FREE PICNIC, TOURS, DANCING EXHIBITION, AND MORE

JUNE 13, 2009

Sheri Dean and Tanya Bickley are honored for their dedication to  TPNC and the arts.

Tanya and Sheri received citations from the Town of New Canaan and the State of Connecticut. The New Canaan Board of Selectmen declared June 13, 2009 as Sheri Dean and Tanya Bickley Day.

LtoR: Tanya Bickley, Robert Doran,

Sheri Dean

Entertainment and tours of the Powerhouse Performing Arts Center in Waveny Park featuring performances by special guests.

Annual Meeting with Special Guests and Surprises.

Dancers Wayne Hemstead and Annie Church performing numbers from their show “Kickin’ It Ballroom”.

Town Players actors bring to life a series of old time radio five minute mysteries.

All this and a Picnic on the Terrace after the meeting.

Over 100 people joined in the celebration on June 13th.

The Town Players of New Canaan will hold their Annual Meeting to elect officers and other business. Join us for entertainment and some very special surprises.

Town Players of New Canaan to Celebrate

Connecticut Open House Day on Saturday, June 13th

with Theatre Tours, Diverse Performances, Annual Meeting & Picnic

Saturday, June 13 from 2:00 PM thru early evening

The Powerhouse Performing Arts Center, Waveny Park, New Canaan

 On Saturday, June 13th the Town Players of New Canaan will participate in the 5th annual Connecticut Open House Day.  This exciting statewide event, sponsored by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, is designed to broaden awareness among residents of Connecticut’s exceptional cultural and tourism assets and to encourage them to become ambassadors who, after Open House Day, share their newfound discoveries with visiting family and friends.

 Connecticut Open House co-hosts and former Town Players presidents Sheri Dean and Cheryl Petrone are delighted that “the Town Players is one of the approximately 250 cultural and tourism sites across the state who are joining together to embrace Connecticut’s fascinating worlds of history, film, art and tourism.”  They invite the public to enjoy an afternoon and early evening of theatre tours, diverse performances, the Town Players Annual Meeting, and a picnic to be held on the Powerhouse patios, as the 62 year-old Town Players opens the doors of the Powerhouse Performing Arts Center, their permanent home for the last 26 years. The Powerhouse is located in Waveny Park, New Canaan. Enter the park and turn left in front of Waveny House. The Powerhouse is

down the hill. 

From 2:00 PM until 5:00 PM the Town Players will give tours of their fully functioning 115-seat theatre.  Within its deceptively small fieldstone exterior, the Powerhouse, designed by architect Richard Bergmann and theatrical designer H. Edward Spires, contains a lobby, green room, a 16’x 32’ stage, auditorium, light booth, dressing rooms, storage bays, scene shop, business office, as well as a costume and properties annex that rose from the walled-in herb garden. The Powerhouse opened as a Performing Arts Center on March 18, 1983.  At 3:30 and 4:30 Stamford based singer/songwriter Darryl Tookes will perform new songs and a few old favorites.  Mr. Tookes, who has recorded nine albums, is currently working on projects with Steve Tyrell and Bjorn Nessjo of the Trondheim Soloists.  At five o’clock the Town Players will hold their annual meeting, mainly the election of new officers.  It should be short and the public will see the Town Players in action as they approve their 2009/2010 season.

Fun filled, family friendly, good for all ages live entertainment will follow. From their show, “Kickin’ It Ballroom” Annie Church and Wayne Hempstead will perform "Cheek to Cheek," choreography by Fred Astaire and "Sing, Sing, Sing," choreography by Annie Church, Wayne Hemstead and Sandra Adamczyk.  Ms. Church will perform “Annie’s Solo,” choreographed by herself and Mr. Hempstead will perform his tour de force comedic "The Evolution of Dance," choreography by Judson Laipply, which in six minutes covers music styles from the 60s to the present.

Annie Church and Wayne Hempstead

Last October Wayne Hemstead and Annie Church danced together in “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy,” the Connecticut Playmakers’ tribute to Irving Berlin.  They had such a good time they decided to put together a show they could perform regionally. Mr. Hemstead appeared last Christmas as the delightfully villainous Sidney Snyde in the Town Players’ Family Holiday Panto “Mother Goose.”  He has danced with the  Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Stamford and performed with the American Ballet Company and the Connecticut Grand Opera.  He has appeared in “Follies,” “Harvey,” “You Can’t Take It With You”, as well as directing “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Born Yesterday,” and “Sylvia.” Annie Church has studied with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and performed professionally with Co'Motion Dance Theater, Adams Company Dance, Iowa Dance Theatre, Bernier Dance and Marcia Brooks/Various Works.  Recently she had the opportunity to work with Tony award winner and artistic director of YC Movement Theatre, Yo-el Cassell.  Annie has performed and taught dance throughout Ohio, Iowa, Connecticut and New York.  Last year she was the artistic director of Tappan Zee Dance Group and continues to teach dance as an artist-in-residence for the Tarrytown, NY Public Schools. 

In between the dance numbers, veteran Town Players actors will bring to life a series of old time radio five minute mysteries, each featuring one clue.  As if sitting and glued to the sounds emanating from an old amber bakelite radio dial, audience members from children to the oldest ones are asked to traverse time and guess the answers to mysteries written in a less gory era that called upon the imagination to fill in the details.

The Town Players ask that people call (203) 966-2713 to let Sheri Dean know if they plan to attend the picnic following the entertainment since the picnic is “on the house” and the Town Players need to know approximately how many people are coming.

Dancers Wayne Hemstead and Annie Church will perform numbers from their show “Kickin’ It Ballroom” as part of the entertainment provided by the Town Players of New Canaan during their celebration of Connecticut Open House Day that will take place at the Powerhouse Performing Arts Center in Waveny Park, New Canaan on Saturday, June 13th beginning at 2:00 p.m.   For further information, please contact Sheri Dean at (203) 966-2713 or Cheryl Petrone at (203) 838-2207.

For further information, please contact Tanya Bickley

at (203) 966-5216 or tbickley@optonline.net

or Email info@tpnc.org if you would like more information.

» TICKET INFORMATION(THIS IS A FREE EVENT)