For those who question our decision to proceed with our shows, I would like to address some of your concerns. Union Street Players is being responsible in our approach to rehearsals and production of our upcoming show. The dates of production are Dec. 4-13. We have cast the show at this early date, in order to give extra time to rehearse in small groups, adhering to distancing guidelines. Our ticketing system will automatically space our audience to adhere to social distancing recommendations. I have personally been in continuing contact with Kelly Garcia, Director of Public Health in Iowa and also with Kim Dorn, Director of Public Health in Marion County and we are monitoring the numbers in our community. Our schools systems are open with in-person classes. We are aware that if numbers of cases increase in our area, we may need to cancel the show and we are monitoring the situation closely. We are being very careful in our approach to reopening our theatre and we remain diligent to the ever changing atmosphere of COVID 19. While we are dedicated to the safety of our community, we feel it is time to re-open our theatre. – Denise Gregory, USP President
Director, Sarah Maxwell, Announces Cast List for “Elf, The Musical”
A HUGE thank you to everyone who auditioned for Elf, The Musical! We were blessed with so much talent! If you weren’t cast, please audition again for a future show.
Congratulations to the 2020 Cast of Elf, The Musical!
*Rehearsal instructions will be sent by e-mail.*
BUDDY- Tyler Smith
JOVIE- Rachel Hoard
WALTER HOBBS- Michael Howland
EMILY HOBBS- Jessi Vos
MICHAEL HOBBS- Daniel Rozenboom
DEB – Kim Beyer
MANAGER- Jana De Zwarte
MR. GREENWAY- Spence Ver Meer
SANTA CLAUS- Arlyn Stuart
MRS. CLAUS- Denise Gregory
CHARLIE (the Elf)- Griffin Turner
TIERA-Aurelia Zylstra
OFFICE STAFF/TEENAGER- McKenna Evans
SAM (SAMANTHA) Zarah Van Dyk
FAKE SANTA- Jason Zylstra
SARA/MOTHER- Sarah Dron
SALVATION ARMY WOMAN/SALESWOMAN- Sarah Purdy
CHADWICK- Sean Galligan
MATTHEWS- Mark Schaefer
WAITRESS- Lucille Hopkins
CHARLOTTE DENNON (NEWSCASTER)-Jennifer Gaesser
FLYER GIRLS-
Kenzie Kanis
Aniah Rozenboom
SECURITY GUARD/POLICE- Lynn Cutler
DANCING SANTAS-
Brad Rozenboom
Steve Hickle
Lynn Cutler
Griffin Turner
ELVES-
Gabrielle Clendennon
Bella De Haan
Della Hesseltine
Adalynn Hodgell
Ella Hodgell
Kenzie Kanis
Olive Pikray
Aniah Rozenboom
Kadin Ryals
Ellie Smock
ELF DANCERS-
Lucille Hopkins
Beckett Maxwell
Norah Maxwell
Marlaina Lightkeeper
Gracie Rozenboom
Auditions for “Elf, The Musical”
We are going to go ahead and hold auditions for “Elf, The Musical”. Please be advised that we will adhere to the guidelines put forth by the Public Health Department and we may need to cancel the show, if Covid 19 numbers rise substantially in our area.
Those who audition will need to perform simple choreography, as taught by the choreographers during auditions. We will have you read excerpts from the script for the roles you desire. Children will sing “Away In The Manger”. Young adults and Adults will choose between “Joy To The World”, “Silent Night” or “O Come All Ye Faithful”.
Production dates are Dec. 4, 5, 6, 8 (Tuesday evening), 10, 11, 12 & 13, 2020
Drama Camp Aug. 7
Video: https://youtu.be/Z2hUTGIRQ5c
Post:
For our final day, Lynn Cutler will teach you a fun group game, then she shares information about auditioning for a Union Street Players show. If you have more questions about auditioning, post them in the Facebook comments and we will reply. Campers, if you’ve been in a show, what advice would you like to share about auditioning? Post the text or a video in the comments!
Special thanks to Deb Linn, Denise Gregory, Kathy Haug, and Karen Ryals for their help!
Annual Meeting and Board Elections
Hi Theatre Friends!
As you know, we are holding our annual meeting by zoom this coming Monday evening at 7 PM. This will be a brief (approximately 15 minutes) meeting to vote for our board members and possibly have a short presentation on our activities for the year. Our board will be present in the meeting room, but everyone else can attend by zoom capability.
Our bylaws state that you must be a member (adult member) in order to vote for the board. No additional folks came forward to run for board positions by the deadline, so it will be our current board members on the ballot. Candidates are as follows:
President: Denise Gregory
Vice President: Deb Linn
Treasurer: Jim Palmer
Secretary: Lynn Cutler
At Large: Doug DeWolf
At Large: Lynn Cooper
At Large: Misty Rivas
I am attaching a link where you can purchase your membership online. This must be done by NOON on Monday, August 10th, in order to create a mass email with the ballots for your vote to count.
—
Denise Gregory
President, Union Street Players
Drama Camp Aug. 6
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Improv is always one of the most fun things we do at Drama Camp! Today we have a warm-up improv game with Ethan Vance and Hanna Kendall, some information about improv and some games you can play from Suzi Jones, and some more in-depth improv advice from Isaac Zeimetz. Please share your individual or group improvs with us by posting them in the Facebook comments.
Here’s a list of improv draws to print and cut apart so you can pick them randomly: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1soR9cEqWFRB6LLd5MPm6OVi2ZXK4tZIc/view?usp=sharing
If you’d like to review today’s slideshow, here’s the link:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14SDL1DNLW0Y_lP23w1_FaBjSb4zd0nj3mVa7gjHpau8/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to the Castle family for their help!
Drama Camp Aug. 5
Video: https://youtu.be/Vvqoe9ZR68M
Post:
Hello, theatre friends! Today we have a warm-up with Ethan Vance teaching a breathing technique, Lynn Cutler teaching about saying lines well, and a zoom performance for you to enjoy. If you create your own zoom performance (with this script or another one, check the library or look online), we’d love to have you share it in the Facebook comments or email it to Lynn (lynnjcutler@gmail.com) and she will share it!
The script for the zoom performance is here:
If you’d like to find out more about breathing techniques, check out this link: https://copingskillsforkids.com/deep-breathing-exercises-for-kids
Special thanks to Arlyn Stuart, Denise Gregory, Lonnie Appleby, Jimmy Beyer, Hannah Cutler, Emily Cutler, Rhea Cutler, Hanna Kendall, and Chris Brown for performing!
