULTS: SATURDAY, MAY 4. If you have always wanted to explore your creative/expressive self, this day long playshop is for you. We will move through many media such as writing, drawing, collage, movement, improvisation, and music making doing simple and pleasurable exercises designed to help you discover your own possibilities for self-expression. All are welcome, from those who have never done anything with art-making, to those who might be comfortable in one medium and want to play in other modes of expression. The Facilitator for these workshops is Niela Miller, who combines her background in the arts, human potential technology, education, group process and coaching to invent learning/sharing experiences for persons interested in creativity. She has written a manual entitled “Being Alive! Creative and Emotional Intelligence Tools” See her web site for more information at <www.peoplesystemspotential.com>. Call Parish Center for the Art in Westford to register at 978-692-6333

AWAKENING CREATIVE EXPRESSION: a multi-arts exploration: SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 9:30AM-5:30PM, at Emerson Umbrella for the Arts in Concord. You are invited to dive into a number of different expressive arts media as tools for your creative expression and sensory pleasure. We provide a supportive space and experiential exercises which open up possibilities in various modes of expression. (Media might include theatre improv, singing, dance, writing, drawing, collage...and more) Call Niela Miller at 978-264-4565 to register for this workshop.

We send our best wishes to Bob Carter, who is recovering from heart surgery, and will be home soon.

Here is an address change for Arthur and Margie Stevenson: 207 Rivermeade Rd. Peterborough, NH 03458-1745. Please make this change in your membership book.

Patricia Till was an adjudicator at the Connecticut State AACT Festival in Torrington in April.

Caroline Ellis sends us this news: “After director Nancy Curran Willis told me about TheaterMirror.com (thanks to the CP Newsletter), I started writing theater reviews for that site, as well as for the Wayland Town Crier. At the end of April, I'll also begin reviewing for TheaterMania.com, a NYC-based site that features critic Peter Filichia. He once gave a 51 Walden presentation to Players members, at Corinne's invitation.”

Congratulations to Danny Rooney, Katherine Horlitz, and Players member's children David Ballard, Jack Kavanaugh, Travis Minor, and Jon Turnquist, who, as members of the CCHS choral ensembles, competed at the North American Music Festival in Virginia Beach on April 19. The Mixed Concert Chorus, the Women's Chorus, and the Men's Chorus each won first place in their categories, each with a rating of Superior (the hardest to attain)! The Mixed Concert Chorus will also perform at Tanglewood (along with the CCHS Concert Band) on May 12 as a result of winning a gold medal at the Mass. Instrumental and Choral Conductors Assoc. Festival in early April. It's great to know that we have so much talent in the coming generation!

That's the news for this month. Please send your news to me , or to Sara Ballard, 34 Aurora Lane, Concord, MA 01742. The next newsletter deadline is May 23.