Category Archives: Annisquam Village Hall

Shout Out to the Fabulous Cast and Crew of “Holiday Delights!”

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Thank you to Heidi Dallin, the Cape Ann YMCA, and the Annisquam Village Hall Association for the 2024 production of Holiday Delights, a wonderful story written by Heidi and performed entirely by Cape Ann youth actors.

In my official role as backstage “Elf Wrangler,” I got to witness first hand the dedication and courage it took these young actors to perform on stage, some for the very first time. The kids have been practicing since September under the talented direction of Heidi at the Cape Ann Y theatre program. Heidi strives to make every single player feel valued. The kids love her and Heidi’s positive, team work vibe carries over to the cast. The young actors all look after each other onstage and off.

The actors play multiple roles including elves, dreidel dancers, Cratchit family members, Peanuts characters, and Little Women, to name only some. Our Charlotte was adorable as a Christmas tree, even when she was nodding off during a performance on the final day of the show’s run 🙂

The Annisquam Village Hall provides the perfect backdrop for a play set in Gloucester. We were marveling at the fact that the permanent backdrop on the stage, which was painted 20 years ago by my husband, Tom Hauck, is still holding up. Tom painted it for for another play set in Gloucester, Brigadoon. With artistic license, AVP Director Terry Sands turned the mythical Scottish Highlands location into the “moors of Annisquam.”If any parent would like a copy of the cast photo above, please email me at kimsmithdesigns@homtail.com and I can send you a high res file.

Wonderfully Uplifiting Annisquam Village Players Magical Production of CINDERELLA!

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Don’t miss this delightfully magical production of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella, now playing at the Annisquam Village Hall. Once again, Director Terry Sands and Company have created a beautiful production, featuring the talents of local performers.

Miranda Joyce and Nate Oaks, both East Gloucester residents and theatre arts majors, are simply stellar, making their debut performances with AVP as Cinderella (Ella) and the Prince (Topher). What fabulous stage presence they both posses!  Miranda’s parents are our neighbors and it was their first time seeing Miranda in the role as Cinderella. To say they were proud parents is the understatement of the decade 🙂

A special shoutout to the fabulously talented Jennifer McCay — her pitch perfect performance was exquisite and she was hysterical as both Marie and the Fairy Godmother. The entire cast and crew were outstanding, from the littlest mouse Oceana Seber to the exuberant Townsfolk.

If you have never seen the original musical, the story is told with plenty of magical moments for both children and adults, and also witty and fun (and so very apropos for our times), adult humor. Bring the family, you will be delighted and uplifted.

To Purchase Tickets Go Here.

Seven-year-old Charlotte’s critique –  Charlotte was seriously dog tired after a long day at camp. I had told her we could leave at intermission if needed. When the lights went up at intermission she looked at me with a very determined expression and said she definitely did not want to leave. Her critique when the curtain went up – That was AMAZING, Mimi! And we had lots of fun singing the songs on the car ride home!Cinderella is dedicated in loving memory to the AVP community’s beloved Evy Stewart

GOOD NEWS FROM THE ANNISQUAM VILLAGE PLAYERS!

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As you all know, we are in unprecedented times. Our planned production this summer of Mary
Poppins cannot take place as planned because of the coronavirus. The good news is we have secured the rights to produce the show in the summer of 2021.

However, we are not going to sit idle. We want to keep the spirit of AVP alive and also honor the many people who are on the front lines of fighting the coronavirus. The AVP creative team has been at work to try to plan a fun event that will be safe for all (both cast, crew and audience). What we are proposing to do is present an online event which will be produced online on our former opening night, Tuesday, August 4. We will produce several songs and dances from Mary Poppins, filmed in people’s homes and solo on the AVP stage, to honor the importance of arts during this pandemic and to keep all of us who love being involved in a show active this summer.

If you have any interest in being involved, please email Terry at sands_a@comcast.net and let me know of your interest. We are working on the program and think it will be fun for everyone. We will also get an early preparation for Mary Poppins next summer. I look forward to hearing from you as we creatively plan our summer program.
Terry Sands, Director (with Mary Curtis Co-Director)

More about Margaret Fitzhugh Browne

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From wiki: … “From early 1944 through May 1945, Browne served the USO as a Portrait Sketcher, volunteering three times a week, as her diaries now at the Boston Public Library indicate . Photographs of over 120 of these charcoal portraits of servicemen and women were made and presented to her and are archived in the Boston Public Library. Many of the photographs carry the names of the servicemen and women and a few wrote a heartfelt note to her on the back. Similar wartime efforts have been documented and help understand the support that she and others gave to the war.”

Margaret Fitzhugh Browne Modern PriscillaCover illustration by Browne for The Modern Priscilla: A Magazine Exclusively for Women, September 1909.

As Raymond Agler, Fine Arts Dealer, writes on his web page:

“Browne’s love of the staged scene found perfect expression in her annual “Wax Works”, the tableau vivants that she produced every summer for 25 years at the Annisquam Sea Fair (which continues to the present, and was the subject of an article in the “New Yorker”). She had an uncanny talent for identifying facial similarities of the famous or infamous in the looks and manners of her neighbors–who were then recruited to pose as wax figures, the subjects ranging from Marat (with a gob of ketchup on his chest) in his bathtub, to Little Miss Muffet.”

Margaret Fitzhugh Browne: Sixty Years of Portrait Painting

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Now through October 9th at the Cape Ann Museum

Margaret Fitzhugh-BrowneMargaret Fitzhugh Browne (1884-1972) Emily “Bonnie” Browne, the Artist’s Sister, c. 1920s.
Oil on canvas. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum.

Margaret Fitzhugh Browne (1884-1972) was an important member of both the Boston and the Cape Ann communities. Locally, she maintained a studio in Annisquam and was an active member of the North Shore Arts Association and the Gloucester Society of Artists.

The walls of the second floor of the Annisquam Village Hall seemed naked without Margaret Browne’s strikingly beautiful portraits. In addition to paintings borrowed from the Hall, on exhibit at the Cape Ann Museum are Browne’s paintings in the museum’s collections, and paintings borrowed from private collections. A special Margaret Browne walking tour of Annisquam is scheduled for this coming Saturday, July 16th.

Saturday, July 16, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Margaret Fitzhugh Browne’s Annisquam Walking Tour
Take an historical stroll through the artist’s Annisquam neighborhood. Offered in conjunction with the special exhibition, Margaret Fitzhugh Browne: Sixty Years of Portrait Painting. $20 members, $30 nonmembers. Cape Ann Museum Exhibits and Programs