Bravo and Cheers

Presidents Letter - December 2025

Tis the season to be Jolly. So true.  But for me, it’s also the season to be awed and enlightened. The NextStage players led by Cat Hampton and Kathryn Adkins outdid themselves with this year’s production of the Holiday show, Silver and Gold.  It was an incredibly enjoyable hour of holiday song and humor.  What blows me away though is the amount of not just talent but dedication, time, and effort that these productions entail.  Director Cat Hampton was masterful in her direction, but she also wrote the play and arranged the music. Plus, she and her husband Larry provided the accompanying harp and drum and were responsible for the amazing set design!!!  When prop master Shari Gallegos was injured, the cast seamlessly took on her responsibilities.

The entire production was possible because of the commitment made by 14 seniors.  I can barely walk around the block, yet they spent days and hours creating the sets and costumes, memorizing lines and songs, and rehearsing. They then added several more hours and days traveling and hauling all the staging and costumes to eight different senior living facilities.  Most of us have friends or family whose season became merrier and brighter because of the dedication and talent of our NextStage players.

My heartfelt admiration and thanks go to the following people who spread so much Christmas joy: Catherine Hampton, Larry Hampton, Kathryn Adkins, Ellen Mazaika, Christa Taylor, Lisa Carter, Lee Ann Gray, Carol Hales, Carolyn Crocker, Nancy Samsel, Claire Paul, Carol Bravo, Alan Gabel, and Jim Healey

Bravo and Cheers to NextStage Players!!!!!!

- Jan Maack

p.s.  Don’t get me started on what it takes behind the scenes to secure a venue, make posters and ads, arrange for insurance… I don’t think there’s enough room for all of it, but believe me, if you have skills in any of these areas or want to try your hand at any of them, you would be eagerly welcomed.

Spotlight on Cat Hampton

Cat Hampton has burst into NextStage with enthusiasm, creativity and talent! Many of us met her at last year's Storytelling when she told about a very transformational experience while playing her Irish harp in a Children's Hospital. She stole our hearts again this year telling us about becoming a "dog person" when she and her husband Larry adopted their adorable beagle, Lilly. And this holiday season she wrote, directed, choreographed, designed the costumes, and collaborated with Larry to design the set for NextStage's Holiday Show, Silver & Gold. And topped that all off by acting, singing and playing harp in the show!

Amazing, because she has learned so much on her own. She has always loved music. Her father was a jazz musician and so there was always music in their house. As a child she did some lessons in piano, clarinet and voice. Cat had heard someone playing the Irish harp, and decided she wanted to learn, so she could accompany herself singing. She bought her harp and a "teach yourself harp in 12 lessons" book, and taught herself how to play. 

In Southern California, she started accompanying puppet shows at the Marie Hitchcock theater in Balboa Park, and soon added narration and storytelling to her repertoire, performing at local libraries. Moving  to Northern California, she found the perfect job when she was hired by Shari Gallegos to be the Amesti Elementary School librarian. She had so much creative freedom there, telling stories and making up fun games to engage the children.

She has always been intrigued by the creative process and was looking for more creative outlets. She started writing plays when her husband Larry was working in San Francisco. She joined a play writing class when she didn't know anyone in the area and found out "I have a lot stored up to say!" She found another great book on playwriting and the stories started flowing from her.  She delights in creating characters, conversations and stories. She is now very active with an online playwriting and acting group.

Her inspiration for Silver and Gold was wanting to create a sense of magic of the season. More than just a musical review show, she wanted to tell a story, and to give the cast a chance to shine and grow themselves. She opened the show with the Solstice song, because she wanted to create in the audience the warm feelings we seek when the days grow shorter and the nights can seem so long. But she also wanted to create something fun. As a writer, one of her most rewarding experiences is when people laugh at the humor in her lines. And they did!

Cat loves all aspects of her self-taught journey of creative discovery - she loves performing, acting, playing the harp, singing and writing. Mostly she loves people coming together to create something that is magical and fun. Such a great addition to our NextStage team! 

2025 Year-End Donation Appeal

Dear Friends,

November brings to mind thankfulness, being grateful for all we have, for family and friends, and the gifts of community.  I am deeply grateful for your presence and support of NextStage Productions. 

I am so proud to be a member of NextStage Productions.  This incredible organization, completely staffed by volunteers, has been in existence for eleven years now, and it is donors that keep our programs thriving.  Donors are the main support for the shows and productions that enrich the lives of so many seniors.  It is donors who support the many public entertainment and education events that we bring to the community. It is donors that support the health and wellness of seniors living with Parkinsons by helping to fund the Taiko Drumming program. 

