NextStage Presidents Message 10/2021
By Kathryn Adkins
The Autumnal equinox has come and gone. Night grows longer than day. We want to begin our winter hibernation. But NO! NextStage participants resist the pull inward and now prepare to step out into the “new normal”. If you are vaccinated and wear a mask, you are ready to take that step forward into rehearsals and performances or working with People Living with Parkinson’s.
At the May “Party in the Parking Lot” and the July Fundraiser for the Parkinson’s program at El Vaquero, we felt the energy, we felt the joy, and we are ready to move forward!
New classes are meeting in the Parkinson’s Program on Monday mornings. NSP Players are rehearsing small cast November shows for senior residences. Mark your calendar for the outdoor full-cast performance, “Singing for the NextStage” November 20 or 21 (details to come).
The new Media Team will keep you informed through: newsletter, community paper, radio announcements and social media.
The new and energetic NextStage board is working to help all of you find your next stage. WE NEED YOU!!! Check out the calendar and join the fun.
New Leader Biographies
CAROL HALES Training as apprentice sound technician. I’ve been in Next Stage a while, love it. Also am in the Choraliers and the Follies. Have always sung. Studied Anthropology and watched monkeys in the Caribbean before I became a nurse. Worked labor and delivery for 28 years. Enjoy time with my 3 grandkids and 4 dogs and 2 cats. Love to go places and nowadays I’m going around town delivering food for grub hub.
LINDA JOHNSON We now have a NextStage Marketing Director who will coordinate our profile and information that goes out to the public. Linda Johnson brings vast experience in marketing for various tech companies as well as small businesses. She has worked as a marketing coordinator and will bring these talents to NSP.
CLAIRE PAUL brings her experience as an event planner and a Threshold Choir singer in many of our venues to her new role as booking agent for Next Stage. She also has produced many musical concerts for her band, the Healer Trio, and her duo with husband Jerry, the Bear Hugs. Her musical bio includes a cappella groups, jazz singers, an Andrews Sisters style trio, Mount Madonna Choir, Full Spectrum Chorus, Pacific Voices, and Amica women’s choral collective. She is also a management consultant and trainer, and former speech teacher at Cabrillo.
PHYLLIS PETROCELLI I was born and raised in Santa Cruz, and in a wonderful relationship for the last 12 years I am a proud mother of two wonderful daughters and have two beautiful granddaughters. Have been doing bookkeeping for 50 years and very happy to be a part of Next Stage Productions.
SUZANNE SKERNESS is a RN who recently retired after 41 years of experience in healthcare. The last 30 years were spent in management at health plans, cancer care, palliative care, hospital utilization management and home health. I have lived in Aptos since 2011 and enjoy traveling, gardening, hiking, entertaining and cooking for friends and family. Now that I am retired, I am looking forward to using the right side of her brain.
CHRISTA TAYLOR Music and travel have sculpted my life. Born into a military family, one day I got curious and counted the number of schools I could remember attending..28!..finally completing my education at San Jose State University in the early ‘70’s. I ran a music store there, and fell into becoming a DJ at KLRB in Carmel in 1974, one of the first FM free form radio stations in the country. My radio career continued with KFAT, KPIG and many more including Hawaii and Nevada until 2005, as well as the Strawberry Music Festival which I continue to enjoy. Introduced to Next Stage Productions in 2014, I have enjoyed singing, acting and working with others to create works of joy and laughter, the things that keep us young!