“Breaking A Leg” in Theater

Where else can a woman over 60 display her hidden talents of being an aging stripper? I did just that as I portrayed a character in the Broadway show, "Gypsy."

I have been one of those women since 1965, when I made the best decision of my life and joined Footlighters, Inc. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought I would perform for Princess Grace in Monaco, because I was a part of a community theater group and won a competition.

There is nothing like the excitement of performing onstage, especially, if what you do for a living, never gives you that thrill. Belonging to a community theater group has given me the opportunity to meet hundreds of terrific people from all walks of life who come together, like a family, and produce a comedy, musical or drama in the theater. If you want to learn to design costumes, be a stage manager, be a lighting designer, design or build a set, the opportunity is at Footlighters. You just need the desire and interest to visit our theater. Our welcome mat doesn't lie. Everyone is welcome in our theater.

Footlighters, Inc. is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization and is supported by nearly 200 members, all of which represent a broad spectrum of the professional, demographic and geographic community served by the theatre. The group was founded in 1963 in Cincinnati and has been very successful in producing over 40 major musicals such as "Hello Dolly," "Music Man," "Oklahoma," "South Pacific," "Company," " Man of LaMancha," "Jesus Christ Super Star," "Fiddler on the Roof" and many others.

In 1985, the group bought the Salem Methodist Church, built in 1865, in Newport, which is on the National Historic Register. The Footlighter membership tackled the daunting task of renovating the church into a theater, with the help of $150,000 in grants. The Footlighters continued their rich history by opening the new Stained Glass Theatre, with the production of "Annie." Since then, Footlighters has produced three shows a season and has approximately 600 season subscribers. Each production has 12 performances for three weekends. They not only produce well- known musicals, for their spring production, they will also present a premier production of the award-winning, dramatic musical, "Parade," which has never been presented in Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky.

If you want to have the best time of your life, commit your time to theater. You will never regret it! Look at the Footlighter's Web site, www.footlighters.org, for a variety of shows that you could be involved with. The next season begins October,2007 and ends in May,2008 with the productions of "Ballroom," "Daddy, Daddy, Who's Got the Will" and "Children of Eden."

Don't hesitate to call Footlighters at (513) 474-8711 for tickets to one of our productions or e-mail Dean Rettig at rettigcd@fuse.net for information about joining the group. If you just want to talk, woman-to-woman, you can call me at (513) 708-0213.

But whatever you do, "Break a Leg"!