Freeport Players once again invites you to join us for our presentation of SI–FI theatre (Stay In–Funny and Interesting). Next weekend we will offer the fifth in our online series Ripley’s Believe It or Not! With a great cast consisting of Joe Quinn as Bob Ripley and Scott Miller as the show’s host Don Hancock, along with our talented ensemble, Hali Fortin, Mike Powers, Paul Kane, and Ray Fletcher, and sound effects by Phil Chin, we will escort you through some of Ripley’s interesting stories. And Believe It or Not, they’re true!
The show will be presented on Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 and Sunday, July 12 at 2:00. For the Saturday show, the lobby opens at 7:15 and the audience will be allowed into the “theater” at 7:25. Show starts at 7:30. Please click on the link below (or paste it into your browser).
Topic: Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Time: Jul 11, 2020 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83395282437?pwd=K0FmeTQ0Rk9JSG9YY1pTaTN4bDVUZz09
The matinee performance will be presented Sunday, July 12 at 2:00–the lobby opens at 1:45 and the audience will be allowed into the “theater” at 1:55. Show starts at 2:00. Please click on the link below (or paste it into your browser).
Topic: Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Time: Jul 12, 2020 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86534696034
For both shows, please be sure to shut off your video and mute yourself until after the presentation.
Pass the word and we look forward to seeing you in our “theater.”
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We are sad to relay the news that Freeport Players founding member Dorothy Glendinning passed away a couple weeks ago. She was with her husband David at their home in Burlington, VT, where they moved in 2012 to be closer to family. David and Dorothy were fixtures in Freeport’s theater scene, with Dorothy designing stunning sets that David built and she then painted and decorated. She extended her reach as a designer throughout southern Maine, including productions at Biddeford City Theater, Lyric Music Theater, and Portland Players, and she continued to work in community theater in Vermont.
David and Dorothy Glendinning
Dorothy was a founding member of Freeport Players who served on the Board of Trustees (1990, 1991) and Board of Directors (2001, 2007-2008). In the Players’ early years, Dorothy applied her visual arts talent to poster design then began working with Elizabeth Ring on set design. Beginning with Fiddler on the Roof in 1994, Dorothy was set designer for almost every Players production. When she wasn’t the lead designer, she was a member of the team, advising designers and patiently teaching scenic painting to volunteers. Her most memorable set designs include an elaborate dungeon for Man of La Mancha, vignettes in a spare style for Anne of Green Gables, a detailed living room for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and a breathtaking New York City apartment for Sylvia.
Dorothy also mentored in the Freeport schools, advising and instructing on sets for One Act competitions and musicals, helping to lay the groundwork for the expansion from AP room to FPAC. She and Dave and Tosca were fixtures of many a Saturday build.
La Mancha set
Dorothy was first and foremost an artist. Her mixed media works were shown at 3fish gallery in Portland as recently as 2011. It was that artist’s eye that she brought to her set designs, elevating the aesthetics – and expectations – of what community theater could be. By her example and by teaching others, she left our community a legacy of quality that remains to this day.
Into the chaos and drama of mounting a theater production, Dorothy injected calm, quiet, beauty. Director Barbara Buck, with whom Dorothy worked on several productions, said of her “She was the eye in hurricane Life.” That she was.
Sylvia
Anne of Green Gables
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GREATER FREEPORT’S ARTS COMMUNITY LOSES TWO OF ITS OWN
Gar Roper and Sally Grover
We are sad to announce the passing on Saturday of Sally Grover. Sally was a fixture with Freeport Players for decades. Audiences enjoyed her as one of the sisters in Arsenic & Old Lace (2002), Sally Bowles’ “Grandma” Kit Kat girl in Cabaret (1999), the Old Lady Who Lived In a Shoe in Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty? (2006), and other roles. Sally originated the iconic WFCP Home Time Radio Hour character Mildred Gerkworthy for “The Throbbing Heart.” Her droll, New England delivery was sufficiently hilarious that the writers brought her back year after year.
Sally greeted aspiring cast members at auditions and theater-goers at the box office. She served on the Players’ Board of Directors for 12 years, including as Treasurer and Secretary, and reviewed hundreds of scripts as a member of the Play Selection committee and an advisor to the Managing/Artistic Director.
Her commitment to the performing arts extended well beyond her work with Freeport Players. She assisted MASISTA with the Freeport Fourth Friday concert series and Freeport Open Stage Coffee House, and she worked with Freeport Family Performing Arts for many years.
Sally Grover
Sally’s commitment to her community was lifelong, from teaching grade school in Yarmouth public schools to volunteering with her church and HART of Maine and so much more, Sally was always generous with her time and talent.
Sally’s passing comes on the heels of another significant loss in Greater Freeport’s arts family. Gar Roper passed on March 9. Gar was an author, psychologist, marketing consultant, performer, philanthropist, entrepreneur and lover of the arts. His books include novels, poetry, and a book on early childhood development (By Leaps and Bounds, Henry Holt). With his wife Betsy, Gar owned and operated a summer camp in Poland Spring that incorporated the arts in its programming. After settling in Freeport, the Ropers opened The Venue – a nightclub on Depot Street that featured regional and international musical acts. (The Venue closed its doors many years ago, but the location on Depot Street is once again home to a music club, Cadenza.)
Gar was a strong advocate for local non-profits, including Freeport Players, Open Door Theater, Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment, and the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Freeport. He was a lay preacher in the Unitarian Universalist Church and taught classes at Midcoast Senior College. Gar was a regular performer with Freeport Players, including as Professor Marvel / The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz (2014).
Gar Roper as Professor Marvel
He wrote pieces for the Players’ Radio productions, and the Players premiered his revue Chanson: The Lives and Music of Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf (2011). Gar was a regular performer at the Freeport Open Stage Coffee House, sharing favorite folk tunes, his poetry, and essays from his “A Mainer From Away” series. With Jonas Werner, Gar created a “salon” for friends who shared his passion for writing, a group which continues to this day. Gar was always eager to put his skills and experience to use in service of the non-profits he supported, providing invaluable advice to Boards and committees.
Sally and Gar will be sorely missed by Greater Freeport’s arts community. Our heartfelt condolences go out to their families and many friends, who feel this loss most deeply.