Little Bits for Lotsa Laughs

NextStage Readers Theater is proud to announce an upcoming short play festival “Little Bits for Lotsa Laughs. We hope to have these eight plays available to you on YouTube in May.

“Chocolate” - Mrs Colby’s husband has gone missing. But what has this to do with chocolate?

• Mrs. Colby : Sue Ann Guildermann

• Detective : Stephen Phillips

“Gin and Tonic” - Stan inadvertently mistakes the office of a research writer for a senior dating service…

• Olive: Maureen Barber

• Stan: Stephen Phillips

"Hi Tech” - When the TV remote won’t work, a man is shuttled from one person to another trying to solve his problem.

• Wife: Carol Hales

• Man: Terence Courreault

• Recorded voice (s) : Ellen Mazaika

“An Honest Mistake” - Unless you label your mason jars with what’s in them, it is very easy to make a mistake….

• Stan: Scott Kravits

• Madge: Sandi Lewandowski

“Poof” - Be careful or your husband might disappear!

• Loureen: Mary Ann LoBalbo

• Florence: Carol Hales

• Stan: Scott Kravitz

  “Speeding Ticket” - Was she really speeding?

• Starlight : Peggy Courreault

• Officer Brody: Terence Courreault

• Officer Ellen: Christa Taylor

“Rosa’s Eulogy” - A case of mistaken identity

• Rita Wadsworth
  

“Appraisal” - A spoof on Antiques Roadshow.

• Appraisal Expert: Christa Taylor

• Hilda Skook : Shari Gallegos

• Patty Planko : Marigold Fine

• Colleen Kwink : Carole English

NextStage Productions, a Santa Cruz non-profit arts organization specializing in “artful aging" for active adults, presents the production of Bullets on Broadway, a virtual live performance where viewers try to solve the mystery that plays out (via Zoom) at the Opening Night of the musical “Murder in the First.”
 
NextStage presents a killer performance, where you are invited to witness and solve a FUN virtual murder mystery. Attendees of this unique event will watch 20 characters give a reading perform via Zoom on Friday, Sept 26 at 7pm.  A limited number of tickets for this performance are available for $10.
 
Grab a glass of wine and a front row seat at home and explore the clues as they unfold. All will be revealed before the end of the mystery game show presentation.
 
Get your viewing ticket at Brown Paper Tickets and support art-filled aging programs at nextstagegameshow.brownpapertickets.com or NextStageSantaCruz.org.

Storyline: It’s the opening night of the musical Murder in the First on Broadway, and nerves are high. The cast and crew are all a buzz backstage with the excitement of the lights, the sounds - and the dead body of big-shot Broadway Producer. There lies Jack Bialystock, shot in the back on center stage before the curtain could rise.  What will happen? How does this end?

Rescheduled date: Sept 26 at 7pm

Thinking of You - Cards for Isolated Seniors

Dear Friends of NextStage:
 
During these trying times, so many of us can still get out, can still feel the sand under and toes and watch the waves, work in gardens, and general, while it may be limited in our freedom, still experience freedom.
 
But lest we forget, there are many of our fellow seniors who are sitting in one room, or the confines of a facility, who do not have the freedoms we have, and may be suffering from loneliness, isolation and depression with the same walls and the same daily activity (or lack thereof) and the very real fear of this cruel virus.
 
We can do something to bring a smile to the faces of our seniors who are in hospitals, senior homes, and health care facilities, by sending them cards and letters of encouragement, friendship and hope.
 
Join me in reaching out; join me in bringing a smile to someone’s face, let them know they are not forgotten and are held in our hearts – join NextStage’s campaign of sending letters, cards and notes to those who are facility-bound.  Working with FSA Family Service Agency, Next Stage will gather all the cards/notes and send or provide these to facilities where they will make such a difference
Spread cheer, make a difference.
 
We’re all in this together.
Hugs,
Risa Lower, Board President
 

Zoom Classes Forming

NextStage Productions is looking for interested 50+ year old participants to engage in fun, interactive classes on Zoom.  NextStage is a non-profit performing arts organization specializing in “artful aging” for active adults. With the current environment & restrictions, we are lucky to have Zoom as an excellent space for playing and performing Monologues (develop & presentation of short original/play monologues), Script in Hand Theatre (reading plays aloud while practicing “getting into character”) and Writing Courses, to name a few options.  The cost will be nominal based on the number of participants.  These classes will be given on Zoom by teachers with extensive backgrounds in the performing arts & teaching.  

This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy, engage, and enrich our lives with like-minded individuals without having to leave the protective comfort of your home.  The courses will be given weekly for a number of weeks depending on the class.  Check out NextStage Productions website: www.nextstagesantacruz.org to find out more about this non-profit in service to the community empowering 50+ year old students with creative expression.

Please respond to Marian Brown @ marian_brown@hotmail.com, directly if you are interested in taking a NextStage Productions class starting around mid-August 2020. We are currently trying to figure out the numbers to see if these classes will be doable as we pay our teachers for their time & talents.

Thank you and hopefully we will “see” you soon!  

**Zoom tutorials can be offered via phone or online before the classes begin to ensure you will be able to attend the classes.

**You do not have to be a resident of Santa Cruz County to participate!

Reader's Theater and Radio Shows

NextStage Productions is looking for actors to perform short plays, monologues and radio shows.  The rehearsals will be on Zoom and final presentation will be recorded for YouTube and made public.  Down the road, it would be hoped that we could perform these plays and monologues in front of an audience.

NextStage is an organization with a mission to engage, educate and enrich the lives of active adults fifty years and older through creative arts experiences.  Pre-Covid we were running drumming classes for those with Parkinson’s, Story Telling for patients with Alzheimers and performing musical revues for those in assisted living facilities as well as for private parties and corporate  events, which we plan to continue when the time is right. Post Covid we have produced our first Readers Theater with seven short plays.

Readers Theater encompasses short plays, skits, monologue presentations and Radio Shows (similar to Readers Theater but without visuals). This activity is new for NSP and is a new outreach program that we are looking to grow and develop.  We need your help. We need volunteer actors as well as anyone with radio experience or technical background to assist with actual production.

Volunteers are also needed for outreach to the community through this newsletter and our website blog. If you enjoy writing, and like our programs please contact us, as we need help. We are also looking for new plays, monologues and an editor for this newsletter, using Mail Chimp. Email contact: info@nextstagesantacruz.org