Riverside Theatre glittered with excitement during the annual Friends’ Fall Luncheon celebrating the theater’s Golden Anniversary with Encores, a musical retrospective of some of Riverside’s former shows on the Stark Mainstage, followed by a luncheon.
“We’re back after three years. Thank you all for being here and for supporting Riverside Theatre,” said Sandy McManus, Friends committee chair, as she welcomed the audience to the 50th season. She credited the success of the afternoon to Cindy Rounsavall, event chair, with co-chairs Liz Farnsworth, Rennie Gibb and Nancy Rosner.
Encores featured appearances by Kathy St. George, who played Peter Pan at Riverside in 1994; Ron Wisniski, who has appeared in 19 Riverside productions over the past 30 years; Heather Botts, who played Ensign Nellie Forbush in “South Pacific”; and Samantha Bruce and Jeffrey Kringer, who were among the cast of “Carousel,” which was shut down prematurely due to the pandemic.
The show was an original production by Allen Cornell, Riverside’s producing artistic director/CEO, with accompanist Bruce Barnes, who will return later this season as music director for “42nd Street.” “I am so grateful to all of you for being here and for finally being able to, hopefully, have an entire season here on this stage. It has been a long, long wait,” said Cornell.
Each of the performers reminisced about their time here, remarking about the special venue Riverside has become over the years.
Wisniski tailored his performance to Vero Beach having been the home of the Dodgers spring training with monologues from “Casey at the Bat” and “Damn Yankees.”
“What a joy it has been this afternoon to walk down memory lane with all of you. Thank you so much. As you can see, we all feel that Riverside is the most magical place to work,” said St. George, before giving a Riverside twist to a scene from “The Wizard of Oz.”
“I think that it wasn’t enough just to want to see Aunt Em and Uncle Henry again. It’s just that if I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any farther than the Riverside Theatre,” said St. George.
“I’ve been to other theaters, and some of them are very nice, and most of them are very beautiful, but all the same, I just kept saying to everybody I want to go to the Riverside Theatre. I want to go to the Riverside Theatre, and they sent me here. And you’re all here, all of you, and I’m not going to leave here ever, ever again because I love you all. Oh, Cindy. Oh, Allen. There’s no place like the Riverside Theatre. There’s no place like the Riverside Theatre,” St. George proclaimed, to the audience’s delight.
She was joined by the rest of the cast to close the show with “Never Never Land,” where, like Riverside, if you think of lovely things, you can never grow old.
After a standing ovation, the ladies adjourned to the Orchid Lounge and Waxlax Stage for a light luncheon catered by Elizabeth D. Kennedy & Co.
The Friends Committee annually raises more than $500,000 to supplement operating costs through special events such as the luncheon, and the Spring Gala Celebration, which this year features actress and singer Kelli O’Hara on March 14.
For more information, visit RiversideTheatre.com.
Photos by Mary Schenkel
