Holiday Reader's Theater

Just Poets’ first Readers Theater was crisp as a Dickens Duck.  Staged in the Rochester Academy of Medicine's Victorian ambiance of ornate mahogany, lovely fireplace, and classic wall-to-ceiling bookcases, every seat held laughter, silence, and riveting attention to the performers (Kitty Jospé, Almeta Whitis, Craig Schantz, Bart White, Roy Bent,  R. Emmett Michie), and the event’s creator/ producer/director: Celeste Schantz. Poetry, stories, song, it had it all.

Terrific. So glad we came,” said Jim Dangler. Dangler’s sentiment was echoed throughout the beautiful hall where these performers brought perhaps a new tradition to not only Just Poets, but Rochester, as well. The grand piano warmed the air in elegant holiday/classical note (thank you Willie Ellebee and Kitty Jospé).  And the table of treats at intermission, tastefully displayed, would have made Tiny Tim’s eyes sparkle.

Who could have asked for more when several Just Poet members came out of the audience of nearly 60 to read delightful and poignant “Letters to Santa” from then to now.

Toss in a raffle, $300 raised for the Open Door Mission, and the finale: the audience joining together singing Auld Lang Syne,  it was as warm and moving as Bob Cratchit’s crackling Christmas hearth.

From soup to nuts, well done.

Happy Holidays,

David Delaney