Andrea Hummel

The end of the year party for Sun Lakes Community Theatre is always a special evening. Members who have worked in an SLCT event during the past year receive a free meal and enjoy a chance to visit with friends. Those members who were unable to participate in the theatre’s activities may still attend, but they will be responsible themselves for the cost of their meal. This year’s party was held April 7 in the Palo Verde Country Club.

A highlight of this year’s get together was the presentation of a $500 scholarship to Uyen Hoang, a senior at Chandler High School. Hoang is an actor, a musician and a dancer. She plans to major in theater and acting at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where she will study for her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She then plans to travel to New York to attend one of the acting schools in NYC.

Although SLCT regularly gifts the drama departments of area high schools with financial grants to enrich the departments, this is the first year that SLCT has presented a scholarship to an individual student.

Applicants for the scholarship were nominated by their respective drama teachers. Each applicant then had to submit an essay and a video so that the scholarship committee could evaluate their talent and ability. Hoang chose to do two monologues, which were evaluated in a private viewing at Roger Edmond’s home. Edmonds is a Board member and the SLCT liaison to public schools.

The year-end party also celebrated several accomplishments this year: 4,000 area grade schoolers saw SLCT’s production of Horton Hears a Who, online ticketing brought the theatre into the 21st century and the theater continued mounting shows at all the Sun Lakes phases.

Still to come is the summer production of this year’s old-time radio show.