One special visit only....Ramona is coming....May 19

The first time my son Greg performed on the DSHS stage was at age nine with the Dover Foundation in his role as an orphan in Oliver under the direction of Keith Greenfield. He sang the song “Consider Yourself at Home” which was quite appropriate as the Dover Sherborn High School stage truly became his home for the next several years until his graduation in 2007.

The experience of this production soon became the impetus that launched a greater family involvement in the performing arts community of Dover. As Greg’s interest in theater pursued through attending summer camps including Kaleidescope at the JCC in Newton and then Charles River Creative Arts Camp so did the love for theater grow with his two younger siblings as well. Only a few month subsequent to the Oliver experience a group of parents of children with similar interests teamed up to work with Keith to lay the foundation for Open Fields. Greg became the first big brother of Open Fields and continued to grow his love for acting.

Between Open Fields and soon middle school and high school productions the DSHS stage was frequented at least 3-4 times a year by Greg and family. By the time Greg had graduated he had performed at least 20 or more times on the stage and it was quite bittersweet when he took his final bow as a senior in March 2007.

Much of our family life evolved around musical productions at the high school with both my husband and I on the production end, while all three kids were on stage.  Greg went on to pursue his passion for acting after DS and recently graduated NYU in May 2011 with a BFA from the Tisch School of Drama.

Now over four years later it is exciting to say this wasn’t the last time he would appear on the DS stage. When he started a national tour of the play Ramona Quimby with TheaterworksUSA in January he called me during the first week of rehearsals and said “Mom, it would be great to do this show in Dover”. Ramona Quimby based on the Beverly Cleary novels is geared to ages six and above.  It is both entertaining and very family value oriented.

My youngest daughter, Michelle is an officer for the high school club Time Out for Kids. Coincidentally they have been in search of a children oriented fundraiser for a project they are doing to raise money for the Agoyozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda. After hearing of Greg’s interest in bringing the show to Dover, she proposed the idea of sponsoring a production of Ramona Quimby as a fundraiser for this worthy cause. After working out all the logistics we are excited to say the show has become a reality.

The show will be touring during the last week in April in Springfield, Worcester and Boston in large sp aces geared towards elementary school field trips. It was difficult to bring the cast to Dover on a weekday and the only available weekend was in May. The cast is driving up here as an extension of their tour route which will be mostly in the mid-Atlantic area in May to do this ONE SHOW ONLY at Dover Sherborn High School on May 19 at 2pm brought by special arrangement. We encourage and invite you to come see Ramona Quimby and once again welcome Greg back to the DS stage. Tickets are $15 general admission and can be ordered online at www.ticketstage.com or by emailing dstickets@gmail.com.