Latham Players shine at First Church Sandwich

The Latham Players outdid themselves at their summer musical performance at First Church Sandwich, UCC. On August 19th, the Players performed “Imagine” by John Lennon with an ASL translation by Becky Skolnick (daughter of Children’s Services Clinician Judy Skolnick) and “Up, Up and Away” by the Fifth Dimension. Latham Players Artistic Director Dinah Lane said the First Church in Sandwich is always a welcoming audience for them. “The Players acquitted themselves beautifully, with many of them learning the signs for “Imagine” quickly under Becky’s expert guidance. It was clear that they took great pride in this special performance with their added use of sign,” Dinah said. “Many members of the congregation were moved to come up to the Players after the service and tell them how much they enjoyed our presence there, and especially the signing. I’d like to give a special shout-out to Becky, whose background in musical theater as well as ASL was a great addition to our summer work.”

The Latham Players is a group of approximately 15 adult performers drawn from our Adult Services program. They perform year-round at various venues throughout Cape Cod, giving back to the community and developing their skills, creativity, and sense of accomplishment in a supportive atmosphere. In addition to churches, they entertain at nursing homes, collaborate with Latham School students at special events, perform on local cable TV, and join CapeCodCAN (Cape Cod Collaborative Arts Network) in talent shows and a large scale musical production held at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. Their love of music and dedication to rehearsing and performing is an inspiration. A video of “Imagine” from their August performance is linked below.

The Latham Players performed “Our Music Show” recently at Latham School. It was the culmination of the group’s summer work with piano accompanist Susan Saposnik of Yarmouth Port. The show featured 8 songs from The Music Man and The Sound of Music. The pianist’s services were generously funded by an Arts Foundation of Cape Cod grant to allow the Players to “find their own voices” in a new way. The Players have been very enthusiastic about this new step in their musical development and enjoyed showing the school community what they have accomplished.

The next performance will be a “Rock ‘n Roll Talent Show” sponsored by CapeCodCAN on October 20th at 2:00 p.m. at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. Many of the Players and others in the CapeCodCAN community will be encouraged to perform solo acts of various kinds. The event is open to the public with a ticket price of $10. The Players are greatly looking forward to “showing their stuff” on the big stage and hope that many people will come to see and support them.

Latham Centers is grateful to the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod (AFCC) – the Latham Players’ rehearsal pianist was funded through a generous grant from AFCC.