An Unshakable Force Behind Community Theatre - Louise Mills

News from Bainbridge Performing Arts
For Immediate Release:
Date: March 28, 2008
Contact: Sally Jo Martine , Public Relations Director
Phone: 206.842.8578
Fax: 206.842.0195
Web: www.BainbridgePerformingArts.org
Email: smartine@BainbridgePerformingArts.org

An Unshakable Force Behind Community Theatre - Louise Mills
After learning to sew at the age of ten, Louise Mills took up fencing and the bagpipes in her teen years, studied drama (costumes and props) in high school, and pursued a brief stint of professional theatre training before college. In 1956, she, along with her friend and pianist Corinne Berg, founded Bainbridge Light Opera Association (BLOA), known today as Bainbridge Performing Arts (BPA). A vigorous and determined presence behind the Island’s theatre scene (she also founded Island Theatre), Louise Mills has always been interested in getting others to act, saying “I get people to do things they didn’t know they wanted to do.”
And now she’s done it again. Louise Mills Presents: What is This Thing Called Love? ~ A Musical Revue opens April 11 at BPA. Jazz musicians and singers croon, strut, and serenade on a set loosely based on a fictional Parisian night club called, “Chez Louise.” Local artists don tuxedoes and period gowns mined from Louise’s extensive collection of vintage fashions to perform favorite love songs ranging from show tunes to jazz standards.
Louise Mills Presents… is designed and stage directed by Michele McCrackin. The cast includes Sharon Acton, Susan Anderson, Susan Bray, Dick & Marilyn Dearsley, Rusty Flounders, Keith Granger, Ginni Hawkins, Claire Hosterman, Barbara Hume, Rozzella & Chris Kolbegger, Adele Berg-Layton, Mike Loudon, Rich McAllister, Kate Matteson, Michelle Odell, Mark Soltys, Jackie & Lucas Stewart, Mary Joan Zakovy, and the Bainbridge Island vocal group Side By Side.
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. plus Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Tickets, $15 per person, may be purchased by phone at 206.842.8569 or in person at BPA, 200 Madison Avenue North , Bainbridge Island . BPA Box Office hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and one hour prior to each performance. The production has one intermission and is suitable for musical theatre lovers of all ages. Proceeds benefit Bainbridge Performing Arts.
Bainbridge Performing Arts extends special thanks to its 2007 - 2008 Season Media Sponsor, Bainbridge Island Review. BPA is supported, in part, by the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council, the City of Bainbridge Island, and by a two-year Organizational Support Program grant from the Washington State Arts Commission. For more information, visit online or join BPA’s mailing list at www.BainbridgePerformingArts.org.