On behalf of Reading Civic Theater’s Board of Directors, I would like to welcome you here today and wish you a happy holiday season! In choosing our 2018 December show, we thought it was time to bring back the wonderful and beloved classic, ANNIE! The message of the optimistic young girl and her fighting spirit to find the positive in every situation transcends time! Would that we all could find the good in people and count our many blessings!!
Our journey to bring our creative vision of this heartwarming story to life has been filled with wonderful music, fun dancing and much laughter!
As we have been blessed over these past four years with successful runs of Shrek, Les Miserables, Camp Rock, The Happy Elf, Footloose, Fiddler on the Roof, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and knowing how much I have enjoyed working with each of those casts, I wanted to work on a show that continued to involve a cast of various ages! Performers of different ages provide various levels of knowledge and expertise for fellow cast mates to draw from. The opportunity to work together and learn from each other while honing their craft is priceless! Annie gives them a chance to experience a musical that would take them on a creative journey requiring them to build on their talents both individually as well as a cast.
We have amazingly talented and dedicated cast members. Some are returnees from past years and some are new to our organization. Every cast member has been awesome to work with and I am truly blessed to have them a part of this journey! I hope each cast member takes away something from this experience and will come back to join us on or offstage in future productions.
I would also like to mention that Annie provided the opportunity for four families to perform onstage together. As the mother of our choreographer, I cherish every moment we can perform together. I hope the families involved here have felt that way too!!
In closing, I want to thank my cast, staff, and crew for another wonderful production filled with dedication, focus, drive and amazing talent! And a special thanks to our audience who has taken time out of their busy weekend to support the cast, RCT, and the arts in Berks County! Now sit back and relax as we follow Annie on her search for her parents, her dog, Sandy, and her forever home!!!
Jeannette DeAngelo, Director
