Tickets to the reading are $5 and may be purchased at the Community Players box office, 412 Ella Street, beginning an hour before show time.

BitterSweet Chocolates is an award winning play by Beatrice High School graduate Rebecca Schmierer Gernon, (class of 1963) and will make its Nebraska debut at Community Players.

BitterSweet Chocolates follows the lives of Amelia Stevens and Cynthia Alton who have met weekly to share their life over a box of chocolates. Their thoughts on death, children, marriage, war, politics, and yes, even sex, are discussed with humor and honesty. After more than fifty years of baring their souls to each other, Cynthia and Amelia discover that a box of chocolate can still reveal bittersweet secrets.

Cast in the reading is Tina Miller as Cynthia, Pam Poole as Amelia, William Stokebrand as Albert, Matt McNiff and Doug Stokebrand as Ronnie, Jim McNeal as Joe, and Elizabeth Claassen as Nina.

"I'm excited to have the Nebraska debut of my play in my hometown. Community theater is a wonderful way for people who can't go to Broadway to experience live theater. I hope the people in Beatrice enjoy my play," says Gernon.

Readers theater performances feature the actors seated or standing on stage with the scripts in their hands. There is limited movements and props, and no sets or costumes. Instead, the emphasis is on the script and the dialogue. The audience is given feedback cards prior to the reading to voice their opinions about the script. This feedback helps Community Players connect with its patrons and understand what might work as a fully-staged production.

Besides plays, Gernon writes short stories which have appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies including The Best Mom in the World, (Howard books 2007); All My Good Habits I Learned from Grandma (Thomas Nelson 2008); Love is a Verb (Bethany Press 2009); Expecting Miracles (Guidepost 2010.)

Gernon has also written a memoir with her daughter, Amy Willman, who is deaf. The Silent Minority; Deaf in a Hearing Family and World is currently being considered for publication by Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Gernon lives in New Orleans with her husband. More information about Gernon is available on her website www.rebeccawillmangernon-writer.com

Kirsten has been a sign language interpreture in the Beatrice and Diller school systems since moving to Beatrice two years ago. Previously living in Grand Island, Kirsten has been involved in Grand Island Little Theatre productions and was a choir director for 10 years. She was also involved with theatre growing up in her mother's theatre company in Scottsbluff. She and her husband, Steve, have two children, a daughter - Layna, and a son - Tevan.

CP is happy to welcome Kirsten aboard, be sure to say "hi" next month when you purchase tickets for "Beauty and the Beast"!

Kirsten replaces Shae Rogge who had been with CP for more than two years. Shae and her husband, Matt, are moving out of the area for work. Thanks Shae for all your hard work and efforts for CP, we'll miss you!

Erica will doing a wide variety of work at CP. One of her jobs will be putting together educational acting workshops for students that we will launch in January. She will also be stage managing the spring production of "The Cemetery Club" in addition to other small jobs around the theatre.

"I am very excited to doing my internship at Community Players! I have heard many great things about the place and I cannot wait to be part of what has yet to come! Thanks for letting me into the Community Players family," she said.

SCC students signing up for the course have three credit options which require then to put in 15, 30 or 45 hours of work at CP.

The fall of 2009 saw the first student to go through the class, Barbara Drewes. She worked on set painting for our production of “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”. Pictured here CP Artistic Director Jamie Ulmer, shows Drewes faux painting techniques to create a brick wall look for the show’s set.

This award is presented annually by the community theater to an individual or couple who have been outstanding in support of the theater and fine arts in Beatrice and the Southeast Nebraska area.

Williams was presented with the award prior to a performance of the theater’s recent production of “Something’s Afoot”.

On stage in his first production at the theater in 2002, Williams has since become an active and dedicated supporter of the organization. He has appeared on stage in numerous productions including “Hello, Dolly!” “State Fair,” “Rumors,” “To Gillian on her 37th Birthday” and the upcoming production “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.” Off stage, he has lead the organization’s set construction crew for many years. This year he completed his second three-year term on the organization’s board of directors where he served as vice president for four years and chaired several committees.

