Tag Archive for: #hendersonrecplayers

Henderson Rec Players Mark 52nd Year

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The 2024 season of Henderson Rec Players is all set, providing a variety of performances that spans pop culture and American classics sure to please all audiences.

First up as part of the 52nd year of HRP is The SpongeBob Musical, directed by Mark Hopper. Those underwater citizens of Bikini Bottom, featuring that iconic Big Yellow Sponge, must come together to save their world. The show features original music by greats Steven Tyler, John Legend, David Bowie and Cyndi Lauper, among others.

There will be five performances over two weekends July 12-14 and July 20-21.

The second production is the culmination of the Children’s theater Camp, which will be held July 22-Aug. 4. Rising 3rd – 11th graders are invited to participate in the camp to create Alice In Wonderland JR. This production is a fast-paced take on the Lewis Carroll classic. You’ll recognize Alice, the White Rabbit, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and more live on stage. Jo Ellen Nowell directs this show.

There will be three performances during Aug. 2-4.

The season finale brings Arthur Miller’s The Crucible to the stage for four performances Aug. 22-25. The playwright wrote the script in 1953 as a response to the wave of McCarthyism sweeping across the country. The story takes place during the time of the Salem With Trials in 1692 and 1693. Dustin Britt is the director of this production.

Tickets for each show are available at the McGregor Hall box office Monday-Friday 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. or you can register and pay online at www.mcgregorhall.org/hrppatrons. Call the box office at 252.598.0662.

There also are opportunities to be a patron of the Henderson Rec Players:

  • Cherubs – $125 – 1 ticket for each of the three shows
  • Angels – $250 – 2 3-show tickets
  • Archangels – $350 – 4 3-show tickets
  • Seraphim $550 – 6 3-show tickets
  • Saints – $750+ – 8+ 3-show tickets

Purchase of patron tickets ensures preferential seating for each show. Make checks payable to:

McGregor Hall PAC. Patrons payments should be received no later than July 1 for patrons’ names to be included in the play programs.

TownTalk: Seussical Jr. And Other Productions Coming To McGregor Hall

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Got a budding actor living under your roof who may be looking to hone some skills this summer? McGregor Hall Executive Director Mark Hopper said this season’s Henderson Rec Players productions may be just the place to start.

Young people ages 8-16 are invited to a May 9 meeting, at 7 p.m., to learn more about Seussical, Jr., the culmination of a two-week-long children’s theater camp set for June 12-25.

This year marks the third year for the children’s camp, which Hopper said had been a long time coming. “That was a dream for a long time,” he said on Monday’s TownTalk.

Whether it’s acting, singing or helping behind the scenes, youngsters will get an immersive experience in what goes on to bring a production to the stage.

And the price – $50 for the two weeks – is right, Hopper said, to allow more children to come and take part.

Learn more about Seussical, Jr. and the other shows that the Rec Players will perform during the 51st season at www.mcgregorhall.org.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Cast Your Vote Through Dec. 31 For McGregor Hall, Rec Players In BroadwayWorld Raleigh Awards

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McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center and the Henderson Rec Players have been nominated for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Raleigh Awards which recognizes regional productions.

Now it’s up to you, the voting public, to cast your vote! It’s simple, free, and takes just a few minutes of your time. One vote can be cast per email address, according to awards guidelines.

Voting continues through Dec. 31, 2022 and winners will be announced in January.

McGregor Hall and the Henderson Rec Players combined for a total of 28 nominations, in categories that range from actors and supporting actors to direction and stage design. Find the link to vote – and a sample ballot – at the McGregor Hall website, https://www.mcgregorhall.org/

Aug. 13 Gala To Celebrate 50 Years Of Live, Local Theater By Henderson Rec Players

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Fifty of just about anything is a lot. Chaperoning 50 children on a field trip is a lot and so is 50 miles ‘til the next rest area when you’re traveling along the interstate.

But 50 years of providing live local theater is a special milestone that the community joins the Henderson Rec Players in celebrating this summer.

And there’s a special gala event scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 13 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration. The gala begins at 6:45 p.m. – before the 8 p.m. performance of “The Fantasticks,” the final play of this golden anniversary season.

Tickets are on sale now for the play, which opens Friday, Aug. 12. In addition to the two evening performances, the Sunday, Aug. 14 matinee begins at 2 p.m.

Tickets for the gala are $50 each, which includes an opening reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres, one show ticket, dessert after the show and a backstage tour of HRP memorabilia.

