Open Mic Theater Night

Valley Players kicks off its third season with its first Open Mic Theater Night at The Rendezvous (78 3rd Street, Turners Falls) on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:00pm. The evening will feature scenes and speeches from a wide variety of plays, old and new, chosen by the performers themselves. During the event, guests can enjoy a meal and drinks from The Voo’s dinner menu and expansive bar list. No reservations are being taken and admission is free, but donations are encouraged and can be made by clicking on the event at www.valleyplayers.org.

As with all Valley Players productions, a portion of the funds raised will go to support another Valley nonprofit. In this case, half of the donations from the Open Mic Theater Night will go to The Brick House Community Resource Center in Turners Falls (brickhousecommunity.org). The other half will support Valley Players’ June picnic-theater production of *The* *Tempest*, which itself will be a benefit for the Center for New Americans.

The Brick House is a holistic-minded Community Resource Center with robust youth, parent/family, basic needs, and community-based programming and that also supports music recording, dance and art studios, and an intimate performance space shared with the community. Serving over 4000 people a year, The Brick House is nestled in downtown Turners Falls and prides itself on responding quickly to emerging community needs for over 35 years. 

A year and a half ago, in the face of rising food insecurity in Franklin County, The Brick House opened a food pantry that now serves over 2000 people a year and formed the Montague Food Security and Sustainability Coalition to unite like-minded organizations, agencies, schools, community groups, and farms to eliminate hunger in the area. When the SNAP crisis and government shutdown hit so many families, The Brick House was well positioned to ramp up its collective efforts and feed people who needed aid. As a community, it has continued that growth, so that those in need will have support when the next crisis comes along.

Anyone who would like to perform at the Open Mic should email info@valleyplayers.org to sign up for a slot (up to 2 minutes for a speech or 4 minutes for a scene) by sharing their name, the play from which the excerpt comes, and the scene or character. Slots are being given out on a first-response, first-served basis and there’s no need to be off-book. A few slots may also be reserved for walk-in performances on the night of the show.

Valley Players is a volunteer-driven nonprofit group with a mission to produce nimble, meaningful, and accessible community theater that helps build community by donating half of net ticket proceeds from its shows to other Valley nonprofits. In its first two years, Valley Players has supported Cancer Connection, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, River Valley Counseling Center, Community Aid Pioneer Valley, the Peace Development Fund, the Literacy Project, Way Finders, and the Amherst Survival Center. More information about Valley Players, including how to donate, become a sponsor, or join the email list, is at valleyplayers.org.