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Darke County Center for the Arts
Give a Mouse a
Cookie fills Memorial Hall
DCCA Director Julie Strait retires
By Elaine Bailey
Owen can’t bear to part with his beloved blanket Fuzzy in the theater
production If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and other storybooks. Likewise,
the Darke County community will have to bear the loss of its beloved
Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) Executive Director Julie
Strait.
DCCA Artistic Director Keith Rawlins announced at the start of Sunday’s
performance that Julie Strait was retiring as Executive Director and
that the afternoon performance would be the last production under her
term.
And what a production it would be! Greenville Memorial Hall was
filled to the top of its balcony with youngsters of all ages.
One senior citizen was asked if she was the right age for the
performance, and she beamed from ear to ear and said, “Yes,
indeed. I’m the perfect age for this.”
Little girls in ruffled socks and boys with buttoned-down collars
walked hand-in-hand with mamaws, papaws, or other family or close
friends. When Keith Rawlins asked if everyone was ready,
agreement echoed from wall to wall.
Executive Director Julie Strait, members of her staff, and dedicated
sponsors brought a quality production to the opening Family Theater
Season with the TheatreworksUSA’s presentation.
The musical revue featured these children’s books: Martha Speaks,
by Susan Meddaugh; Owen, by Kevin Henkes; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,
by Laura Joffe Numeroff; Amazing Grace, by Mary Hoffman; Imogene's
Antlers, by David Small; Master Man, by Aaron Shepard; Borreguita
and the Coyote, by Verna Aardema; and Math Curse, by Jon Scieszka.
Julie Strait, Executive Director for Darke County Center for the Arts,
will be missed. But… a bit of Sunday’s theater experience as well
as past Family Theater programs which have encouraged cultural
enrichment, inspired the imaginations of the young and young at heart,
and encouraged the expression of creativity, will linger in the minds
and hearts of the many audiences… just as bits of Owen’s blanket, in
the end, remain with him.
The community can look forward to Guess How Much I Love You and I Love
My Little Storybook presented by Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia on
January 27, 2013 and the American Family Theater’s musical rendition of
Sleeping Beauty on April 24, 2013.
For ticket information visit: http://www.centerforarts.net/family-theatre-series.htm
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