WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From Westco Productions. June 13, 2004: Westco Productions’ 25th Anniversary Gala Committee met at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford this week for a kick-off breakfast and planning session. There are 35 community and business leaders on the committee. The breakfast was sponsored by Stop & Shop Supermarkets and the Westchester Broadway Theatre.
Westco is a non-profit professional theater company based in White Plains which specializes in family entertainment, as well as providing numerous community service programs such as a theater workshop for children with Down Syndrome and tours to entertain children in hospitals and institutions.
The 25th Anniversary Gala will be held at the Westchester Broadway Theatre on September 28, 2004. Susan Katz, Executive Director of Westco, told the Gala Committee that two prominent celebrities have agreed to entertain at the event. Citing “show business superstition about naming names too early,” she said that a formal announcement would be made later, while noting that one of the celebrities has won both Tony and Emmy awards and currently is starring on Broadway, and the other celebrity also is known for appearances on Broadway, television, and at the major casino-hotels in Atlantic City and elsewhere.
Gala Committee members determined that the evening of festivities will begin with a cocktail party and silent auction, followed by dinner, ceremonies, and the evening’s entertainment.
The event will honor three long-time supporters of Westco. They are: Marsha Gordon, President & CEO of the Business Council of Westchester (formerly the Westchester Chamber of Commerce); Ronald McDonald House Charities through ALPS Management (fanchisee of 12 McDonald’s Restaurants in Westchester and the Bronx); and, The John H. & Ethel G. Noble Charitable Trust.
Westco recently concluded a run of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” at the Westchester Broadway Theatre. The organization also performs at the Rochambeau Theater in White Plains, the Antrim Playhouse in Suffern, and the Town Hall Theater in Irvington. During its 25 years, Westco has presented more than 1,750 performances of more than 250 different shows to more than 500,000 audience members. Shows have included Broadway musicals, comedies, dramas, and children’s classics. In addition, Westco has visited more than 50,000 children in hospitals and critical care facilities with its shows and performers, at no charge to the institutions or children. Westco also has produced performing arts workshops involving more than 1,000 children from low income families.
Co-Chairs of the Committee are: Carol Greenberg (President/CEO of CONCEPT:CARE); Steven Sledzik, Esq. (Jones Sledzik Garneau Nardone, Attorneys); Gordon Marshall, Esq. (Attorney); and Judith Perrin (Director of Development for American Lung Association).
