From the President

With Damn Yankees, SCCT hit a home run – both artistically and financially. Hats are off to director Esther Rosen and everyone else who made this such an enjoyable and successful production!

While SCCT offers rich theater opportunities for its members, we also take pride in being very much a service organization for all of Sun City and for the community beyond our gates. In making quality theatrical productions available both on campus and in the Bluffton community, we bring art and entertainment to literally thousands of people annually (last year, more than 10,000 people attended our traditional productions – both on and off campus – as well as our monthly shows).

We also serve students engaged in the arts at Bluffton High School. As we go to press, an SCCT committee is reviewing applications for the first Sun City Community Theatre scholarship to be awarded to a Bluffton High student in the performing arts.

SCCT initiated a “mentoring” program recently at Bluffton High School. SCCT members helped students prepare for their production of Grease in everything from performance techniques to backstage work, from costumes to makeup, and from advertising to playbill preparation.

Your Community Theatre – serving the community.

 -- Bob Taylor, SCCT president

More on Grease

Rebecca Sturgis, head of Bluffton High’s performing arts program, pointed out that the SCCT members bought a guitar for the disabled girl in the Grease production. She also expressed her appreciation to all the SCCT members who assisted in the musical.

Carol Wroblewski, head of the workshops committee, said the mentoring role for Grease included all aspects of putting on a successful show. Carol also brainstormed with a group of enthusiastic young ladies on poster placement. She also noted these SCCT members who were mentors:

• Dominick Wasielewski reviewed the process of gathering and organizing props with the backstage crew.

• Bob McCloskey provided information to the students responsible for selling ad space.

• Monica Taft energized the "in house" advertisers to promote the show in different ways.

• Wendell MacNeal worked with "Danny” and “Sandy" on the drive-in movie scene.

• Cynthia Mancini and Judy Watkins helped the costume committee with the costume plot.

• Joyce Ritchkin and Rosary White demonstrated makeup techniques.

This is an ongoing commitment and SCCT members will continue to assist the students in other ways to help ensure successful productions.

Auditioning Workshop

This workshop is for anyone who has always wanted to perform but was afraid of the audition. Directors of traditional productions will assist participants. Two sessions are scheduled – 7 to 9 p.m. May 20 in the Broad and Chechessee River rooms at Pinckney and 10 a.m. to noon May 21 on the dance floor at Pinckney. Contact Carol Wroblewski at 705-2387 or at billandcarol@davtv.com for details.

Follies 2008

Hear, Ye! Hear, Ye! Auditions for Follies 2008 will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 17, and Saturday, May 31, and 12:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 1. A pianist and CD player will be available for musical numbers.

Reservations for the 10-minute audition time slots can be made by calling 705-5942 or by e-mail at joanleng@hargray.com. Walk-ins are welcome but will have to wait their turns. The working title for the Follies is “Showstoppers.” Acts preferred are comedy or light-hearted numbers from Broadway or Hollywood musicals; TV variety shows such as Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca, Danny Kaye, Laugh-in, etc.; or comedy albums such as Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Phyllis Diller, Anne Meara & Jerry Stiller or Mike Nichols & Elaine May. Old-time vaudeville routines and original material relating to Sun City are also encouraged. The directors – Joan Galasso and Larry Della Vecchia – want Follies 2008 to be a rip-roaring, fun-filled evening of entertainment September 4-6. Keep your act to less than three minutes, and each performer is limited to two appearances on stage.

From the Production Chair

Technical: The lighting team has grown under the leadership of Susan Joy Jesella and the management of Duane Thomas. Three lighting workshops were conducted and were well attended by new and experienced lighting personnel.

Some of the newest team members will be doing the lighting of the upcoming monthlies and those with more experience will be given the opportunity to direct the lighting of this summer’s production. An audio workshop was also completed under the direction of Ryan McCurdy (an outside professional responsible for the audio design of Damn Yankees).

Fourteen members who attended the workshops will be given a chance to utilize their newly developed skills in upcoming shows. The workshops are designed to increase member participation in these fields and to reduce some of the load off of a historically small and overworked group of active sound and lighting crews.

Set design, construction, painting: Our thanks again to Gordon Hooper, Joe Bast, their teams and the painters for their wonderful efforts in bringing the set of Damn Yankees to life.

Monthly productions: Special recognition should go to Dom Wasielewski for his role in handling all the production duties for the numerous monthly shows. He and I are also willing to train anyone interested in producing monthly shows.

Thanks, too, to ticket sellers, makeup artists, costumers, publicity, ushers, etc. We have clearly designated departments of personnel assigned to virtually all areas of theatrical endeavor. We could be more efficient, and I will work toward that end. In the meantime, we can be very proud of what we accomplished in 2007 and for the way we’ll meet the challenges of 2008.

                -- Ralph Spiegel

Upcoming Monthly Meetings

June 12.  Our second annual SCCT Club Fair with demonstrations from all theatrical disciplines takes place from 6-7:30 pm with light refreshments, followed by some great entertainment beginning at 7:30 pm. Director, Elba Laino and Cynthia Mancini, have teamed up to present, Suppressed Desires, a comedy sure to be enjoyed by all.

July.  No meeting.

August 14.  Bob Taylor and Esther Rosen will direct four one-acts under the theme: For Better or for Worse. Auditions for these one-acts will be held in June.

News Briefs

The cast has been set and rehearsals are underway for SCCT’s summer production of:

Brigadoon
at Bluffton High School
Performing Arts Center
July 17-19, and July 24-26

Tickets go on sale June 18^th.

Don Olexa is coordinator for SCCT’s “Friends of the Theatre” program, through which our members and patrons may make contributions to the Community Theatre and such activities as our scholarship program at Bluffton High School and upgrades to Magnolia and Pinckney Halls.

Jim Jeffers has recently been appointed as Chairman of SCCT’s Advertisement Program, which encourages local businesses to advertise in our playbills.

Phillip Shuppel has assumed the management duties for the audio team. His counterpart for lighting is Duane Thomas.