Heart of the Hills Players Newsletter - Volume V

3/24/15, 5:44 PM
Coming Soon: SHOWTUNE
See details below on great upcoming shows from the Heart of the Hills Players...
2015 PERFORMANCES SCHEDULED
Congratulations to the Board of Directors and the Script Committee: Bev Luria (Chair), Elaine Baird, Eileen
Marshall, Pam Messano, Paul Messano, Chancey Miller, Gwenn Samuel, and John White, who together have
reached their goal of selecting all three HOH show productions for the coming year! This will allow season
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Heart of the Hills Players Newsletter - Volume V - March 2015
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tickets and season advertising to be available to be sold. It will also aid senior centers to plan their participation
with the advance notice they need. The shows selected for 2015 are:
Spring show: "Showtune" - By: Jerry Herman
Warren Civic Center May 6 - 9
Bill Baird will be our Director for this show!! Pam Messano will be our Choreographer and Assistant Director.
AUDITIONS will be held March 11 and 12 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the DAV (big red barn) on Dequindre
Rd north of Auburn. Warm up your vocal chords and come on out!
Summer Show: "Oklahoma" - By: Rodgers and Hammerstein Main stage Macomb Center for Performing Arts - Stage rehearsal August 16 -19. Performances August 20 and
23 - Matinee, August 21 and 22 - evening
Fall Show: "Taking My Turn" - By: Robert Livingston
Macomb Center for Performing Arts, November 10 and 11 or November. 17 and 18
Upcoming Events
By Eileen Marshall
2015 The Year of Theatre in Michigan
Michigan AACTFest
March 27-29, 2015
Hosted by Owosso Community
Players
Regional AACTFest Region III
April 15-19, 2015- Regional
Hosted by Center Stage
'Midland Center for the Arts
National AACTFest-National
June 22-25, 2015
Hosted by Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
- featured in this newsletter
Check out their web sites, and be sure
to get on www.communitytheatre.org
for news of Michigan's community
theaters. (AACT - American
Association of Community Theatre
Birthdays:
April, May & June
2015 Membership Dues
By Sara Scrivano
According to HOH guidelines, all HOH membership dues must be
paid by MARCH 15, 2015. We are sure many of you have simply
forgotten, but it is a requirement to be considered a Heart of the
Hills member. Only HOH paid members are permitted to take part
in the HOH spring, summer, and fall productions, as well as any
mini-shows that are performed under the auspices of the Heart of
the Hills Players.
Members who wish to continue membership should complete the
two-page 2015 HOH Application form enclosed in this newsletter.
Send that form along with a $25 check payable to
HOH Players ATTENTION: Chancey Miller
28401 Mound Road #946, Warren, MI 48090
Click on this Link: Membership Application Form
to obtain an easy-to-print PDF version of the document.
f you pay by check, that will be your proof of payment. If you pay
in cash, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope and a
receipt for payment will be sent to you. Membership is also
required to receive the Newsletters so please renew your
Membership Dues right away so that you will continue to be up to
date on all upcoming news! Remember - it must be received by
March 15th, so mail it right away! Hope we hear quickly from all
who have not yet paid!
If you have any questions, contact Membership Chairperson Sara
Scrivano by e-mail at rscrivano@wowway.com or by telephone at
586-574-1816. You may contact Chancey Miller at 586-412-0154
if you are not able to reach Sara.
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Heart of the Hills Players Newsletter - Volume V - March 2015
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Storage Area
By Linda Leffler
When I was first asked to take charge of cleaning out the storage
area of costumes, I thought, "Sure...We have all cleaned out
closets. I can handle this easily! " But when I first approached
the storage area, it was an eerie feeling. I am not used to locked
gate entries with secret codes... or entering a quiet locked building
with long quiet hallways in an empty building. As I entered alone,
I thought of Harry Potter's Vanishing Cabinet that made people
disappear ...or the closet under his stairway. It was also a feeling
of Narnia where one walked into a wardrobe and entered a
magicalplace. Which was it? Both!
I slowly opened the large door and saw what was before me. My
thoughts now turned to the Cat in the Hat story line, "This mess is
so big, And so deep and so tall, We cannot pick it up. There is no
way at all!" I accepted this challenge, however, so I needed to
see it through. I began the attack with three options: Hang it,
Fold it, or Toss it.
Board Members: 2015
Officers
President: Chancey Miller
Vice President: Paul Messano
Secretary: Elaine Baird
Treasurer: Bill Dupree
Directors
Social: Humi Koester
Membership: Sara Scrivano
Special Projects: Melanie Lee
Public Rel.: Eileen Marshall
Member-at-large: Barb Ahlberg
I want to thank both Carol Scheffels and Pam Messano for each
giving me a day to help at the beginning with the enormous task
we faced. More than once I wished I had the ability of Samantha
from Bewitched and could simply twitch my nose and make things
happen!!!!
In spite of it all, the mission was accomplished! The results were
two double-sided racks full of more than 50 dresses and 40 men's
shirts, tuxedos, and 25 large plastic bins full of discoveries such
as a sun and umbrellas, Statue of Liberty and flags, Christmas
costumes and Easter bunny ears, Scottish, western and baseball
attire, and certainly sparklies galore!!! All these items have now
been grouped, labeled, pictured and documented.
