The Community Players Of Concord Hold Outdoor Annual Meeting

Press release from The Community Players:

June 23, 2021

On Saturday June 12, 2021, the Community Players of Concord, NH, held its annual meeting outdoors at Elm Brook Park in Hopkinton, where the beautiful sunny skies offered a hopeful preview of bright days ahead.

Although the entire 2020-21 production season was canceled due to COVID, the Players have been active in many other ways during the past year. The annual meeting was an opportunity to celebrate the group’s activities during the pandemic year, including online workshops, administrative and fundraising projects, substantial renovations at the group’s studio in East Concord, and even a handful of live and virtual performances.

The Players also celebrated new collaborations with other nonprofit organizations, including the Concord Community Music School, Laconia’s Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central New Hampshire. President Ellen Burger was particularly pleased to announce that in addition to the Players’ usual one-week summer theatre camp (being held outdoors at the Kimball Jenkins Estate this year), the Players will be collaborating with the Boys & Girls Club to assist them as they offer ten weeks of theatre camp programming at the Club’s Christa McAuliffe School site in Concord.

The fate of the Players’ 2021-22 main stage production season remains in limbo due to COVID-related restrictions on the use of its primary venue, the Concord City Auditorium. But the group is forging ahead with smaller-scale live productions in other venues: a production of Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party at Laconia’s Colonial Theatre in August, and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour at Concord’s Hatbox Theatre in September. For details visit communityplayersofconcord.org.

The Players also awarded two scholarships to two high school seniors who plan to pursue artistic studies in college. The Camie Morrison Memorial scholarship, named for one of the Players’ seminal members, went to Emma Hall (see photo), a mainstay of Rundlett Middle School’s Performance Ensemble Group (PEG) and Concord High School productions. The Ella & Harold Brehm Arts Scholarship went to Bailey Carmody of Kearsarge Regional High School (see photo), a longtime member of the Players’ Children’s Theatre Project (CTP) who also appeared in several main stage productions -- including Annie (2018) and Sweet Charity (2019) -- as well as in many school and other regional productions.

The Players also announced the winner of the Osy Strong Award, named for a founding member of the organization and given annually to a Player who has performed notable service to the organization. This year’s recipient was David Murdo (see photo), prolific producer, graphic designer, and the group’s longtime box office chair.

This press release was produced by The Community Players. The views expressed here are the author's own.