Casting Call!

Are you ready to be a star?  Do you like to make people laugh and have fun too? High Desert Community Theater will be holding auditions for our spring production January 17^th at Culver City Hall and 18^th at the Senior Center in Madras, at 6 p.m.  both nights.  Please come join us!  

Auditions are open to anyone and everyone interested, if you have prior acting experience terrific, if not that's ok too!  Our troupe is full of actors of all experience levels and each play we have done has included an actor or actors with no prior experience, just a willingness to have fun and learn a new talent!  

Fall production HUGE success!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us on our 1st Fall production!  Love thy Neighbor by Gary Ray Stapp was a huge success!  Congratulations to all of our cast members, you knocked their socks off.

As the president and vice president of the Guild it was Steve's and my great pleasure to shake hands and thank the audience for their support following each performance.  In summary I can tell you that providing the community this nearly lost art form is not only greatly appreciated, they absolutely enjoyed every minute and are anxiously awaiting our next production.

Here are just a few of the wonderful comments we heard.

"Thank you so much, it was absolutely terrific!",  "What a performance!  You guys did a wonderful job!",  "You had me on the edge of my seat, I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next!",  "I'm a pretty sharp guy and Maw & Bambi had me completely fooled!",  "I laughed so hard my throat hurts!",  "That was really funny!",  "We look forward to every production, please keep bringing this to our community!",  "I liked it so much I had to come back, and I brought two friends with me!".

Our goal is to provide two productions a year, one in the Fall and one in the Spring.  It takes a large effort to pull off a full scale production like this, both on the stage and behind the scenes.  We need you!  There are many ways to help, acting, directing, set and stage design, props and costume gathering, handing out playbills on performance nights, refreshments, sound, lighting, the list is long.  What makes a full scale production possible is many helping hands, please contact us for further information to volunteer for our next production.

From all of us to all of you!  Happy Holidays! See you in the Spring!
~Kimberly Strong 
High Desert Community Theater President

Press Release

The High Desert Community Theater is proud to announce the dates of our next production. 

Love thy Neighbor by Gary Ray Stapp
Dates: Friday & Saturday November 18th & 19th
Time: 7pm
Date: Sunday November 20th
Time: 2pm
Location: Culver High School - Multi-purpose room

Love thy Neighbor, is a family friendly comedy, set in small town USA, with some extremely colorful characters.

     "Armed with a sharply judgmental attitude and a pair of binoculars, homeowner Leona Crump is consumed with anxiety over her new neighbors.  Will they be California beatniks?  Or paroled drug pushers?  Or more frightening yet, perhaps someone with children?!
     Her worst fears are realized when an odd-ball "hill-folk" family moves in across the street.  Leona quickly realizes that neither God, nor her favorite telephone psychic, has prepared her for the series of showdowns set to take place in her living room.  Gafina, an obnoxious, gum-chewing woman, together with her 'Maw' an old hillbetty crone; Gafina's simple-minded, love-struck boyfriend, Turner; and her 'trampy' sister Bambi, turn Leona's neighborhood upside down.  Threatened by the over-zealous friendliness of Gafina and 'romanced' by the disgusting Turner, Leona vows to purge them from her cul-de-sac.  But she has no support from her husband, the epitome of the couch potato, nor her other neighbor Judy, who is as sweet as pie and about as bright.
     Adding to Leona's exasperation are her daily dealings with her refrigerator-raiding neighbor Paul, the local real estate saleswoman, the mailman, an Avon lady, a police officer and a paper girl, all, she is sure, who were only put on this earth to annoy her.  Outnumbered, but refusing to be outmatched, Leona suits up in fatigues and resolves to 'mop up' the new neighbors all on her own.  Ultimately, it's a flock of pink flamingos that drives her over the edge and lands her in the local jail.  But in the end, will she be victorious and drive her new neighbors away?  Maybe, maybe not--it all depends on her weedeater!"

     The Director Steve Gibson has been a performer in various productions over the years, and is the Vice President of the High Desert Community Theater Guild.
     The multi-aged cast and crew are all very dedicated volunteers who are committed to upholding the stated goal of the HDCT by providing an opportunity for the local community to gather together and laugh out loud.
      The performances are free to the public, donations will be accepted and all proceeds go strictly into the coffers for future productions.

The cast:

 Top Row: Gafina-Teri Drew, Judy-Rachel Mendzona, Paul-Clay Gibson, Officer Doonan-Garreth Davis, Rose-Donna McCormack, Ava-Kimberly Strong, Albert-Zeb Bemrose.  Bottom Row:  Papergirl-Amythest Gibson, Turner-Garrett Campbell, Leona-Marsha Casey, George-Bill Ferguson

The game is afoot! Shall we play?

Rehearsals have begun for the upcoming performance of  'Love thy Neighbor' by Gary Ray Stapp
  Our director Steve Gibson and all the actors are having a great time developing their characters, and creating hilarious scenes that are sure to delight the audience.  
And now, we need you!  Our vision for the HDCTGuild is to build a community that will join forces to bring each production to life.  After last years Spring production many community members came to me with a variation of this statement: "I'm not an actor, but this is a great thing your trying to do, how can I help?."
Here's how you can help, following is a list of the things and/or people still needed to bring this current production to life.  There are various opportunities, and the more help we get the easier it will be for all. 

