Theater company set to compete at state competition

WILLOW PARK — The Weatherford Stage Performers cast and crew of the recently produced Willow Park Dinner Players production of “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” are making final preparations for the upcoming Texas AACTFest ’09 state competition in Fort Worth.

“We’re so excited to be a part of this great event,” states director Kim Dobbs. “No Parker County theater company has competed on the state level. We’re so glad to be the first to be there!”

Ten shows from around the state of Texas — from Amarillo to Denton, from Lubbock to Port Arthur — will be performed March 19-21 during the Texas AACTFest ’09. At stake is the opportunity to vie for the opportunity to represent Texas at Region VI AACT Fest in April in Kerrville, which sets the stage for a possible trip to the National AACTFest in Tacoma, Washington, in June. Musicals, comedies and dramas will be presented in Fort Worth. Immediately after each presentation, the performances are publicly adjudicated by three theatre professionals, thus providing each show’s cast and crew plus all audience members a unique educational component to the festival.

The Parker County troupe will compete in the first performance block, starting at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 19. Performances will be held at the William Edrington Scott Theatre, 1300 Gendy St., in the Fort Worth Community Art Center. Tickets are $15 at the door for a show block, which contains two one-hour shows. Student rush tickets are half-price 15 minutes before show time. More information about the festival can be obtained at the Texas Nonprofit Theatres Web site, www.texastheatres.org.

“We are so proud of the work this cast has undertaken to make this show so compelling,” state Board President Tim Jarrell. “They’ve utilized research, movies, and a dialect coach so that the portrayal is as accurate as possible. If you missed their February performance in Willow Park, or if you saw it then and want to see it again, now is another opportunity to do so.”

The story of “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” is derived from a collection of children’s drawings and poems from the Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942–1944. More than 12,000 children under the age of 15 passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp between those years. More than 90 percent perished during the Holocaust. The poems and pictures drawn by the young inmates of Terezin highlight and expose the daily misery of these uprooted children, as well as their courage and optimism, their hopes and fears.

Jarrell further reminds, “We’re still taking submissions of hand-crafted butterflies for the Houston Holocaust Museum’s butterfly exhibit. They need to be in our hands by April 4 for shipment to the Museum.” Butterflies may be mailed to Weatherford Stage Performers at 602 Mikus Road, Weatherford TX 76087.

According to the Museum’s Web site, the butterflies should be no larger than 8 inches by 10 inches. The butterflies may be of any medium the artist chooses, but two-dimensional submissions are preferred. Glitter should not be used in the decorations. Likewise, food products (cereal, macaroni, candy, marshmallows or other perishables) also should not be used. More information can be obtained on the Museum’s Web site, http://www.hmh.org/minisite/butterfly/index.html.

Weatherford Stage Performers, a 501(c)3 organization, operates two performance groups: Willow Park Dinner Players, and Act II. Willow Park Dinner Players is funded in part by the City of Willow Park. Sponsors include Weatherford National Bank and First National Bank. I Never Saw Another Butterfly is produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing.

Information is available through the Weatherford Stage Performers hotline at (817) 594-5596 or by e-mail at WeatherfordStage@ont.com.