Rags to Riches

05/29/2021

As we close this last chapter, a final story. I want to tell you a story about our final live show. We didn't know at the time that it would be our final show, but alas COVID-19 changed everyone's plans. It was Friday the 13th of March 2020. We were scheduled to perform at a local elementary school afterschool program that is a year-round school so they were supposedly only going out for the usual three weeks. With the COVID alerts coming and openings and closings changing almost hourly, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Nobody really knew how long we would be living under this cloud of COVID-19, but the kids knew. Normally you can imagine how on a Friday afternoon, before a three-week break in school, the kids are a little excited and eager to be picked up and head to home or vacations. Not this Friday. The kids were quiet, attentive, calm, and eager to be entertained. They laughed and clapped after every scene and every song. It truly was one of those shows that you perform where everything clicks. It is like magic when it happens. The actors and the audience truly become one. The parents that came to pick up their kids also stayed and watched. No one wanted to leave. As we were greeting the audience afterwards, everyone was so appreciative and thanked us for coming. The audience gave us such a gift that day of love and gratitude. We really didn't think that would be our last live show, but we said on the way home that if it was, it was a great way to end. The kids knew, and they let us know in all the right ways. The reminded us to live in the moment, make the best, and enjoy what you can when you can. Lou and I will never forget it, and we will always be grateful for that moment.

05/28/2021

We want to thank all of our amazing fans and friends for supporting us and loving our shows for almost three decades. We are so grateful for each and every one of you! We have closed our doors and are transitioning into careers in a library setting where we can keep supporting reading, literature, stories, telling stories, and connecting the community to the library. We plan to keep learning and using our passions and creativity to do good things! Keep supporting the arts anyway you can and keeping reading, and most of all, thank you for letting us bring books to life on stage for many many years! Without you in our audiences for all of those years, we wouldn't have had shows to perform!

05/19/2020

04/22/2020

We are so very grateful to have just been notified that we will be receiving a grant from the Durham Arts Council from the special "Arts Recovery Fund" for artists in Durham who have been impacted by COVID-19. We are so proud to have been a part of the artist community at the Durham Arts Council for 27 years now. If you can support this fund so that as many artists can be helped as possible please do by going here: https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=pqYAAw

We like many artists hope to be able to perform in and around the community again soon but we just don't know when that will be so until that time we will stay home and stay creative and wait. Thank you so very much!

Durham Arts Council - Creating Community through the Arts.

04/17/2020

We miss performing so much! We miss our fans! I wanted to share this video done by Laura Denny with LD Creative Media. We hope you enjoy it. If you can make any size donation during this COVID-19 period of “shutdown” it would be greatly appreciated. We are so grateful for those who have donated already. We hope to be performing again in the public soon!

https://www.paypal.me/rtrtheatre

https://youtu.be/RhyU1XqpjdI

Rags to Riches Theatre for Young Audiences presents: Rumplestiltskin

03/28/2020

Good Morning everyone. Here is a story for you! I enjoyed reading it for sure! I hope you all enjoy it! If you’d like to make a donation to Rags To Riches you can do so here:

https://www.paypal.me/rtrtheatre

03/26/2020

This is a wonderful fund supporting NC Artists!

This fund has been created to support creative individuals who have been financially impacted by gig cancellations due to the outbreak of COVID-19. 100% of donated funds will go directly to artists and arts presenters in North Carolina. Musicians, visual artists, actors, DJ’s, dancers, teaching ar...

03/26/2020

We are so grateful for the donations we have received so far. Wow. Just wow! Our fans and their families are amazing!

https://www.paypal.me/rtrtheatre

03/25/2020

To all of our friends and fans who have asked how they can help us during this time when we can’t perform for a few months due to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, here is a link to make a donation. No amount is too small. We have been in business for 27 years and have been able to recover business after 9/11, Recessions, hurricanes, and snow storms, but the hardest part about this Global Pandemic is that is will last longer than a couple of weeks or even a couple of months. Thank you for your support over all of these years We can’t wait to thank you in person in the future! We are very grateful for each and everyone of you. As we always say at the end of every show,”....and without you as our audience we wouldn’t have these shows to perform!”

Visit a PayPal.Me page link and type in the amount. Since it's PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don't have a PayPal account? No worries.

03/25/2020

Hello to all of our amazing and wonderful fans! Lou and I were supposed to performing these past two weeks but we haven’t been able to and won’t be able to for a few months because of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic that has everyone “staying at home.” We are staying at home as we hope you all are staying at home and staying safe and healthy. Of course we are grateful for all of the essential workers who are out on the frontlines battling this virus and keeping food and medicine and necessary services available to all who need them. Here is a little storytelling for you to share with any kids you may have that are getting restless. Please encourage the kids to act out this story themselves at home! This is an activity they can try at home! We miss you all dearly and can’t wait to perform again soon!

02/24/2020

Thank you to Mt. Sylvan UMC Preschool for having us perform this morning and be so hospitable and kind! The kids were full of joy and laughter. At the end of them said. How does she change clothes so fast? Love it. I do play 5 different characters in The Princess and the Pea so there are a lot of costumes backstage. Also, It was so great to see Reuben Bowden this morning greeting us with such a lovely smile and demeanor! Thanks for a great morning!