HCCT-02-22 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HCCT’S BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER ADDS PERFORMANCE;
OPENS DEC. 5 WITH GALA, LIVE MUSIC, GIFT CERTIFICATE

Vickie Cody of Burnet named to unexpired term on HCCT Board.

COTTONWOOD SHORES, TEXAS (Nov. 20, 2002) -- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever opens Thursday, Dec. 5th, at the Hill Country Community Theatre (HCCT) with a Gala Performance featuring food, drink and live music in the lobby. One lucky audience member also will receive a $150 gift certificate from As You Like It Interiors of Marble Falls.

The Harmony School of Creative Arts in Marble Falls will provide Christmas music at the pre-show and intermission for the opening night as well as the Friday, Dec. 6 show. Performing at the opening will be Peggy English on flute, Jackie English on guitar and Strelsa Burks on violin. Friday night will feature the “Wire Choir” with guitarists Don Henderson, Julie Karow and Derek Groves. Monica Griffin, an HCCT on-stage favorite, will sing. In recognition of the holidays, the HCCT Board of Governors has lowered the cost of the Gala food and drink to $8 per person.

The Box Office (830-798-8944), which operates from noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, opens on Nov. 25th to patrons and on Nov. 27th to the public. Regular and Contributing Memberships for the 2002-2003 Season are still available for those wanting to secure early reservation preferences and other privileges. The theatre lobby opens one hour before the 8 p.m. shows and at 1 p.m. for the 2:15 p.m. Sunday matinees.

“We are anticipating such a large demand for tickets by patrons, families, groups and area visitors that we have already added an additional performance for Tuesday, Dec. 10,” said HCCT Executive Director Bruce Hennie, who also directs the production. “This is a fun family show that certainly appeals to young and old alike.

“Pageant is so popular, even the cast size had to be increased from 26 to almost 50 men, women and children to accommodate the many talented persons who auditioned,” Hennie added. “The actors are from Marble Falls; Cottonwood Shores; Granite Shoals; Austin, Horseshoe Bay, Kingsland, Blue Lake, Burnet and Lampasas, with 20 making their first HCCT appearance.”

The play, based on a 1972 best seller by Barbara Robinson, is the second of six productions in the 17th season for HCCT, a nonprofit, 147-seat playhouse located at 4003 FM 2147 West in Cottonwood Shores – between Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay.

Pageant is about the Bradleys, a young couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant, but faced with casting the Herdman kids – probably the most inventively awful kids in literature! When the Herdmans collide head-on with the Christmas story, the mayhem and nonstop fun commence.

Theatre students from Llano High School and Burnet High School will be guests of HCCT for the final Pageant dress rehearsal on Dec. 4. They will meet with the director and learn about HCCT operations, volunteer opportunities and the Phyl Holbert scholarship.

Cody Succeeds Brandon on Board

The HCCT Board of Governors this month unanimously appointed Vickie Cody to succeed Harriet Brandon of Horseshoe Bay on the Board. Brandon resigned for personal reasons. Cody will complete the remaining six months of the three-year term. Cody has appeared on stage in “Nunsense” and “Honk,” stage-managed the recent show “Bell, Book & Candle” and will portray a “church lady” in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

The Burnet resident and Corpus Christi native, a graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in Advertising/Public Relations, retired from a senior management position in marketing and operations with Dell Computer Corp. She brings decades of business skills to the HCCT Board. As manager of Dell’s state-of-the-art Executive Briefing Center, she coordinated a multimillion-dollar expansion/renovation project – from planning, construction, design and implementation to staffing, revenue tracking, operating procedures and budget requirements.

For more information on the current performances or tickets, membership, volunteer opportunities (box office, costumes, make-up, props, lighting, set building and painting) or auditions, please contact the HCCT Box Office at 830-798-8944, or Executive Director Bruce Hennie at 830-693-2474.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS:
Preston F. Kirk, APR
HCCT Governor
Spicewood, TX
830-693-4447;
F 693-9898,
kirk@281.com

Bruce Hennie, Executive Director
Hill Country Community Theatre
Cottonwood Shores, TX,
830-693-2474
bruce@hcct.org