Troupe

Julie A. (Troupe) Stone, 87, a resident of the Village of Laurel Run, Fayetteville, Pa., and formerly of Waynesboro, Pa., died Friday, June 22, 2012, at the nursing home. The service will be Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home, Waynesboro. Pastor Dirk Small will officiate. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be in Rest Haven Memorial Gardens, Frederick, Md.

Brunswick Community Theater started as a book club, says Clay Carey, the group's president. The group began meeting at a church but, for several years, has been gathering and presenting plays at the town's City Park Building, where there's a stage complete with curtains. The group holds a reader's theater at 7:15 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month. Interested individuals are welcome to participate. Everybody who comes reads, Carey says. The atmosphere is casual - just sitting around a table reading, having refreshments and a little discussion, he adds.

Rachel Powell of Boonsboro will perform with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans dance group at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Md., on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. She is a 2009 graduate of Boonsboro High School. The Tamburitzans is a multicultural song and dance company. The world-renowned troupe is made up of about 30 dancers. The group is dedicated to the performance and preservation of the music, songs and dances of Eastern Europe and neighboring folk cultures.

HAGERSTOWN - From the front row of the bleachers, 4-year-old Mitchell Unger's eyes went wide. "Woooow," he said. "Now that's what I call a ladder. " The object of his fascination was a pair of 18-foot ladders being hoisted into a vertical position by a male gymnast, who then hoisted himself between them and began to climb. The ladder act was a crowd favorite Wednesday night at a show by the University of Maryland's Gymkana troupe, which traveled from College Park to perform at the Hagerstown Community College Athletic, Recreation and Community Center.

Once the white pancake make-up has been carefully applied to the faces of the Real Life Community Church Clowns, all talking ceases. Not a hello. Not a whistle. Not a peep. Talking, members say, isn't needed. That's because, they say, you have to listen to pay attention to God's message. Linda Havens, of Hagerstown, started the troupe at her church earlier this year after attending a retreat last fall for Credo's Women's Ministries in Hanover, Pa. Part of the retreat included a special ceremony with clowns.

A group of about 30 children will remember to Reduce, Recycle and Re-Use after watching the Saint Luke Lutheran Tent Troupe perform for the first time in Funkstown Tuesday afternoon with its show “Once Upon A Time....” “This is our 41st year, and we started because our youth minister pastor had a great love for music, theater and circus. At that time, there were a lot of troupes, but today we are the only traveling summer tent theater,” Drama Director Roney Shawe said. The troupe, which hails from Silver Spring, Md., performed interactive singalongs at Community Park like the “Hokey Pokey” and “Peanut Butter and Jelly,” and stories that included the Chinese folktale, “Tiki Tiki Tembo,” and “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - The Second City comedy-theater troupe will perform at Shepherd University's Frank Arts Center theater at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24. Tickets are selling fast for this group that performs satire and cutting-edge improvisation. Performing will be one of three Second City troupes. Tickets cost $15 for the general public, $10 for senior citizens and Shepherd faculty and staff, $5 for ages 17 and younger, and are free to Shepherd students while supplies last.

Children's Village of Washington County Inc. will host its 20th annual Kids Alive Fest, open house and Community Safety Day on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Children's Village campus at 1546 Mount Aetna Road in Hagerstown. Scheduled activities include a K-9 demonstration by the Maryland Correctional Institution at noon, an auto extrication demonstration by the Maugansville Goodwill Volunteer Fire Co. at 1 p.m. and a Ronald McDonald Safety Show at 2 p.m. Additional activities include car-seat safety checks by Community Rescue Service in the Brethren Mutual Insurance parking lot and child IDs using the MdCHIP program by the Gaye McGovern Insurance Agency, State Farm Insurance/Hagerstown Masonic Lodge.

MIDDLETOWN, Md. - Middletown High School sophomore Maureen McCarrick has been named a state-level high school winner of the 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Award. Maureen co-founded a 30-member children's theater troupe that stages performances to benefit disabled and disadvantaged people in the community. She expanded family skits that she and her siblings presented to their parents to backyard shows for friends and neighbors who brought canned goods for the local food bank.

FREDERICK, Md. - Capitol Steps will portray another side of Vice President Dick Cheney - Cheney the rap artist. He will perform the song "I Like Big Cuts. " The D.C.-based comedy troupe also will have a take on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il doing show tunes. Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani will sing a Led Zeppelin song. Capitol Steps, which claims to have put "the 'mock' in democracy," will bring its brand of political humor to Weinberg Center for the Arts on Saturday.

