00 News & Updates, 2018 Kiss me, Kate

Kiss me, Kate has been cast!

Union Street Players

Fred Graham/Petruchio   Spence Vermeer

Lilli Vanessi/Kathryn   Lynn Cooper

Lois Lane/Bianca   Sara Collins

Bill Calhoun/Lucentio   Shawn Pavlik

Harrison Howell   Greg May

Gangster   Robert Uy

Gangster   Danny Rivas

Harry Trevor/Baptista   Arvin Van Zante

Hattie   Kim Beyer

Ralph   Arlyn Stuart

Paul   Jobe Fee

Gremio/Ensemble   Doug DeWolf

Hortensio/Ensemble   Dave Erickson

Dance Captain/Ensemble   Hannah Blom

Ensemble/Quartet   Sarah Purdy

Ensemble/Quartet   Marti Zylstra

Ensemble/Quartet   Elise Pederson

Ensemble/Quartet   Kathryn Andringa

Ensemble:

Ashley Uitermarkt

L. Vermeer

Kim Blom

Frances DeArmond

Denise Gregoray

Tianna Loftis

Jonathon Mason

00 News & Updates, 03 Drama Camp

Drama Camp Registration is open!

Union Street Players

Please scroll down to the registration button at the bottom of the page to register.

Union Street Players’ Drama Camp is an annual week-long opportunity for young people to receive a basic overview of theatre and stage craft. Camp activities include: script writing/reading, set and prop building, actin, mime, puppertry, characterization, vocalization, improv, reader’s theatre, audition preparation, costume shop visit, make-up clinic, and more!!!

Spots are not guaranteed until full payment is received. Registration will remain open until camp session is full.

Elementary Camp: August 6-10, 8:30am – 11:30 am. Open to any student entering grades 2-5* in the Fall of 2018.

Please note: We have returned to only one session of Elementary Camp but doubled our staff to accommodate a similar number of campers when two sessions were held.

Camp Director: Brystal Hopkins

Middle School Camp: August 6-10, 12:30pm – 3:30pm. Open to any student entering grades 5*-9 in the Fall of 2018.

Camp Director: Suzi Jones

*5th graders may choose Elementary or Middle school camp.

Both camps will be held on the second floor of the Pella Community Center, 712 Union Street, Pella, IA 50219.

Performance date for both camps is August 10, 2018 at 6:30pm

Fees: $65/camper (discount for siblings available after first full fee registration). Fee includes Drama Camp t-shirt. Scholarships available. Please email the camp director for more information.

Instructors and Contact information:

  • Brystal Hopkins (brystalhopkins@gmail.com) 641.620.9158
  • Suzi Jones (suzanne.jones@pella.k12.ia.us) 641.628.1522

Drama Camp Registration Button

 

00 News & Updates, 01 Auditions & Talent Calls, 2018 Kiss me, Kate

Auditions for Kiss me, Kate!

Union Street Players

Kiss Me, Kate is Cole Porter’s rollicking and naughty take on
Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Leading man Fred Graham
is reunited with his ex-wife, Lilli Vanessi, when the two are forced to
play opposite one another in a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s
Taming of the Shrew. The battle of the sexes continues onstage and
off, as it becomes clear that, as much as this couple profess to hate
each other, they are also still in love. Throw in a few cases of
mistaken identity, the mob, bawdy Shakespeare humor and Cole
Porter lyrics into the mix and you’ve get Kiss Me, Kate — a dazzling
Broadway classic that earned the very first Tony award for Best
Musical.

Auditions will be held at the Pella Community Center,

712 Union Street, Pella, IA 50219

May 15 and 17 from 6:30-9:00pm and May 19 from 1:00-4:00pm

Roles available for those 16 years of age or older

Show dates are: July 27, 28, 31 and August 3, 4 at 7:00pm

and July 29 and August 5 at 2:00pm.

Perusal scripts are available at the Pella Public Library

ALL PERFORMANCES WILL BE AT THE JOAN KUYPER FARVER AUDITORIUM

at the Pella Community Center, 712 Union Street, Pella

00 News & Updates, 2018 12 Angry Men

Twelve Angry Men closes

Union Street Players

 

28515318_10216667100616874_5109434838031125693_oUnion Street Players gave their final performance of Twelve Angry Men on March 4th at the Kruidenier Theatre on the Central College campus. The intimate “in the round”  format was arranged particularly for this production to make the audience feel as though they were in the jury room arguing right along with the jurors. Short video segments were woven into the performance to extend the drama beyond the jury room. The Director, Spence Ver Meer notes: “This is not a play that one enjoys, but more experiences.” This play being about how we come to terms with our own prejudices and biases was certainly an experience to remember.

Twelve Angry Men brought several newcomers to USP in John Dougan, Michael Garrison, Justin Lenger, Danny Rivas, and Mark Bishara. We are grateful to them for sharing their talents with us and our audiences! We certainly hope to see you all again in future productions.

A heartfelt thank you to all of the folks new and seasoned who helped bring this production to the stage. We are grateful for your help and hard work.

Finally, a thank you to Ron Rybkowski, Madison Thingstad, and Central College for the opportunity to perform on a different stage and helping USP navigate the Kruidenier Theatre.

Attendance:

Thursday 47

Friday 74

Saturday 83

Sunday (matinee) 77

00 News & Updates

It’s a Wonderful Life closes

mathewrkelly

IMG_4396CastCrew

“Watching It’s a Wonderful Life has been a family holiday tradition at my house every year since the early 1950’s” writes Director, Pati Van Zante. This year, she and a great cast and crew brought the stage production of It’s a Wonderful Life to the Joan Kuyper Farver auditorium at the Pella Community Center. While we had a number of our seasoned actors involved with this production we also enjoyed the many talents shared by the newcomers to USP. It takes a dedicated group of people to pull of a quality production and this cast and crew did not disappoint!  The message of the importance of our impact on each other’s lives was keenly felt by our audiences.  Additionally, we received a special message from, Karolyn Grimes the actress who played Zuzu in the 1946 movie: “Best wishes for a very successful run. So happy to hear that it is so well attended and received, such positive acclamation.” With this we close 2017 anticipating yet another wonderful series of productions in the new year with Twelve Angry Men, March 1-4 and Kiss Me Kate in the Summer. On behalf of Union Street Players, Happy Holidays to all!

Attendance:

December 1 – 191

December 2 – 158

December 3 – 219

December 5 – 145

December 8 – 198

December 9 – 215

December 10 – 224

Total – 1219

00 News & Updates, 2018 12 Angry Men

USP Announces “12 Angry Men” Cast

Union Street Players

Union Street Players, Pella’s award-winning community theatre, is proud to announce the cast for our spring production of the dramatic courtroom classic, 12 Angry Men.

This from Director Spence Ver Meer:

After three days of auditions for Twelve Angry Men, we have a cast! Thanks to all who came out and auditioned, and thanks to Denis Gregory, Deb Linn, Arvin Van Zante, Lynn Cutler, and Mark Schaeffer for helping behind the scenes, you made things considerably simpler. The cast for the March 1 to 4 run will be:

Juror #1-John Dougan

Juror #2-Mark Schaeffer

Juror #3-Michael Garrison

Juror #4-Arvin Van Zante

Juror #5-Justin Lenger

Juror #6-Jim Emmert

Juror #7-Danny Rivas

Juror #8-Doug DeWolf

Juror #9-Larry Peterson

Juror #10-Spence Ver Meer

Juror #11-Mark Bishara

Juror #12-Greg May

Thanks again to all who auditioned. I will communicate further very soon on how to get a script to you, and more info after that. The first read-through will be Thursday, Jan 4th