“The Fantasticks,” was also the final show of the 1972 season.

Call the box office 252.598.0662 or visit www.mcgregorhall.org/

TownTalk: Great Shows A Part Of Rec Players’ 50th Anniversary

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The seats in McGregor Hall are a little more comfortable – ok, a lot more comfortable – than those hard, wooden seats in the E.M. Rollins auditorium. But once the house lights dimmed, the audience settled in to those wooden seats to enjoy another performance by the Henderson Rec Players.

This year, the Rec Players celebrate 50 years of bringing live theater to the area. There have been some changes since that first season in the summer of 1972, but not that many. Just ask Tommy Nowell – he’s been around for each and every one.

Nowell said he graduated high school in June 1972 and it was June 1972 when the first rehearsals started. He said a few years ago he’d counted up, and reckons he’s “spent somewhere like 25 years of my life at the auditorium of E.M. Rollins.”

He and Jo Ellen Nowell spoke with John C. Rose on Tuesday’s TownTalk about this season’s shows, as well as the importance of introducing children to the theater arts.

The first production is Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” which will run from June 23-26.

“A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” is scheduled for early July, followed by a children’s production of “Frozen Jr.” Capping off the season’s offerings is “The Fantasticks,” which will be performed Aug. 12-14.

Dwight Pearce was the group’s first director, and Jo Ellen Nowell said she co-directed “Bye, Bye Birdie” with Pearce in 2002. After that collaboration, Pearce was able to retire knowing that he’d successfully passed the baton. She has served as primary director since 2003.

“Right around that same time,” Jo Ellen said, “we were so fortunate that Mark Hopper came to town” and began working with the Rec Players to direct his first show – “The Wizard of Oz” – in 2003.

Dustin Britt will direct “Our Town,” Jo Ellen will direct “Forum” and Hopper will take the reins for “The Fantasticks.”

Audience members will have an up-close and person vantage point for “Our Town,” Jo Ellen said, because the audience also will be located on the stage.

Tommy said the seating will create almost a theater-in-the-round experience, making it intimate and different.

“You get a lot of energy from the audience when you’re that close,” he said.

“Forum,” with music by the late Stephen Sondheim, has two weekend runs – July 8-10 and 16-17.

“It is a flat-out comedy,” Jo Ellen said, “and fairly politically incorrect – it should be very interesting.” This production will have a full orchestra.

And the final production of the season is “The Fantasticks,” which includes a 4-piece orchestra. This season finale is special for Nowell and for Hopper – “It is Mark’s and my favorite musical ever,” he said.

The Rec Players have not shied away from performing long-running Broadway shows like “The Fantasticks” and others that have great lasting power. The company sticks to much of the traditional production, but feels free “to put our own twist” in the performances.

“You want to do shows that will appeal to the most people,” Tommy said.

That may be one reason why the children’s theatre camp will perform Frozen Jr.

Cindy Clark will conduct the two-week camp in July, culminating in a July 31 rendition of the blockbuster Disney movie.

“A lot of these children can sing the songs already,” Jo Ellen noted. During the first week or more of the camp, the young people will be learning about the theater, how it works and the different technical aspects that go along with a production.

“It’s a really great learning experience for the kids,” she said. The last part of the camp will be performing the show at McGregor Hall.  The camp runs from July 18-31. Performances are scheduled for July 29-31.

Education is an integral part of what the Rec Players is all about. “We need to expose the arts to our children,” she said. “We need to teach it to them and teach them to love it, because they are the ones to carry it forward.”

The casting calls are less about auditioning and more about finding a way to include anybody who wants to be a part of a production, she said.

Tommy said there’s just something about being part of a production that, once you’ve experienced it, stays with you.

Just ask Robert Peace. He called in to the show to express his thanks for the Rec Players and bringing live theater to the community. He said he participated in the Rec Players in the late 1970’s and enjoyed every moment. “I just fell in love with theater,” he said, adding that he continued to find ways to tap in to theater during the next 15 years or so when he was in the military.

“This is great what you guys are going,” he said to the Nowells. “Kids get a feel for this and it just stays with you. I still love it to this day.”

Purchase season tickets by calling 252.598.0662 or visit www.mcgregorhall.org.

The deadline to become a season patron is June 21.

CLICK PLAY!

