Standing Room Only, Yelm’s community-led theater group, invites residents to Yelm’s Outpost Church on Feb. 17 to watch two separate showings of its “Love Ballads and Valentines” radio show.
The two showings will begin at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. inside the Outpost Church, 102 E. Yelm Ave. Tickets cost $10 per person and can be purchased online at www.srotheater.org.
Steve Harshfield, president of Standing Room Only, said actors and actresses will present two scripts from different radio shows, including “Our Miss Brooks” and “Ozzie and Harriet.”
“We’re going to present a couple of scripts from different ’40s radio shows. They were popular radio shows back in the 1940s, and they’re both about Valentine’s Day,” Harshfield said. “We’re probably expecting 100 people between the two shows. We’re going to have some singing of a couple love songs, love ballads. We’ll have 10 to 12 singers and actors involved as well.”
Harshfield added rehearsals for the showing of “Love Ballads and Valentines” radio show began two weeks ago. Members of the cast initially came together for a table read-through of the scripts and eventually worked through the scripts with added sound and voice effects.
In the radio show “Our Miss Brooks,” Rae Simpson will be playing Miss Brooks, while Joel Derefield will be playing Philip Boynton.
The cast of “Our Miss Brooks” also features Savannah Creamer, Kamylle Sprenger and Dawn Emilia as singers. Dawn Wadsworth will play Mrs. Davis, while Ren Miller will play Walter Denton. Harriet Conklin will be played by Madeline Blanchard, and Mr. Osgood Conklin will be played by Richard Frias. Lastly, Matthew Tolar will play the role of Stretch Snodgrass.
“Ozzie and Harriet” features Tolar as Ozzie and Blanchard as Harriet, while Creamer will play Ricky, and Sprenger will perform the role of David. Derefield will perform the role of Thorny, and Dawn Wadsworth will perform the role of Miss Dunlap. Frias is cast as Mr. Bigelow, Miller as Emmy Lou, and Simpson as Mother.
Pre-show entertainment will be provided by youth radio players Kingsten Warner, Alex Licxandru, Alex Stanciu, Hazel Hick, Ariya Peck and Azorina Williams.
Dawn Emilia Young will serve as director and announcer, Jonnie Ellis will serve as assistant director, and Yvette O’Keefe will be the radio show’s producer. Harshfield will also serve as a producer and foley artist.
“It’s been an honor bringing events like this to Yelm. It’s great being a part of this group,” Harshfield said. “It’s nice having a creative outlet where I don’t have to drive to Seattle, Tacoma or Olympia. I’ve enjoyed having actual art in our backyard.”
Following the showings of “Love Ballads and Valentines” radio show, Harshfield said SRO Theater will host its next show on Saturday, March 30 at the 1776 Bar in Tenino.
“We are doing a cabaret show,” Harshfield said. “This is our first show of this type in this kind of venue, so we’re kind of excited about that. It’s an adults-only, 21-and-older show with some body humor and skits.”
Harshfield added tickets to the cabaret show will be available on SRO’s website in the coming weeks.
SRO’s last show was on Saturday, Dec. 9, at Yelm Outpost Church when members of the group presented “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
The two showings attracted over 170 spectators, which Harshfield said thrilled SRO Theater members.
