Starcatchers shift to patriotic theme

JACKSON, Mo. -- Months in the planning, Saturday's Starcatchers Revue was organized to raise money to help Jackson's newly formed theatrical company find a home and buy equipment needed to get such enterprises started. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Starcatchers board members thought about canceling the show. But they decided going ahead could help victims of the attacks as well as people here.

"The community needs a healing process," Aleda Phillips says, "and you can't heal until you do something."

Proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund.

"The needs of the nation take precedence over the needs of our organization," says Marty Koeller, Starcatchers' president.

Some of the 28 acts have switched to performances that reflect the war footing the country is now on. The audience joins in on "God Bless the U.S.A." at the end.

The show will be presented at 3 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Jackson, 212 S. High St. The show, to be emceed by Jason Wray, will consist of songs, dances, skits, monologues and even a drum solo. The organizers promise an opening surprise.

Ironically, 11-year-old Cape Girardean Katie Boyer had planned to sing "New York, New York" to lead off the show. Gospel singer Paula Andrews will follow with "God Will Make a Way."

Most of the performers are Jackson students. "This gives them an opportunity to make a difference," Phillips says. "It lets them see what they're capable of."

A week before the performance, Phillips enlisted 14-year-old Lauren Froemsdorf to dance to Celine Dion's uplifting anthem "My Heart Will Go On." Froemsdorf will wear a red, white and blue costume.

Phillips' daughter, Majhon, is one of the performers. The holder of the Miss Pre-Teen America crown in Jackson, she and Justin Vandergriff will sing songs from "The Phantom of the Opera."

Not all serious

Not everything will be serious-minded. High school student Blake Burris will sing and play guitar on "Teen-age Dirtbag."

Twelve-year-old Alisha Peats will give an expressive telling of a folk tale that winds up being told from the floor.

Both Koeller and Ann Swanson, another member of the Starcatchers board, have been active in Cape Girardeau-based River City Players productions in the past. "Some of us wanted to do theater in our hometown of Jackson," Koeller said of the decision to start the new troupe.

Starcatchers plans to stage the children's story "The Christmas Box" in Jackson this winter. Donations to the Red Cross will be collected Saturday but are not required to attend, Phillips said.

"If you don't have a donation and just want to offer up a prayer, that's all right."

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182