“Godspell” Returns To Stage This Weekend For Saturday, Sunday Shows

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The cast and crew of Godspell will return to the stage this weekend and McGregor Hall operations director Mark Hopper said response from the actors and from the community couldn’t have been better.

The three shows scheduled for last weekend have been combined into two shows – one Saturday at 8 p.m. and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. “Our patrons and ticket holders have been amazingly understanding,” Hopper said in a statement to WIZS News Thursday. He said each person was contacted and, out of all the ticketholders, only one requested a refund.

Tickets from the cancelled shows will be honored at the upcoming performances, and those who would have attended the Friday show were offered seats for Saturday or Sunday.

The second weekend run was cancelled because a show member tested positive for COVID-19. Hopper said all others tested negative.

“It was like moving mountains to postpone the shows,” Hopper said, adding that dozens of members of cast, crew and orchestra had to shuffle schedules to be available for the additional performances.

“I’ve never in my career had a show go dark for two weeks, so this is uncharted territory for me,” Hopper said. There will be a rehearsal Thursday and then a dress rehearsal on Friday. “They have been consummate professionals, and I just couldn’t ask anything more of them,” he said.

The show got a “glowing review” from Triangle Arts and Entertainment. See it here: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2021/08/godspell-in-henderson-boasts-an-exemplary-cast-an-imaginative-director-peppy-dances-and-a-glorious-band/

Town Talk 05/20/20: Henderson Rec Players ‘Family’ Will Pull Through Difficult Year

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

Husband and wife team Tommy and Jo Ellen Nowell, along with son Matt, all heavily involved with the Henderson Rec Players and McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Wednesday at 11 a.m.

The Nowells spoke about the Henderson Rec Players’ recent decision to cancel its 2020 summer season – the first break since its conception in 1972 – while also remembering the good times of the past and looking ahead to the future.

Jo Ellen, director of the Henderson Rec Players for 19 years, explained that canceling this year’s season was actually a perfect storm that included issues with obtaining performance rights and paying required royalties, along with complications from the coronavirus pandemic.

“Several of the rental houses in New York were going through a merger when we attempted to get rights to the productions in the winter. We were told they were tied up with the merger and requests were on the backburner,” said Jo Ellen. “When the virus struck, rental houses were busy with cancelations and transfers and requests continued to be on the backburner.”

Between issues with obtaining rights and restrictions on physically congregating for auditions, rehearsals and performances thanks to COVID-19, Jo Ellen lamented, “put all these things together and that’s why we had to make the decision to postpone.”

Since planning began for the 2020 season in the winter of 2019, and requests for production rights had already been made, Jo Ellen is hopeful that the Henderson Rec Players are now ahead of the game for the 2021 summer season.

Discussing the history of the Rec Players, Tommy, the former technical director and still an integral part of each production, said he has been involved with the group for 48 years. In talking “Henderson Rec Players All-Stars,” Tommy said he had to start with Chuck Grubbs, then the head of the Vance County Recreation and Parks Department, and Dwight Pearce, a now-retired local English and drama teacher and former mayor of Norlina.

“Chuck had the concept that recreation is more than a bat and a ball; recreation includes theatre and the arts,” said Tommy. “He and Dwight put their heads together and came up with the concept of the Rec Players.”

For all but the last few years, Rec Players’ performances were held in the E.M. Rollins Elementary School auditorium. That changed when McGregor Hall opened its doors with a state-of-the-art, 1,000-seat theatre in 2016.

The Henderson Rec Players, previously under the jurisdiction of the City and County via the Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Department, was incorporated as part of McGregor Hall last year. Matt Nowell, technical director for McGregor Hall, explained that it was “always part of the plan” for the Rec Players to eventually fall under the umbrella of the performing arts center.

Jo Ellen said this change has allowed for more space and an even greater inclusivity for all those interested in theatre. “We are inclusive is so many ways and are one of the few programs open to all ages. It’s great for children to see other children, teenagers and adults all working together and learning from each other. We work with all cultures and all abilities. We do not turn anybody away, ever.”

The Nowells are proud of the fact that many involved in the Rec Players have made theatre or the arts their profession. “So many of the people who have worked with the Henderson Rec Players in the past have gone on from this area to have professional careers. One of the best examples is Bobby Funk who is now a drama professor at East Tennessee State University. Another alumnus is the technical director of the Miami City Ballet,” Jo Ellen said.

With a lengthy hiatus looming, Tommy said he hopes people will reflect on what local theatre has meant to the community.