Williams’ name will be added to a plaque that is displayed in the theater’s lobby.

The award was established in 1985 in honor of former Beatrice resident Mary Ellen Morgan, who was one of the founders and promoters of Community Players. Click here to see a list of all past winners.

The grant totally $8,706 was awarded from the Nebraska Arts Council as part of funds the organization received from the National Endowment for the Arts provided by the ARRA.

The funds will be used to maintain staff positions at the theater of Box Office/Communications Manager and Costume Librarian and contract positions of musical director and rehearsal accompanist for musicals.

“We are extremely grateful to be receiving these funds,” Jamie Ulmer, Community Players artistic director, said. “While the grant does not cover the full costs of all these positions it does relieve some funding pressure as we prepare our very active 2009-2010 Season.”

The Nebraska Arts Council announced grants to 15 nonprofit arts organizations throughout the state totaling $271,800. The funds are to be used exclusively to save salaried or contractual positions within those organizations. Forty-seven Nebraska organizations applied for these grant funds.

According to Suzanne Wise, Nebraska Arts Council executive director, “It’s important for people to know that the nonprofit arts industry plays a significant role in Nebraska’s economy. A loss of jobs from the arts sector has the same impact as the loss of a manufacturing job. Nebraska Arts Jobs helps arts organizations retain staff that in turn will be there to provide vital services and education to the community.” She added, “I would challenge anyone to find any business sector that can squeeze more benefit from a buck than nonprofit arts organizations do.”

The cast was recognized with the award for “Outstanding Ensemble” and actor Matt Rogge received an award for “Most Versatile Actor”.

Eleven shows from seven states participated in the four day festival. Each of the shows qualified for the regional festival by winning their state level festivals. Productions of “How to Talk Minnesotan: The Musical” from South Dakota and “Lemondae” from Kansas were selected to advance to the American Association of Community Theatre’s national festival in June.

“There were some terrific examples of what community theatre can achieve at this festival ,” Jamie Ulmer, Community Players artistic director, said “Our cast and crew did a great job and showed the kind of high quality fun we like to have onstage here in Beatrice.”

Members of the cast and crew who traveled with the show were Julie Bratt, Matt McNiff, Matt Rogge, Missy Marlatt, Pat Marlatt, Bill Bratt, Janet Apfelbeck, Heidi Krieger, Elizabeth Claassen, Cindy Shepherd and Alyssa Bratt.

CP surveyed audience members at the theater’s recent production of “South Pacific” and found respondents came from 32 different communities.

Asked about additional purchases, 58 percent of respondents said they made an additional purchase in Beatrice in conjunction with attending the performance.

“People do travel to Beatrice to see quality performances, and arts audiences have an economic impact beyond just purchasing tickets to events,” Jamie Ulmer, CP artistic director, said.

The majority of the theater’s audience, 61 percent, comes from Beatrice. The next most represented city in the survey was Lincoln at seven percent.

The survey also found that audiences enjoy their experience at the theater. Respondents rated their overall experience attending the production as 9.02 on a scale of one to ten.

When asked how well they felt the theater was doing in fulfilling its mission to promote, encourage and increase the knowledge, appreciation and practice of live theater, a substantial 74 percent responded that the theater was doing an “outstanding job”.

“It is very encouraging to hear from our audience that they appreciate and enjoy the efforts all our volunteers put into bringing a show to the stage,” Ulmer said. “As we move forward with projects like our new auditorium seats we hope to build on the trust that Community Players produces top-quality shows, and encourage even more members of the community to get involved.”

But now it will be more user friendly with more graphics and a cleaner format. The new e-newsletter also lets you customize the type of information you want to receive from CP! We’ve created a special category for those wanting to get extra information about auditions, crew calls, and other volunteer opportunities. Plus you can customize your e-newsletter settings on line 24 hours a day, it puts you in complete control of the type of information we send you.

BEST OF ALL THIS SERVICE IS STILL 100% FREE!!

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