So you see.....the closet with costumes and dresses was quite
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Heart of the Hills Players Newsletter - Volume V - March 2015
Upcoming Events
2015 - The Year of Theatre in
Michigan
Michigan AACTfest March 27-29, 2015
Hosted by Owosso Community
Players
AACT Region III AACTfest
April 16-19, 2015
Hosted by Center Stage
Midland Center for the Arts
National AACTfest
June 23-28-2015
Hosted by Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
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magical, and I did make some things disappear! As with my home
closet, I just hope this area will stay as organized as it is now.
Interview with Barbara Ensminger
By: Eileen Marshall
Barbara Ensminger is a legend in her own time to those of us
who have known her during her membership with Heart of the
Hills Players. She is one of the original members who started with
Margie Montross at the old OPC elementary school building near
downtown Rochester in 1985 with a melodrama entitled "He Done
Her Wrong or Wedded But No Wife." Their close friendship
developed over the years as Margie directed the "Best of Times"
in 1990, the first of the Senior Shows at the Macomb Performing
Arts Center. Margie encouraged her to perform solos, chorus
numbers and to begin singing with the Mood Swings, a trio, with
Barbara Sementowski and Betty Jones in the style of the Andrew
sisters. Their close harmonies made them popular entertainers at
several area venues. Barbara says that was her favorite singing
experience.
Newsletter Team
PR Director:
Eileen Marshall
Co-editors:
Linda Leffler, Carol Scheffels
Layout & Programming:
Will Heine
Photographer:
Jack Yee
Her singing career really began when she was two years old in
Kalamazoo singing with her guitar-playing dad. He loved Country
music; but when she was seven or eight years old, she wanted to
sing popular music and he refused. Barbara began to sing
recorded popular music with orchestrations, and that's how her
musical career began. When I first met Barbara, she was selling
real estate in Waterford. She excelled at that job for fifteen years
and was often named Real Estate Agent of the year. During this
time she and Margie worked closely to develop the Ms. Senior
Michigan Pageant. Barbara was one of the top finalists. Before
that, she had her own interior design business and worked out of
Northland Mall. She still keeps in touch with one of her
employees.
I asked Barbara if she had a favorite performance. Because she's
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Heart of the Hills Players Newsletter - Volume V - March 2015
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done so many memorable ones, she could not pick out one. So I
recalled a favorite of mine which was when she and her daughter,
Gale, did a duet called "Nobody's Gonna Harm You; Not While I'm
Around." It moved the audience with its emotional and beautiful
message. The mother-daughter duo shared another set of
experiences as a result of their expertise in Skate Dancing. They
both won several awards. One of Barbara's trophies was earned
in the Esquire Roller Skating event, and she won several other
trophies as well. When Barbara retired from skating and Gale
continued to win awards, Barbara sewed all of Gale's beautiful,
detailed costumes. Gale is Barbara's only child; and in addition,
she has three grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
Through the years, Barbara's commitment to HOH has been
steady with her many years of work on the Board helping to
establish our 501c3 status and reading for the Play Reading
Committee and attending out-of-state festivals. In fact, she,
Jeannie Schutte and I performed one of our Funny Stuff skits in
Asheville, N.C. We had to recruit two men to fill our cast, and we
pulled it off.
Barbara is the ultimate performer! She wows the audience and
gives them her all. She loves the stage. One of Barbara's greatest
pleasures now is her much loved rescue dog, Patsy. Barbara says
Patsy knows her every move and her every word. They share a
comfortable apartment on the grounds of the First Baptist Church
of Troy, in Bethany Villa at 1676 Jackson Drive, Troy, MI 48083.
She'd love to hear from you at 248-526-0251.
National Community Theatre Festival
By: Eileen Marshall
Prior to the entire festival, the Community Theatre Management
Conference will be held Monday - June 22, Tuesday - June 23
and Wednesday - June 24. The educational gathering is for
anyone with responsibility for managing a community theatre and
brings together administration from all levels of avocational
theater. This conference is especially meaningful for Board
members, but all are welcome from the volunteer who "runs things
around here" to the "just starting" part-time administrator to the
full-time professional manager.
The conference experience is through a series of intensive topicsensitive, specific round table discussions with participants
sharing experiences - both problems and solutions. In addition,
twelve winning state community theaters will be presenting their
shows over the span of the festival as a result of winning in their
respective regions. The first of the twelve shows will be held on
Wednesday June 24.
Registration is $270 AACT member; $345 non-member with a $50
early-bird discount if registered by May 15. This cost covers all
sessions, materials, snacks, and a copy of Boards in the Spotlight
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Heart of the Hills Players Newsletter - Volume V - March 2015
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by Twin Lynch. Special rates are $129 for 1/4 in a room.
Reservations may be made at 1-800-253-3590 or online at
esweb.passkey.com/ go/AACT. The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
will be the location for the productions and is a short walk from the
Amway Grand Plaza, an AAA Four Diamond luxury hotel, the
official hotel for the Festival.
For Sale
Peggy Bogart has an XL black velvet skirt for sale. It has never
been worn and cost $80 originally. If you are interested in
purchasing it, please call Peggy at 248.646.9927 to make an offer.
Caring Thoughts
Please keep the following members in your thoughts for healing
and strength: Bob Marshall, Nancy Lemma's husband (Sam), Bill
Dupree, Humi Koester, Barbara Tocco, and Joanne Vitale.
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