Historical April 1988 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
“Lights, camera, action!”—Wait a minute, that’s the movies. “Learn your lines; the show is next week!”—Yeah, these are your friends and neighbors. Saturday, April 9, 8:00 p.m., the curtain will rise and “West of Pecos” will begin its one night run at the Center of Contemporary Arts, 524 Trinity.
When the lights come up, costumes, makeup, and Texas accents notwithstanding, you are certain to recognize some of the characters. Gracing the stage in this production are: Roy Bell, Frank Burke, Karen Bynum, Dee Hayes, Lisa Horner, Karen Kelsey, Rich Lake, Venita Lake, Claudia Lawrenz, Nita Littlejohn, Tom McNamara, John Roach, Mary Schmit, Peter Schmit, Ed Stout, Cal Stuart, Terry Vanicelli, and Kathleen Williams. Behind the scenes, (actually, creating the scenes—designing, building the sets, costumes, and more) are Judy Bush, Bill Christman, Laura Doyle, and Gary Hayes.
The play is directed by Rita Sweets and Rita Sweets. (She has the talent, patience, and energy of at least two people, so it’s only fair to credit her twice.) “West of Pecos” takes place in Langtry, Texas, in the late 1800’s.
In brief, “Judge Roy Bean, ‘the Law West of Pecos’, has decreed Orin Powers must hang for shooting up a poster of his beloved Lily Langtry, the famed frontier actress.
The sentence has the town of Langtry, Texas, in a stew. Bad men want Orin to swing, good citizens want him to live. Only one thing will save the unfortunate lad— the appearance of Lily herself!” A reception will follow the performance, also at COCA. Hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine, soft drinks, and set-ups will be served and are included in the admission price. Anyone who prefers distilled spirits is welcome to bring his/her own. Tickets are $10 per person.
If you wish to purchase tickets, contact any member of the cast, SDCC board, or call the SDCC office, 862-5122.
This community theatre production is sponsored by the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council and is supported by the Regional Arts Commission.
The Arts Commission awarded SDCC a grant to sponsor a series of community cultural events in 1987-88 which included a concert series, a reader’s theatre production of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”, this community theatre production, and the upcoming spring concert—”An Afternoon of Spirituals” with Mary Henderson.
The grant funded a portion of the Martin Luther King Commemoration January 9 as well.
Original photograph caption
Actors from the critically acclaimed “Penelope and the Pickle Factory” performed in May, 1986. In April of 1988, some of the same great talents will bring alive Tim Kelly’s “West of Pecos,” a Western comedy. The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1988, page 1. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1988.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1988_04.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