“I’m hoping people will take this time to realize what they are missing by not having us. There’s an old adage: ‘How can I miss you if you won’t go away?’ Perhaps people will realize that this is a pretty unique thing we have going on here, and the support of the community is absolutely essential.”

The Nowells are humbled by the response they have received from the community since their cancellation announcement and have been touched by those who have reached out in support and gratitude for their time with the group.

“The Henderson Rec Players is a family,” Tommy said. “In a 40 to 50 year period of time, people come in and people go out, but you’re always part of the family.”

Matt echoed that sentiment, “Our mission has always been to entertain the community, but it has also been to provide a place for people who may not feel that they have a place anywhere else.”

To hear the interview with the Nowells in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.

Henderson Rec Players Cancels Summer Season; McGregor Hall Opens Phone Lines

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

The McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center recently provided updates regarding the Henderson Rec Players’ 2020 Summer Season and the opening of the center’s phone lines.

Henderson Rec Players 

In an effort to protect our beloved actors and patrons, the summer season of the Henderson Rec Players has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While we are sad to see this break in a nearly 50-year tradition in our community, be assured that this is a temporary pause, and the Rec Players will be back to entertain and provide a creative outlet for all ages as soon as it is safe to do so.

Stay strong and we look forward to shining the spotlight on our local talent again very soon.

McGregor Hall Phone Lines

As Phase One of North Carolina’s Road to Re-Opening begins, we are excited to announce that McGregor Hall’s office phone lines are opening again.

Phone lines are now open Monday through Friday from 1:30 – 5:30 p.m. You can reach McGregor Hall at (252) 598-0662.

Our Box Office will remain closed to the public for the safety of our patrons and employees until June 1, 2020.

Thank you, once more, for your support during this difficult time. We look forward to speaking with you and seeing all of you soon!

WIZS is in talks with Henderson Rec Players and McGregor Hall representatives to bring you a special edition of Town Talk next week. Please stay tuned to WIZS for more details.

Henderson Rec Players to Present ‘Guys and Dolls’ at McGregor Hall

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-Information courtesy McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center

The McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center, 201 Breckenridge St. in Henderson, will feature “Guys and Dolls” as presented by the Henderson Rec Players on the following dates:

Friday, July 5, 2019, @ 8 p.m.

Saturday, July 6, 2019, @ 8 p.m.

Sunday, July 7, 2019, @ 2 p.m.

Friday, July 12, 2019, @ 8 p.m.

Saturday, July 13, 2019, @ 2 p.m.

Part of the Rosemyr Corporation Henderson Rec Players 2019 Season –

“Guys and Dolls” tells the story of a couple of big New York City gamblers and the women who love them. With music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, this energetic show features the hit songs “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” “Luck, Be a Lady,” and “Bushel and a Peck.”

Tickets may be purchased by:

DROP IN: 201 Breckenridge Street, Henderson, N.C. Monday – Friday 1:30 – 5:30 p.m

CALL: (252) 598-0662 (M-F 1:30 – 5:30 p.m.)

CLICK HERE: www.McGregorHall.org  (Use the eTix official site, online fees apply)

(This is not a paid advertisement)

Henderson Rec Players Announces Summer Show Auditions

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-Information courtesy McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center

The Henderson Rec Players, now under the umbrella of the McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center, announces its summer show auditions will be held Saturday, May 11, 2019. Auditions begin at 10 a.m. and will be held at First Baptist Church of Henderson – 205 W. Winder St. (across from McGregor Hall). 

Audition for a role in “Guys & Dolls,” “Disney’s The Lion King Jr.,” and Neil Simon’s stage play, “Rumors.” All those auditioning will be asked to read lines from the script. No prepared pieces will be necessary.

“Disney’s The Lion King Jr.” is part of a summer theatre camp experience for rising 3rd – 11th graders. Click here for more information on the Summer Theatre Camp for Kids.

“Guys and Dolls” will be performed July 5-7 and 12-13 under the direction of Jo Ellen Nowell. “Disney’s The Lion King Jr.” will be directed by Cindy Clark and performed July 15-28.

“Rumors” will round out the Henderson Rec Players 46th summer season with performances August 9-11. The show will be directed by Betsy Henderson.

To learn more about auditions and the upcoming shows, please visit https://www.mcgregorhall.org/auditions.

The Henderson Rec Players Summer Series is proudly presented by the Rosemyr Corporation.