Green Earth Players production opens Friday in Palace
The 25th anniversary of Green Earth Players brings them back to the Palace Theatre Friday when the musical comedy "Sanders Family Christmas" opens. Above, cast members take part in a dress rehearsal Tuesday. They are: (from left) Terri Ebert, (seated in back) Traci Carlson and Phil Voigt, Shane Amborn and James Harsma. Cast members not pictured are Bruce Baartman, Louella Voigt and Cheryl Nath. The play involves all local people except for director Paula Herrig, who lives in Slayton. Linda Dummer is assistant director and stage manager and Sue Sandbulte is the musical director.
The small cast of players presents a "gospel sing" in a Baptist church, with the audience being the congregation. The play is set in 1941 in the south and uses familiar Christmas music and gospel hymns. It will be of particular interest to local people who saw the GEP production of "Smoke on the Mountain," the prequel to "Sanders Family Christmas." In the play, Pastor Mervin Oglethorpe, a young and enthusiastic minister, enlists the Sanders Family Singers in his efforts to bring his tiny congregation into the modern world. The family members tell personal stories that relate to their trials of faith between songs.
The play runs at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 15, 16, 17 and 22, 23 and 24. The Carnegie Cultural Center, 205 N. Freeman, serves as the box office and is open from 1 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The Carnegie phone number is 283-8294.