Members of the cast for Calendar Girls rehearse using Zoom.
Laurie Farquhar
The Renaissance Theater may be dark, but that hasn’t stopped the PC Players from working on their next production.
The PC Players were originally scheduled to present the hilarious and heartwarming comedy Calendar Girls this fall, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been put on hold indefinitely. During this hiatus, the cast has continued to work on the show. Since the beginning of August, they have rehearsed virtually on Zoom. In fact, Zoom has allowed some cast and crew members to attend rehearsals when they would not otherwise have been available. Judy Layne, the show’s assistant director, joined rehearsals from her daughter’s home in Southern California; Pam Somers, who plays the role of Elaine, logged in from Washington state; and Gloria Lloyd, who plays Chris, once rehearsed with the rest of the cast while waiting in her car to pick up her granddaughter from swim practice.
In the meantime, other cast members are working on those behind-the-scenes tasks that are vital to every production. Carrie Mataraza, who plays Celia, is creating another terrific program; Kathy Mitchell, who plays Cora, has recorded some of the music to be played during the show; while Marka Locker, also known as Marie, has taken on the formidable task of finding all the necessary props.
The other cast members include Patrice Cole, Ann Silverstein, Elysa Luick, Linda Burt, Trudy Chambers, Joe Chimera, Dave Wattenberg, Andy Nazarro, Chuck Kelly, and Nita Marzorati.
With all of this prep work, Director Laurie Farquhar is confident that the cast and crew will hit the ground running when the Renaissance Theater reopens for performances. She says everyone involved in the production is anxious to present this award-winning comedy because it is the kind of funny, uplifting story that PebbleCreek audiences love.
Calendar Girls is based on a true story about a group of older women in England who posed nude for a calendar in order to raise money to purchase a sofa for the local hospital. It has been a huge success as a movie, a play, and as a musical, and it has raised millions of dollars for leukemia research around the world.