COMMUNITY FAMILY PLAYERS
"Connecting youth and community through the performing arts!"
The motto of the Community Family Players is "connecting youth and community through the performing arts." Our goal is to provide family-oriented theatre experiences for cast, crew and audience members while connecting youth and the community through the performing arts; providing meaningful theatre for the co
mmunity -- and at Christmas to raise money for The Winter Sanctuary (our local shelter for those experiencing homelessness). We do this with wholesome theatre productions emphasizing messages suitable for all ages. We are a member of Central Ohio Theatre Roundtable. Community Family Players was first founded as "The Chancel Players" in 2016. We changed the name in 2017 to better reflect our connections to both the community and families. In the spring of 2017 we produced our first play, the Broadway musical Godspell. The production was very well received and provided an inspiring and powerful beginning to this new ministry. In 2019 we partnered with The Winter Sanctuary to produce a high quality production of the timeless holiday story A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens and adapted for stage by Doug McKenzie. This wonderful show was produced for the community to provide a delightful Christmas event; connect youth to the community though the performing arts; and to serve as a major fundraiser for The Winter Sanctuary, our local homeless shelter (all proceeds go to the shelter). After six weeks of rehearsal we performed for three nights on the Memorial Theater stage on December 19, 20 and 21, 2019with a very special Gala event for the shelter during the final show on December 21. The show was well received (with two standing ovations), connected youth to the community and amazingly netted over $31,000 for The Winter Sanctuary's homeless shelter. Although the pandemic caused the cancellation of our 2020 production of "A Christmas Carol." We were back at it again in 2021 with the premier of an original script adapting Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" for the recently renovated Victorian era Woodward Opera House in Mount Vernon, Ohio. After six weeks of hard work rehearsing the play the cast of children, youth and adults opened a very successful four night run. The script cleverly had Charles Dickens at 209 years old narrate the show (and step off his reading chair to play some roles). The script also allowed for males or females to be cast as almost any character which resulted in a female Scrooge and female Marley giving a fresh feel to a well-known story. Interwoven throughout were Victorian era Christmas carols sung by a roving quartet of carolers who now and then led the audience in singing too. The adult actors were handpicked to work well with youth and children and act as role models and mentors. The youth and children outnumbered the adults and held their own with as good acting work and performances as the adults all through the run. And everyone looked great in their wonderful Victorian era costumes with wonderful props and make up and a very English looking set. The show co-produced by CFP and The Winter Sanctuary had sold out shows with over sixteen hundred seats sold. The production was well received and provided a very uplifting holiday play in the midst of the pandemic. In addition to the success of the show in connecting youth to the community through the performing arts and putting on a very good play, the community’s businesses and individuals raised over $50,000 for the Winter Sanctuary. This was done through production related
sponsorships, advertising, a gala, donations and tickets sales. And the 2021 A Christmas Carol successfully connected youth to the community; provided an uplifting holiday play (in the midst of the pandemic!) and raised $50,000 for those experiencing homelessness, and the synergistic effect of accomplishing those goals was a powerful uplifting feeling about how the community came together and did it all through theatre! These efforts earned Community Family Players recogniton by Centeral Ohio Theatre Roundatable with a prestigious Theatre Innovation Citation " presented to an innovative arts and cultural project or initiative that helped lift up or provide relief to others in the community." (An article about the citation can be found at this link: https://www.broadwayworld.com/columbus/article/Photos-Inside-Theatre-Roundtables-CENTRAL-OHIO-THEATRE-ROUNDTABLE-ANNUAL-CELEBRATION-20220517?fbclid=IwAR2015KmWcCX9FofpWJhPsdeiMaRfhvp_zA-TvY5fXBXt1jLwkufUKFRSR8 )
We are now working on the 2022 production of A Christmas Carol. For information about this project please contact our director Rev. Scott Elliott at [email protected].
