At the 2021 annual meeting on June 9, the Walpole Footlighters elected members of the Board of Directors for 2021-2022.

President:  Kathleen Hardigan
Vice President:  Meg Culkeen
Treasurer: Marianne Phinney
Secretary:  Linda Berman
Publications:  Lisa Cyr
Publicity:  Steve Small
Social Media:  Rachael Rabinovitz
Member At Large: Ashley Harmon

Three new members were elected to the Play Reading Committee for two year terms:
Patrick Murphy
William “Woody” Farrick
Beth Morrell 

​The position of House Manager is currently vacant. The Chair of the Play Reading Committee will be elected by the members of the PRC to represent the committee on the Board.

After review of the applications submitted for the Walpole Footlighters' Scholarship, the Board of Directors decided to grant not one, not two, but THREE scholarships this year! Congratulations to the 2021 Scholarship recipients!

Mahoney Cyr, Millis High School
Brenna Hughes, Walpole High School
Cate Lightbody, Walpole High School

The Walpole Footlighters are pleased to announce the cast of The 39 Steps: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry, directed by Sheila Kelleher:

Actor 1: Ken Carberry
Actor 2: Jon Workman
Actor 3: James Koonce
Actor 4: Diana Doyle
Actor 5: Amy Keegan

Thank you to all who auditioned!

The Walpole Footlighters are pleased to announce the cast for Love in the Snow by Matthew Garlin, directed by Kathy Bedard. Love in the Snow will be performed on Zoom December 4 & 5 at 8:00 pm. 

Storyteller - Philip Tomposki
Russ - Matthew R. Divoll
Bill - Mark S. Logan, Jr.
Jillian, Jenny - Anita Harkess
Amber, Nicki - Lauren Ruth
Ben, Announcer - Andrew Quinney
Hilary, Julie - Nika Shakhmuradova
Dave - Patrick Murphy
Ralph - Chris Erath

Thank you to all who auditioned!

The Walpole Footlighters are pleased to announce auditions for their next virtual production, Love In The Snow - Stories for Christmas by Matthew Garlin, directed by Kathy Bedard. 
 
The script is in 3 short stories with separate characters. The plot summary and character details are included below. Actors should complete the audition form at http://bit.ly/SnowAuditions and upload a video audition using one of the monologues available at http://bit.ly/SnowMonologues by Saturday,  October 31 at 6:00 pm. 
 
NOTE: Actors will be responsible for pulling together some costumes and props. For questions, please contact the director at katherinelbedard@gmail.com.
 
Performance dates are Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5 - 8:00pm. This production is being performed virtually. Rehearsals will take place on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday evenings beginning November 3. Actors MUST be available for both evening tech rehearsals on Tuesday, December 1 and Thursday, December 3.
 
Plot Summary:
Love in the Snow - Stories for Christmas is three short plays about characters looking to show how much their loved ones mean to them by the quality and quantity of gifts but they learn that it's about the quantity of love they have for each other and not the price of a gift that matters.
 
Roles:
Below are the roles per play. Not all characters have monologues. Feel free to use any of the monologues or two within the same video, or provide your own that aligns with the character. Important: The video file can’t be larger than 100 MB.
 
Storyteller: Any age, a mysterious balladeer who introduces each play and sings a song, or will be poetically read over music.
 
The Christmas Gift: A man wants to propose to his girlfriend and has an elaborate plan that includes his best friend and an annoyed waitress, but he is sidelined by his co-dependent mother and his old neighbors who are out to embarrass him.
 
Russ: 30-35 age range: an anxious man who wants to propose to his girlfriend but has a co-dependent relationship with his mother.
Amber: 30-35 age range: a romantic woman who is also practical and doesn’t want to settle or be second banana to Russ’ mom.
Bill: 30-35 age range: a classic best friend who is usually unreliable but wants to do well in his position.
Jillian: 30-35 age range: a waitress who hates her job and is stuck in a long-term relationship with a man who won’t propose or read a love poem and lives through Amber.
Ben Steinman: 50 age range (makeup may be needed): an older man who has some health issues as well as memory issues.
Hiliary Steinman: 50 age range (makeup may be needed): an older woman who loves her husband but kind of has a one-track mind.
 
Gifts for Christmas: A poor newly married couple tries to get Christmas gifts for each other but their finances are very low and so they have to make sacrifices, but it turns out that their sacrifices are rewarded.
 
Julie: 27-year-old woman: a practical well-meaning woman who doesn’t really want money but wants to be able to survive.
Dave: 27-year-old man: a practical man who thinks he has to provide for his family and feels like a failure when he doesn’t.
Nicki: 47-year-old woman: a storekeeper who just wants to bring happiness and do good in the world.
 
Christmas of Gifts: Two parents want to get their child the toy they really want but they find themselves arguing about who will give him the toy while other shoppers try to get their shopping done.
 
Ralph: 30-40-year-old man.
Jenny: 30-40-year-old woman.
Men and women shopping: can be played by two actors in different costumes.
Announcer: at the beginning of this play.

The Walpole Footlighters are pleased to announce the cast for their next virtual production, A Virtual Whodunnit, by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus, directed by Steve Small. A Virtual Whodunnit will be performed on Zoom on October 23 & 24.

