About Us
Private Lives
Penfield Players'
Board Members
Elizabeth Gill
President
Andrea Daszkiewicz
Vice President
Elizabeth Saunders
Secretary
Richard Kendrick
Treasurer
Dean Amsler
Technical Director
Jack Florek
Play Reading
Ron Dufort
Historian
Sandy Dusel
Logistics
Doug Curry
Publicity
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Mike Tedone
Social/Digital Media
Nick Daszkiewicz
Logistics
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Wendy Webster
Social Chair
Our Mission
To provide an entertaining, welcoming, and intimate theater experience for our ensemble and audience members.
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The Players’ slogan has always been “Your Community Theatre.” To us, community means more than just geography. It is a feeling of belonging, of friendship, of family. We want to provide that feeling to everyone, whether you’re in the cast, the crew, or in the audience.
We hope you will join us in carrying out this mission, to help create a stronger, more
vibrant and culturally aware community. Our Players come to the Penfield stage, driven by a desire to create and tell wonderful, funny, tragic, beautiful, and most importantly, meaningful stories.
About Us
We are a non-profit community theater organization sponsored by the Penfield Recreation Department, currently launching our 56th season of great performances. We're one of the oldest continuing theatre groups in the Rochester area.
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The Penfield Players is open to anyone who has an interest in theater, whether it be acting or other aspects of production such as costumes, makeup, lighting, or set design and construction. Current members reside throughout Monroe County and beyond. New volunteers are always welcome.
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We also enjoy many off-stage activities such as cast parties, a summer family picnic, the season kick-off party, and our holiday party.
Our Beginnings
In January of 1965, an informal meeting was held downtown at WXXI. A Penfield resident himself, Bill Haley, was the program chair at the time and said a small group from the town could use the facility for a meeting to discuss a new community theater group. Bill was very supportive of the idea of helping to create a cultural outlet for town residents.
The commission approved the formation of the Penfield Players, citing it would help to improve the cultural aspect of the community. After that, the group met to appoint its first Board of Directors, including:
– President, John Kinter
– Vice President, Maurice Peizer
– Treasurer, Earl Cooley
– Recreational Secretary, Marge Peizer
– Correspondence Secretary, Elizabeth Haley
Membership fees were set at two dollars per single membership and three dollars per married couple to defray incidental clerical and mailing expenses. Three months after the group’s formation, The Players was already 75 members strong.
In March of 1965, the Players presented its first play, Janus, a romantic comedy. Janus was written by Carolyn Green and directed by John Kinter. It included a cast of charter members, including: Nelson Carman, Sheena Cator, Libby Haley, Keith Pomeroy, and Ray Spencer. Other charter members were Delores Clark, Harold Clark, Case Patten, Robert Stahley, and Charlie Struck. The play was held in the Penfield High School auditorium with over 300 in attendance.
It is important for us to remember and honor the founders of the Players, as they set the tone and standard still guiding the group today. The best way to do that is to continue to be involved and support great theater in our community.
