GREEN BAY (NBC26) — The Evergreen Theater in Green Bay will benefit from the Give BIG Green Bay day of giving for the first time this year. NBC 26 met the people who say the nonprofit is important to the community.
- Get an inside look at rehearsal for the Evergreen Theater's upcoming young actors production
- Hear from some of those young actors about why these plays are special to them
- The Evergreen Theater has been around for 40 years
- Participation in their stage productions is completely free for performers of any age
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
The Evergreen Theater has put on plenty of productions in Green Bay over the years. I'm Pari Apostolakos and the nonprofit's leaders tell me, with the help of Give BIG Green Bay's day of giving for the first time this year, they're looking towards the goal of a permanent home.
Jason Pries had never been on stage or backstage, until his daughter took a liking to performing ten years ago.
Now, after working on dozens of shows, he is making his directorial debut with the Evergreen Theater's latest young actor's production.
"I love working with these kids to bring this show to life," Pries said. "It's been a joy every second."
14-year-old Trisha Hansen and 10-year-old Na'jae Dellinger are two of the actors in the upcoming show "The Absolutely True Story of King Arthur."
"It's just like a really fun group of us," Hansen said during rehearsal Wednesday. "We all, like, get along really well and just like, even coming to rehearsal and having those backstage moments makes it even more fun."
"It's been great being in Evergreen," Dellinger said. "Rehearsals have been very good, like, the directors are nice. They kind of like cheer you on ... If you just, like need a little bit of help they help you."
"It is a wonderful opportunity for kids also to get to know folks that they would never run into [otherwise]," Evergreen Theater President Dawn Byrne said.
Byrne said the nonprofit, which provides free theatrical opportunities for kids and adults, would put the money from this year's Give BIG Green Bay day of giving towards moving out of the space they currently rent to eventually buy a larger place. They hope for their future home to have classrooms, a rehearsal space, a place to build sets, storage for props and wardrobe and, most importantly, their own auditorium to put on productions in-house.
"I think that a big part of community theater is right in the title of it; community," Pries said. "Relationship building, friendship building, mentor building."
The Evergreen Theater has been around for 40 years.
