The Plain Players

One of the many advantages of having lots of time? You can become pretty darn organized: you know, sorting through old files and notes and categorizing such things. As a result, I've stumbled upon an old news release I wrote to promote The Plain Players, a theatre group from my days as a wilderness ranger.

With a dateline of Plain, Washington, it begins: "Just plain folks? Well, not exactly. The Plain Players, a little theater group based in the Plain-Lake Wenatchee are, will present its third annual variety show on Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26, and residents of the upper Wenatchee Valley are bustling in anticipation of the event."

"The show will present local talent from the upper valley and will include 'music dancing and laughter,' according to director Corky Broaddus. 'It's become a traditional event every Memorial Day,' said Broaddus, a theatre arts graduate from the University of Puget Sound working as fire dispatcher for the Forest Service at Lake Wenatchee."

"'It helps relieve all the cabin fever from the winter and gives us a chance to show tourists some of the local talent.' Last Memorial Day weekend, the variety show packed two full houses on consecutive nights with people coming all the way from Seattle to view the talent. This year, Broaddus promises a whole new repertoire."

"Grace Crandell, a former Wenatchee resident now living in Plain, will emcee the show. Grace and her husband, Carl, retired owner of the Crandell fruit company, will perform a singing duet accompanied as always by music maven Char Townley on piano."

"Linda and Gregg Harbury of Plain, will sing an original cowboy ballad and the George Reinhart family will perform two musical numbers."

"Gladys Krakora, Cindy Cram and Shirley Burkholm, a singing trio from the Plain Community Church, will harmonize on a medley of three tunes from the 1950s. The show will also include several comedy sketches and an original mime act featuring Meg Vollrath and Tony Moran, both from Plain, Washington."

"Admission to the show, which is produced by the Lake Wenatchee-Plain Community Club, is $1 for adults and 50 cents for children under 12. Proceeds from ticket sales go to the community club, which sponsors The Plain Players, as well as other special projects, including Halloween parties and films for children."

"The Plain Players, under the direction of Broaddus and Byron Newell, also present feature-length plays annually at the old Natapoc Grange. In 1977, the group performed the Children's Theatre Production of Cinderella and was well received locally. Broaddus also has plans for a three-act comedy 'sometime this fall.'"