Reflecting on my 20th Year and our Exciting New Year Ahead with Garden Players
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!
As we step into our holidays leading up to 2025, let’s take a moment to reflect on the incredible memories and achievements of our Spring and Fall 2024 semesters and look ahead to the opportunities awaiting us in the New Year!
December 22nd Performance at QPAC
Garden Players will join OSQ, performing classic holiday and movie songs, as well as selections from Behind The Scenes of Hollywood by Betina Hershey & Denver Casado. Tickets are available at the door beginning at 3pm. The concert will be 4-6:30pm. Find out more.
Fall Semester 2024 Highlights:
This fall, Garden Players students enjoyed a variety of new and returning performance opportunities:
Olivia Slocum Park Concert Series
Students created and performed a short play about the founders of The Gardens and sang our original song, Music In The Gardens.
CITG Children’s Fair
Students shared acting improv and songs to a packed audience.
Thanksgiving Interfaith Service
Betina, Nick and GP kids performed Dona Nobis Pacem and This Little Light of Mine.
In-Class Sharing Day
A showcase of scenes, monologues, solfège, rounds, songs, acting improv, and theater games.
Forest Hills Stadium 2nd Annual Toy Drive
Original songs performed alongside The Scooches.
Spring Semester 2024 Highlights:
Looking back, our playwriting class collaborated on our Spring musical. Check out our playwrights chatting about the process:
Here’s a more in depth playwright interview video to enjoy.
Our collaboration – Creature Mountain & The Slime Corporation, premiered the weekend of May 18 & 19.
Enjoy red and blue cast videos, interviews, and more in our Creature Mountain video playlist.
We celebrated 20 years under my direction with a very special concert bringing alumni together to sing songs from original musicals through the years.
Here’s a highlight video:
And here’s the Full Length The Most Epic GP Concert Ever – video
We put on our January Concert, featuring GP songs from We Are Monsters, and The Scooches performing songs from Lift You Up. Our performers enjoyed this chance to sing on the stage with a professional band.
- Find the January Concert in this Concerts Playlist
- We marched in the FH American Legion Memorial Day Parade
- We sang at Flag Day in The Gardens with The Scooches
Coming Soon in 2025:
We’re gearing up for more magical moments this spring:
January 26th Community Concert at The Community House
Red Cast (Friday kids) at 3pm and Blue Cast (Tuesday kids) at 5pm.
Magic It Up
Our original musical debuts the weekend of May 17 & 18 at The Community House in Forest Hills. This tale of a magical field trip and a quest to help magical creatures is not to be missed!
Share the Joy of Theater This Holiday Season:
Looking for a meaningful gift? Support a child’s creativity with a Garden Players Gift Certificate: Buy Here
A Big Thank You to Our Community:
To our students, alumni, benefactors, and local supporters: thank you for making Garden Players a vibrant hub of creativity and connection. Your generosity fuels our mission of fostering bravery, creativity, and self-expression through socially aware, high-quality theater education.
Support Garden Players:
Donate: Contributions are tax-deductible via our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas. Donate Here
Wishing You Joyous Holidays:
During this holiday season, enjoy our Holiday Sing-Along Video and try your hand at our favorite tongue twisters. Let’s keep the spirit of creativity alive as we look forward to seeing you at our January 26th concert and May 17 & 18 performances.
Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Wonderful New Year!
Warmly,
Betina Hershey
Executive & Artistic Director, Garden Players