Hagerstown Community College will host the University of Maryland Gymkana Troupe Friday, March 29, beginning at 7 p.m., in the college's Athletic, Recreation and Community Center. The troupe was founded at the school in 1946. Since that time, the troupe has traveled all over the U.S. and abroad promoting gymnastics. Wellknown for its high- energy performances, the troupe performs both men's and women's gymnastic apparatus routines, as well as novelty circus acts that incorporate the use of chairs, ladders and trampolines.

Rachel Powell of Boonsboro will perform with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans dance group at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Md., on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. She is a 2009 graduate of Boonsboro High School. The Tamburitzans is a multicultural song and dance company. The world-renowned troupe is made up of about 30 dancers. The group is dedicated to the performance and preservation of the music, songs and dances of Eastern Europe and neighboring folk cultures.

The magic of live theater triumphs on stage as children from all around the region participate in the Waynesboro Children's Theatre Troupe's annual productions. These large-scale musicals that incorporate elaborate costumes, set design and choreographed numbers originated from one man's appreciation for the art of theatre. Stephen Kulla, 48, of Waynesboro, Pa., the organization's founder and director, is an avid proponent of the importance of theater for youth. The Waynesboro Children's Theatre Troupe is not only an arena for children's theatrical expression, it is also a way for those involved to build confidence and self-esteem.

Julie A. (Troupe) Stone, 87, a resident of the Village of Laurel Run, Fayetteville, Pa., and formerly of Waynesboro, Pa., died Friday, June 22, 2012, at the nursing home. The service will be Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home, Waynesboro. Pastor Dirk Small will officiate. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be in Rest Haven Memorial Gardens, Frederick, Md.

Thelma Marie (Brown) Troup, 101, of Boonsboro, Md., passed away Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at the Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown. Born Jan. 24, 1911, in Hagerstown, she was the daughter of the late Amos and Mamie (Baker) Alexander. Mrs. Troup had worked as a seamstress for the Dorbey and L'Aiglon dress factories. She was a member of the Manor Church of the Brethren, Boonsboro, where she had served as her class treasurer for many years. She also was a charter member of the Fairplay Ladies Auxiliary and past president of the Fairplay School PTA. Mrs. Troup is survived by three children, Melodie L. Frey of Boonsboro, Calvin A. Brown and wife, Sue, of Hagerstown and Paul A. Brown and wife, Lois, of Boonsboro; stepdaughter, Wanda Fox and husband, Frank, of Lancaster, Pa.; two sisters, Teresa Tasker and husband, Jack, of Keyser, W.Va., and Faye Hayes of Hagerstown; 21 grandchildren; 36 great-grandchildren; eight great-great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

The International Thespian Society, a division of the Educational Theatre Association, recently completed the ninth year of its national community service initiative, Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat.   Thespian Troupe 7710 at Smithsburg High School helped make this year's program a success by collecting 722 pounds of food for local charitable food programs. They were among 289 Thespian troupes from 41 states collecting a total of 304,578 pounds of canned and nonperishable food in this year's campaign.

A group of about 30 children will remember to Reduce, Recycle and Re-Use after watching the Saint Luke Lutheran Tent Troupe perform for the first time in Funkstown Tuesday afternoon with its show “Once Upon A Time....” “This is our 41st year, and we started because our youth minister pastor had a great love for music, theater and circus. At that time, there were a lot of troupes, but today we are the only traveling summer tent theater,” Drama Director Roney Shawe said. The troupe, which hails from Silver Spring, Md., performed interactive singalongs at Community Park like the “Hokey Pokey” and “Peanut Butter and Jelly,” and stories that included the Chinese folktale, “Tiki Tiki Tembo,” and “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein.

Children's Village of Washington County Inc. will host its 20th annual Kids Alive Fest, open house and Community Safety Day on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Children's Village campus at 1546 Mount Aetna Road in Hagerstown. Scheduled activities include a K-9 demonstration by the Maryland Correctional Institution at noon, an auto extrication demonstration by the Maugansville Goodwill Volunteer Fire Co. at 1 p.m. and a Ronald McDonald Safety Show at 2 p.m. Additional activities include car-seat safety checks by Community Rescue Service in the Brethren Mutual Insurance parking lot and child IDs using the MdCHIP program by the Gaye McGovern Insurance Agency, State Farm Insurance/Hagerstown Masonic Lodge.

Thelma Marie (Brown) Troup celebrated her 100th birthday recently at Manor Church of the Brethren’s fellowship Hall. About 145 guests were on hand for the celebration. Troup was born Jan. 24, 1911, in Hagerstown. She married Cecil Brown in 1930. They had four children, Melodie, Calvin, Kenny and Paul. She has 22 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. Her husband, Cecil, died in 1946 after 16 years of marriage. At that time, her youngest child was 5 years old, so she worked and raised the children on her own. In 1972, she married Earl Troup and was only married three years before he died.