Presque Isle
Community Players
by Sandy Gauvin
Humble Beginnings
What do a large musical like Guys and Dolls, a
dinner theater tribute to the memorable songs from World
War II, an original play written by a local playwright, and
an intimate theatrical piece such as Love Letters with a cast
of only two have in common? The answer is easy – they
have all been staged by the Presque Isle Community Players,
an active group of performing arts enthusiasts who have
worked hard to bring a diverse mix of live theatre to the
Central Aroostook Area for more than 20 years.
Incorporated in 1989, the PICP was established
for charitable, benevolent, educational, and professional
purposes. “The purpose is for literary and cultural activities
— fostering and developing an interest in theatre and its
related activities, both for local audiences and for interested
performers,” states Dan Ladner, one of the founders of The
PICP. “The group wanted to offer alternatives to what
the other local theatre groups were already doing. Because
no other local theatre group was staging dinner theatre
productions, the Players started there.”
Founding members include Margaret Coffin, Julie
Daly, Barbara Dempsey, Barb (Frick) Ladner, Dan Ladner,
Rick Landeen, Cissy Libby, Jeanette Perry, Glenna Smith,
and Sylvia Weinberg.
The group now has a core membership of about 45
local residents and dozens of other volunteers who devote
an incalculable number of hours to the process of putting
on a show. Their upcoming performances feature current
members in addition to some new talents. Veterans Jim
and Twink Derosier join Claudia Stevens, Debbie Lamont,
Sherry Sullivan, Frank Grant, Rod Thompson, Elaine
Moody, Lin Chalou, Melbourne Smith, Mike Eisensmith,
Sandy Gauvin, and Nadine Strelka. Brian Lamont and
Gary Bowden work diligently in the background, as do
many others.
Basics
In order to provide quality, staging a performance
requires much time, preparation, and skill – much more
than is evident to the general public. The play and theme of
a dinner theater are chosen about a year in advance, as is the
director, the producer, the location, and dates of performance.
Two-three months before curtain time, auditions are held,
actors are chosen, and rehearsals begin. Performers begin by
the cast learning blocking, dialogue, lyrics, and music. They
learn songs and movements as well as lines. Initially, they
meet twice a week to practice; however, soon, rehearsals are
held three times a week until the week before opening night.
That week, rehearsals are held each night. During this whole
time, actors and other volunteers work on creating, building,
and painting sets and finding props and costumes. Not only
is there a lot of work in preparing for a performance, but
there’s a tremendous amount of fun. One can always hear
laughing and bantering back and forth, someone hitting a
sour note just to be funny, or a bunch of people singing just
WINTER 2011 Community Players 15