We are a nonprofit organization and are extremely grateful for every dollar we receive through donations.  Please consider continuing your generosity with a year-end donation to NextStage Productions.  You may donate on our website: http://nextstagesantacruz.org/stripe-donation-page. 

NextStage/Next steps: Shuffle, Ball-change!

Shuffle, Ball-Change! Those words come straight from Tap dance and they are so appropriate as we begin our next 10 years on July 1.

NextStage Productions is ready to SHUFFLE and add new board members and volunteers ready to build creative energy and add exciting new programs

BALL-CHANGE is the fall-back step followed by a lively step forward. Carole English, past president, and her Gala team put together a wonderful Anniversary gathering.  We reunited with so many NextStage friends and founders and looked back at 10 years. “Hats Off” to Lynn Knudsen, supreme Tap dancer, visionary and ball of energy that created NextStage Productions. It was wonderful to celebrate with you and all our friends.

Now it’s time to take the step forward into the next decades and make the necessary changes required to continue as an organization. That includes finding new board members. We must fill empty positions in order to keep our 501c3 standing and you, our membership, know how important our mission is to ENGAGE, EDUCATE AND EMPOWER through the expressive arts. Let’s meet for lunch or coffee to discover what role is meant for you. We can create shared positions. No one is expected to “carry the load”.

We ask each of you to think of what NextStage Productions has meant for you and graciously consider becoming a member of the board. Contact 408-357-0640.

COME BE A PART OF THE TEAM!!!  Without you we become a footnote in history.

- Kathryn Adkins

NextStage 10 Year Anniversary Gala

After months of planning, the day finally arrived!  April 17th, NextStage celebrated its tenth anniversary with a Gala, held at the Seascape Golf Club. This was an opportunity to not only celebrate our past achievements, but to recognize and honor those who worked so hard to found NextStage. 

Nancy Maley, Jeremy Griffey, Carole English 

Lynn Knudsen, a dynamo of a woman, and her friends Mary Roitz, Kathryn Adkins and Carole English, took ideas gleaned from an Oakland based group called Stagebridge, and together, created NextStage. They wanted to create a place where those over the age of fifty-five, could learn, practice performance skills and take musical revues out to those living in retirement
communities.

Terence Courreault, Catt Porter, Ron Locey “Three of a Kind”

Valerie Arno, Maggie Pierce, Stan Grindstaff, Ellen Mazaika, Patrick True 
Perform from a previous show, “Razzle Dazzle”

Taking shows “on the road” has always set NextStage apart from other senior performing groups and it continues to be committed to that program.
 
Looking back over the years, NextStage can be proud of what it has accomplished. It has been able to provide musical entertainment throughout the year, with solo or duet singers, a large cast musical revues, a July4th Patriotic show, a children’s show performed in the schools, and a special holiday show at the end of every year. During Covid, Readers Theater was created, allowing over fifty performers acted out twenty seven plays on Zoom complete with costumes and props! Post-Covid, those plays have now gone live with ten performances each year for the past three years.

Maureen Barber, one of the original players

Ellen Mazaika, Maggie Piece, Brian Heath (now 93), Catt Porter, Terence Coureault
– some of the original Beatles Cast.

NextStage’s Taiko Drumming Program for those with Parkinson’s disease, continues to be very successful and much enjoyed by many weekly participants. NextStage has even taken a favorite children’s’ play, Piggie Pie, and performed in fantastic, wonderful costumes, at various schools in the area.

Parkinson participants with leader Ellen Mazaika

Around one hundred and ten guests made the effort to attend the Gala. It was simply wonderful to reconnect with some players who had not been seen since before Covid.
 
Everyone was delighted that Lynn, our visionary and founder, was able to drive up from southern California, to celebrate with everyone. Lynn spent fourteen years  on Broadway, dancing and tapping her way to Fosse music and that spirit continues to live in her even at 83 years of age!  

Lynn Kundsen (original founder age 83 ) and Mary Roitz (a co-founder age 91)

NextStage is  continuing Lynn’s vision and wish she could be with us for our next projects. We have a class coming up “Voice for any Age,” an Open Mic to support Veterans and starring many of our NSP players (May 11) and an acting class later in the spring.  In the Fall, NextStage will have a second annual Storytelling class and performance and then it will be time to rehearse for the annual holiday show.

Terence Coureault and Janet Mastropietro. Terence has been with NSP since the beginning and is our musical maestro for most of our traveling shows.

Faith Zack (our social media wizard), Kathryn Adkins, (President) Colleen Stobbe (secretary extraordinaire) Risa Lower, co leader of Parkinson’s Program, grant writer and official photographer.

We have so much to be grateful for and so much to anticipate going forward.  Please join us for one or all of the forthcoming activities.