The Boys Are Back Onstage!

Community Theater.....I love it!

I especially love it when families participate together. Nepotism be darned, it's a joy when family members get to contribute their talents to a show.

Benjamin has been performing in different shows from five years old on up to the present.  Sometimes we're together, sometimes we're not.  But from running in place with him in Alice In Wonderland (I was the King of Hearts, he was a Squire), to the present production, where I am Mr. Frank and he is Peter Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank, every moment has been a joy and a privilege.  Some moments can be more challenging than others, but we learn and we grow.

Seeing him onstage at times, I realize that not only is he good, but he is starting to surpass me.  He is a talented  actor, and he is the natural charm and humor to connect well with audiences.

But we are not the only family team in the current production. Lamar Deal and Barbara Griffin are the husband and wife team that are at the core of Purlie Productions.  They are both in The Diary of Anne Frank, Lamar as Mr. Van Daan and Barbara as Mrs. Frank.

My good friend and longtime thespian companion, Kimberly Beck, plays Miep (who helps hide the family) and her brilliant daughter, Emily, who positively shines as Anne Frank.  I'll say it straight out, hopefully in a way that other theater groups will hear - Emily Beck is the area's most talented young actress.  Period.

The brother-sister duo of Amara Grace Jeffords and Aidan Jeffords are both in the play, Amara as Margot, Anne's sister.  They are both amazing talents, and part of the Jeffords family, who have contributed so much to the artistic community of our area, including their founding and support of that fantastic children's theater, Flying Dragon Arts Center.  The Flying Dragon also ran the concessions for our show.  Okefenokee Heritage Center! - Flying Dragon! - Purlie Production! - I LOVE it when the Arts community comes TOGETHER!

My dear friend, Julianna Lacefield, is performing with her two sons, Hemingway and John.  Julianna is absolutely, glowingly pitch perfect as Mrs. Van Daan.

Even our backstage crew is family.  Samantha and David Bruchie, husband and wife, are singlehandedly most responsible for this play being a success, operating lights, soundboard, stage managing and co-directing.  Truly, their contributions make this play work!

Benjamin will graduate in two years, and my opportunities to act with him my be few and far between.  So I am treasuring every moment I can.

Community "family"  theater...I salute you!

People in the play!  Neil Morris as Mr. Dussell, Julianna Lacefield as Mrs. Van Daan, me as a whale sized version of Mr. Frank, Barbara Griffin as Mrs. Frank, Lamar Deal as Mr. Van Daan, Amara Grace Jeffords as Margot Frank, and the thumbs up kid, Benjamin Strait, as Peter Van Daan.

Me with the incredibly talented Emily Beck as Anne Frank.