Augusts Sterling: Peter Bradley
Florina Sterling: Lauren Bushway
Bullion Sterling: Kevin Lowney
Juniper Everton: Shelby Speer
Eugene Everton: Mark Logan
Macy Gables: Juli Small
Haley Hawkins: Karen Bell
Barry Schwartz: Chris Erath
Rockford Sloan: Beth Morrell

Thank you to all who auditioned!

The Walpole Footlighters held their annual meeting on June 10, 2020 over Zoom.  At the meeting, the following members were elected to the Board of Directors:

​President                  Kathy Hardigan
Vice President         Meg Culkeen
Treasurer                  Marianne Phinney
Secretary                  Linda Berman
Publicity                   Steve Small
Publications             Lisa Cyr
Member at Large    Martin Lombardi
House Manager      Dan Sheehan

Play Reading Committee:
Amy Keegan
Joe Rich

Congratulations to the new Board members and thank you to those who have ended their terms!

​

​Dear members of the Walpole Footlighters community,
 
It is with a great sadness that we write to you today to let you know that the Board of Directors has decided we must cancel productions at our theater for the remainder of this calendar year.
 
We take this action with reluctance, but we believe it is the best way available to protect the health of our patrons and the many volunteers who make our productions possible. The continuing uncertainty over the dangers of COVID-19 left us few options. We explored how we could open the theater in a way that would be safe and comfortable for everyone involved. We determined that our space would not allow the necessary social distancing and other precautions that would provide each of you a worry-free experience at the theater.
 
This is particularly difficult because of the uplift and comfort and transportive qualities that theater offers. Live theater provides a communal experience, a special kind of story telling that is enriched by the palpable chemistry between audience and actors. We will deeply miss you while we put our productions on hold.
 
We are hopeful that we will be able to open the theater and welcome you all back early in 2021. The Board will keep close track of medical and governmental guidance and will decide in the fall if we can proceed safely. We would love to welcome you all back for an abbreviated season, perhaps one or two productions early next year. We had a delightful season lined up: Calendar Girls (postponed from its originally scheduled production in May), the musical Once Upon a Mattress, the drama Dinner with Friends, and the delightful comedy Sylvia. We will consider some mix of those for Winter and Spring productions.
 
We will be issuing refunds by check to ticket holders for Calendar Girls. This may take several weeks, so we ask for your patience. We would humbly ask you to consider turning the cost of your ticket into a donation to the Walpole Footlighters to help offset the financial burden this postponement will impose on the theater. If you would like to do so, please email boxoffice@footlighters.com or call 508-668-8446 by June 30.
 
We will not be selling season tickets for the 2020-2021 season, but season ticket holders can be assured that they will have their preferred seats available for the 2021-2022 season.
 
If there is one source of comfort in all this, it is knowing that we will see you again in our home in East Walpole, welcome you back, and share once more our love of theater.
 
Please take care of yourselves and your families and stay safe.
 
With warmest regards,
 
 
Peter Bradley, President, 2019-2020
Kathleen Hardigan, President, 2020-2021

May production of Calendar Girls Postponed to September
Once Upon a Mattress Now Opens on November 6​

​Dear Footlighters Patrons and Friends,
 
After careful consideration, the Footlighters Board of Directors decided to postpone our May production of Calendar Girls until September due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. We are disappointed to pause our 96th season, but the health and well-being of our theater community is our top priority. We believe postponing the show will allow us to share this wonderful show with our loyal patrons at a safer, healthier and more enjoyable time.
 
Calendar Girls will now open on Friday, September 11, 2020 and run for two weekends, concluding Sunday, September 20, 2020 and including matinees on both Saturdays and Sundays. We will rebook all May Calendar Girls tickets for the corresponding show in September. 

Most tickets to Calendar Girls have automatically carried over to the new run dates. The day of the week, performance start time, and your seating location remains the same - only the performance date has been affected. 

Tickets for                     Will be carried over to

Friday, May 1                 Friday, Sept. 11
Saturday, May 2            Saturday, Sept. 12
Sunday, May 3              Sunday, Sept. 13
Friday, May 8                Friday, Sept. 18
Saturday, May 9            Saturday, Sept. 19
Sunday, May 17             Sunday, Sept. 20

For patrons with tickets for the third weekend of performances, we will work with you to rebook your tickets for the two weekends of performances. If the rescheduled show poses a conflict, we will work with you to select another Calendar Girls performance, issue a refund for your ticket or you may consider donating the value of your ticket purchase to the Walpole Footlighters. Details about how to exchange and rebook your ticket(s) are available here: https://bit.ly/2UpIoBc. If you cannot access to this link, please call us at 508.668.8446.
 
We plan to move forward with our 97th season and anticipate Once Upon a Mattress will open on November 6, 2020 and run for three weekends concluding November 22, 2020. Sylvia remains unchanged and will run from February 5 – 21, 2021 and Dinner with Friends will run from May 7 – 23, 2021 as originally planned. You will receive our annual brochure detailing the 97th season and instructions for how to purchase subscriptions in May.
 
Thank you for your patronage and understanding as we navigate this public health crisis. If you have any questions or wish to discuss further, please contact us at ask_us@footlighters.com.
 
We wish you good health and look forward to seeing you in September to conclude our 96th season, and again in November as we kick off the 97th season.
 
Best wishes,
 
Peter Bradley
President, Walpole Footlighters