STILL NEEDED:

PRODUCTION LEAD: (Will act as the lead coordinator of the production crew.  Will meet with the director and then work directly with the team to bring the play to life.)

     PRODUCTION CREW:

• SET/STRUCTURE & DESIGN TEAM - (Will modify, as needed the set structure, and help gather the large props. Ie. couch, table & chairs, desk.)
• SOUND TECH - (Will set up, maintain and monitor the sound equipment during rehearsals and the production.  May also include Sound Effects)
• LIGHTING TECH - (Will set up, maintain and manage the lighting during rehearsals and the production.)
• STAGE CREW - (Will maintain the set, by changing necessary items between scenes during rehearsals and the production, and hand out playbills on production nights.)
• REFRESHMENTS TEAM - (Will gather, coordinate, and serve refreshments at the productions)

POSITIONS FILLED:

• DIRECTOR - STEVE GIBSON
• PROPS/COORDINATOR - KIMBERLY (Will work directly with the actors, set designer, and production lead to gather all necessary props needed for the set and the scenes.)
• COSTUMES - KIMBERLY (Will work directly with the actors to gather all costume needs according to the directors vision.)  

Please contact Kimberly at highdesertcommunitytheater@gmail.com for further information or to volunteer.

In loving memory of - Dick Torrey

     The Guild is sad to relate that our friend and fellow actor Dick Torrey has passed away.  Dick was so happy to be a part of the Guild, and we were very happy to have him with us. 

Dick played the Sheriff in the first production in 2010 of

"Is there a doctor in the house?",

and this year he played Tito one of Primo's thugs in "Pistols & Posies".

   
 When the idea of a local Theater Guild started to take form Dick was very happy to help, and was a member of the board.

His enthusiasm and comedic style will be truly missed.

Richard L. Torrey

July 1934 - July 2011

********

Break a leg my friend, it was a real pleasure to work/play with you!

~ Kimberly

I only knew him through our theater experience, but I enjoyed his love of acting, and his love of people, I appreciated his gentle manner.  When I brought my granddaughter to one of our play rehearsal's he sang a sweet song to her.  Dick, you will be missed.

~ Teri

Oh my, I am weak with sorrow.  My condolences and prayers go out to his family.  Throughout the play, I always sensed that Dick was a truly fine person.

~ Gil

I'm truly sorry to hear about Dick, I really liked that man.  Let us have assurance though that He has returned to Summerland.  Goddess bless him and merry part.. Blessed Be...
~ Kevan

 

Standing room only!

What a fantastic opening night, the atmosphere was electric, the cast was brilliant, and as hoped the community came together and Laughed Out Loud!

As the master of ceremonies it was my great pleasure to thank the audience as they were leaving, the praise and appreciation was sensational.  These are just a few of the wonderful comments:

"Fantastic, you all really did a wonderful job!",... "Terrific, so funny thank you so much for doing this!",... "We really enjoyed it!",... "What a great production! Can't wait until the next one!",... "I wasn't going to come, there was something on TV I wanted to watch.  I'm so glad I changed my mind, this was terrific! Thank You!",... "You really should consider having two productions a year, there are a lot of us in the community that would support you!",... "Next year you may need to have more performances!",... "What great time we had, Thank You so much",... "Loved it! Really Loved it, good job!",... "We'll be back tomorrow night and we're bringing friends!"

The response to the formation of a Guild was also very well received, many of the fliers were taken and membership forms have already started to trickle in.

We'd once again like to thank the City of Culver for sponsoring this production, your support and commitment to the the community is much appreciated!

~Kimberly Strong
High Desert Community Theater - President 

March 2011 - A time to play!

The High Desert Community Players presents:

Pistols & Posies by Christy Fredrickson
Dates: March 25th & 26th
Time: 7pm
Location: Culver High School - Multi Purpose Room

Please join us for this lighthearted, family-friendly comedy set during Prohibition, in 1920's Chicago.  Everything’s coming up roses for gangster Primo Malvone, or so his wife Isabella thinks.  She is under the impression that Primo finally got out of the “gangster racket” to become a florist!  But his secret is starting to unfold and things start spiraling out of control just as Isabella's brother a famous opera singer comes to town.  Primo's accountant has disappeared with $50,000, rival mob boss Mama Mia wants a meeting,  an important businessman Rico Linguini is in town looking for a new supplier and Isabella decides to throw a party.  Making things even worse for Primo, Isabella then invites Mama Mia and her thugs to the party, and the conniving Mama Mia turns around and invites the cops!  Meanwhile, Primo's three daughters and the missing accountant hatch a plot to make Primo get out of “the racket business” and go straight, once and for all.  This is a fun-filled cast of colorful characters, slapstick comedy and a surprise ending that everyone will love!

March 2010

As a part of the city of Culver, Oregon's centennial celebration they sponsored and brought together a small group of community members to produce a play.  That play was "Is there a Doctor in the House?"  by Tim Kelley  It was directed by Garreth Davis of Culver and the actors were all residents and students of Culver, Metolius, and Madras. 

The production was held at the Culver High School Multi-Purpose room and they played to a packed house at each performance. The success and appreciation of the community has brought many of these players back for another go this year.