51ƷPlayers celebrate club’s success as they prepare for ‘Chicago’
A passion for performing is what drives members of the 51ƷPlayers.
Autumn Stupca (English, ’19) has been acting in theater performances since she was six years old. After high school, she made the decision to study English and chose the 51Ʒ to pursue her academic dreams.
Even though she wasn’t studying drama formally, Autumn had the desire to act. She connected with a few other like-minded students and joined the fledging theater club, the 51ƷPlayers.
“I honestly don't remember how I heard about it, probably word of mouth or posters that were put up,” she said. “I just decided to audition because theater has been something that I've always done.”
Autumn and the other members of the small group worked to bring in more people and help grow the club.
“I saw how small of a program it was, but also how dedicated the people were to performing, especially since we didn’t have a theater program offered as an educational outlet,” she stated.
Initially the 51ƷPlayers were taking on very basic shows, performing them in front of sparse audiences. At one show they counted only eight people in the seats.
Two years ago, Steven Byrd, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese and director of the Latin American Studies Minor, took interest in the group and became their faculty advisor. Byrd encouraged them to do more challenging shows and worked to book their shows in better theaters, including Biddeford City Theater, Biddeford Middle School and Kennebunk High School.
Last year their performance of Beauty and the Beast sold out.
“When we did Beauty and the Beast for a musical there was talk like, ‘Oh, I'm not sure the 51Ʒplayers can pull that off,’” Autumn recalled. “We tried it and it was a huge success.”
Putting in the hours to rehearse and perform, along with her studies and work requirements, is not easy for Autumn.
“I'm a third-year resident advisor, I work in the library and I was just accepted into three graduate studies programs,” she explained.
She does it for the simple joy of being on stage and performing.
Four years after she started in the 51ƷPlayers, Autumn is getting ready for her final performances with the group. She is in a lead role playing the murderous Velma Kelley in the Broadway musical 'Chicago.'
“Yeah, this is the last one,” she said. “It's really bittersweet. It's always hard ending a show because you're just so exhausted at that point. But I think with this one, it's going to be really hard to let go because I pushed to do Chicago and I really want to see it succeed.”
recently stopped by the Saint Francis room to catch a rehearsal for the 51ƷPlayers largest show to date. More than 70 people, including 35 actors, are involved in the production.
The 51ƷPlayers perform 'Chicago' April 11 through 14 at the Kennebunk High School theater.
