Shawn Cryderman; photo by Steve Weiss
Susan Sterling; photo by Steve Weiss
Andrea Molberg
A new theater group, christened Community Circle Players, was recently born in SaddleBrooke. The new group, led by Shawne Cryderman and Susan Sterling as co-producers, arrived on the scene after Susan and Steve Shear decided to retire from 10 years of directing and producing plays presented by SaddleBrooke’s PrimeTime Players. “We hope that by combining our talents we will be able to continue the SaddleBrooke theater legacy started by the Shears. We have very big shoes to fill!” said Susan Sterling. Still dedicated to the love of theater, the Shears will mentor and support Community Circle Players.
Community Circle Players’ first production will be a dinner murder mystery Eat, Drink and Be Deadly! on Sunday and Monday nights, February 19 and 20, 2017, in HOA 2’s MountainView Ballroom and Sunday and Monday nights, February 26 and 27, in HOA 1’s Vistas Dining Room. Dinner will be included in the ticket price of the new Community Circle Players’ performances. Auditions for this exciting production will be held November 1 and 2.
Shawne Cryderman, who will direct the group’s first production, has been involved with community theater more than 45 years. The fact that the PrimeTime Players were actively producing quality theatre productions was an important factor in Shawne’s decision to move to SaddleBrooke. She is OTJ (on the job) trained, having never taken a theater course in high school or college. Her favorite roles include Miss Hannigan in Annie, Bloody Mary in South Pacific and Queen Aggravain in Once Upon a Mattress. Multi-talented, Cryderman has directed both adults and children, served as a stage manager and played numerous parts in SaddleBrooke theater and variety shows, including Cora in last year’s Calendar Girls. Need something? Ask Shawne! If she isn’t already storing the prop or costume you need in her garage, she’ll find it or make it.
Co-producer Susan Sterling, who grew up listening to Broadway musical recordings of South Pacific and My Fair Lady, vividly remembers seeing Robert Preston in Music Man when she was 10 years old. Many Broadway shows later, Susan studied Dramatic Arts at a small Massachusetts college where the coursework included acting, directing and stage management. After college she portrayed Mrs. Miller in a community theater production of Carousel and used her acting skills in her career as an advertising account executive. When Susan and husband Terry moved to SaddleBrooke, she read about auditions for a legal drama, did a cold reading for the Shears’ PrimeTime Players and was cast as Casey in The Steele Deal. Subsequently she played several roles in The Dining Room, performed in SaddleBrooke’s Variety Show The Bench, worked as a movement coach and assistant director for the PTP’s production Thirty-Nine Steps and then had both lead and assistant director roles for House of Tomorrow and this year’s Calendar Girls.
Congratulations on the birth of the new theater group. Cryderman and Sterling look forward to your presence at Community Circle Players’ shows.