THEATRE- THE OPERA HOUSE THEATRE PLAYERS of HISTORIC JEFFERSON, TEXAS
COMMUNITY THEATRE -- 20th SEASON COMING UP!
Yes, the theatre has been going for decades and has exceeded even our dreams of bringing live theatre to a little Texas town of less than 2200 population! In April 1999 we sponsored a "STUART HAMBLEN DEDICATION" weekend, recognizing the wonderful songwriting career of one of America's most beloved radio,television and film stars. Mr.Hamblen was born in a little community near Jefferson but lived most of his life in California. A beautiful bronze memorial plaque was erected by his family and an original musical, "It Is No Secret: The Life and Songs of Stuart Hamblen", was written and performed re-creating an old-time radio show format. Mr. Hamblen's famous songs included "It Is No Secret", "This Ole House", "Until Then", "Remember Me", and dozens of others. WE ALSO have recognized other outstanding artists from our community including VERNON DALHART(famous singer and songwriter of the 1910's-1930's) as well as famous short-story, novelist, and screen-writer, BARRY BENEFIELD. In August we always hold the Annual Meeting, elect new officers and present the "Ynot Awards Statuettes" to Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Show, Best Variety Artist, and Best All-Around Volunteer. Our 2001-2002 season opened with the great movie musical transferred to Broadway, "Meet Me In St. Louis". It won the Ynot Statuette for Best Show that season. We honored one of our founders, Lucille M. Terry, by postumously re-naming the Contributor to the Arts Award the "Lucille M. Terry Cultural and Performing Arts Award". We also presented that years award to board member Evie Mims, a former professional who has been a mainstay with the group since its formation. The year before the award had gone to Marcia Thomas, founder of the group and the only Artistic/Managing Director the group has ever had. She is also Vice President. Marcia is a life-long performer who still works professionally operating her own theatre and taking her shows on the road. She was a member of the Texas Arts Commission Touring Artist Roster. She created the hit, "Golden Era Follies", a musical revue that features the famous DALLAS TAP DAZZLERS in several numbers. It also spotlighted the fabulous Delta blues group "Jam City Revue" PLUS some highly talented seniors! But then it was on to the next -- our 16th. Everyone loved our "I Remember Mama" musical-comedy; it was hard to top that one. We desparately need a building in which to perform, hold theatre arts classes, have a county-wide Hall of Fame depicting our most famous artists, and generally have available for importing performances and events of all types. We call it our "Big Dream Project" and we have already picked out the building too! This will be a goal for us as slide successfully into our 20th season beginning October 2008.
OUR PAST SUCCESSES AND CURRENT SEASON!
This is just a sample of what we have done in past years: "Hello, Dolly!", "Wizard of Oz",
"The Music Man", "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown","Mame","Oklahoma!","South Pacific", "Steel Magnolias", "Patio/Porch", "Gypsy", "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", "Love Letters", "Nunsense", "Nunsense II: The Second Coming",......and the 1999-2000 season's winner - "SHOW BOAT"!!! After that, the winner was "Meet Me In St. Louis", then "I Remember Mama"! And this doesn't include all the original shows and dramas and comedies we put together or the storytelling's or the "lagniappe" we include with each season!! We have had no theatre home for over 15 years now and we just keep floating around from location to location trying to keep it going BUT we do have grand support from loyal membership and visitors to Jefferson. The last season was especially tough. We lost the use of one of the only available and affordable places we had to rehearse and/or perform. May actually have to do some shows in a tent -- but whats new?! We did that some years ago and made it work! And we did actually go back to the tent again! We did the great musical "State Fair" and it fit perfectly! The 2006-07 season saw "Bye, Bye, Birdie" located at the Jr. High School auditorium and that closed the season. Opening season nineteen was "I Ought To Be In Pictures", followed by the beloved,old comedy "The Man Who Came To Dinner". ***BULLETIN***We are holding auditions for "The King and I" to be scheduled for July. Auditions dates are April 5-6,9-10,12-13,16-17. Weekends 2-4pm. Weekdays 7 pm. Appointments are available by calling 903-665-2310. BE READY FOR A GREAT SHOW!
CONTACTING THE OHTP !!
The mailing address is: Opera House Theatre Players, PO Box 759, Jefferson, TX 75657. The telephone is: 903/665-2310. The email is: ohtpjefftx@hotmail.com or jeffersontheatre@aol.com.
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