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Show Qfetic&u. , " , m,ZL.rr r Pleasant Grove Players Celebrate 30 Year Anniversary PlUIiNl CRQYl PLAYERS ; !. PRESENT f A A w; wvffWkA ? ""wsj , V by: . 1LARRYS1IUE t DIRECTED BY: a" HOWARDS J ' ' i -i KATHRYN LITTLE i i r - j. . ...sat: i .utile Theater :!i-..TLiiiRMKttT WWW.rGPLAYCvS.CCI.1 FtEASANr Gkove INFO LINE: 801-922-4324 by Verdon Walker The Pleasant Grove Players Play-ers will celebrate their 30th anniversary by bringing back two of their most popular shows, "The Foreigner" this Spring and "Arsenic and Old Lace" in the Fall. Larry Shue's hilarious comedy, "The Foreigner," will run from April 1 8 to May 12 with shows on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a Saturday matinee at 3:00 p.m on May 10. Howard and Kathryn Little are, directing direct-ing this production. "The Foreigner" tells the story of Charlie, a pathologically pathologi-cally shy and proper Englishman English-man who has a fear of speaking speak-ing to strangers. Charlie is brought by his friend, "Froggy," "Frog-gy," to a fishing lodge in rural Georgia, where Froggy tells everyone that Charlie is a foreigner for-eigner who doesn't understand a word of English! Soon, everyone ev-eryone is fussing over and confiding in Charlie, including Betty, the kindly caretaker of this lodge; Catherine, a beautiful beau-tiful debutante engaged to be married; Ellard, her sweet but slow brother; and David, the minister to whom Catherine is betrothed. Charlie quickly discovers that all is not what it seems at the lodge and must somehow save the day without revealing his cover! Tickets are $10 for adults and $9 for students and seniors ($1 less for the matinee.) For more information or to order tickets, visit us on the web at pgplayers.com. The Pleasant Grove Players Play-ers was founded in 1984 by Keith Christeson. After retiring retir-ing from Geneva Steel, Keith dedicated himself to the arts in Pleasant Grove both as a member of the city council and as the founder of the PG Players. Play-ers. Keith had already enjoyed performing in several local productions. With the demise of live theater at the Alham-bra Alham-bra Theater on Main Street, Keith with encouragement from Mayor David Holdaway started the players to help fill the void. Early shows were performed per-formed at both the junior high and high school and included "The Bad Seed ('85)," "You Can't Take It With You ('87)," and "The Man Who Came to Dinner ('90)." In the summer of 1986, the players started doing summer musicals in connection with the city's annual an-nual Strawberry Days festivities. festivi-ties. Early musicals included, "Camelot ('86)," "Finian's Rainbow ('87)," and "Kiss Me, Kate ('88)." After the library was built in 1988, the players found a home which has served them well for 25 years. The first show performed in the library auditorium audito-rium was "See How They Run ('89)." The second was "On Golden Pond ('89)" which was the first production featuring Dennis Purdie who quickly became be-came a crowd favorite and will be performing with the players play-ers for the 32nd time in "The Foreigner." C. Michael Perry, who was the drama teacher at PGHS, directed those shows as well as many of the early plays and musicals for the players. When Mike moved to Spanish Fork High School, Keith began to direct many of the shows. In fact, Keith pretty much did it all: acting, directing, direct-ing, producing, advertising, set building, securing props and anything else that was required including funding the players largely from his own generosity. generos-ity. Keith retired from the players in 1998. His swan song was playing Norman in "On Golden Pond" for the 3rd time ('89, '93 & '98.) Keith's good friend, Dennis Purdie, played Norman in a special tribute to Keith in 2008 to recognize the five year anniversary of Keith's death in 2002 (show was originally scheduled in 2007, but rights could not be secured until 2008.) Keith turned to Karlene Young to lead the players when he stepped down. She did so until 2004. Verdon Walker, Jr. served as chairman of the board from 2004-2007. Luone Ingram has served as chairman of the board from 2007 until the present. Eldon Randall directed a number of shows during Karlene and Verdon's tenure. Since 2004, Howard and Kathryn Little have directed most of the shows for the PG Players. The PG Players perform two shows per year in the library auditorium which is now called "The Keith Christeson Theater" in honor of their founder. The city bestowed be-stowed that honor on Keith in a special ceremony on May 7, 1 999 to recognize his tireless devotion to the city of Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove as well as the arts. Other favorite shows over the years have included includ-ed " Harvey ('05 & '13)," "Play On! ('03 & '13)," "The Mousetrap ('90 & '01)," "The Odd Couple ('92 & '07)," "Over the River and Through the. Woods ('06)," "The Foreigner For-eigner ('OOjb?.' & ' 14)," and "Arsenic and Old Lace ('06 &'14)." |
