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Carmel Community Players Mission Statement:

"Our mission is to provide quality live dramatic and musical entertainment presentations that expand and develop creative, cultural and educational opportunities for the entire community."

The following article was reprinted from the Indystar.com

In 1993, I had heard enough.

I had just received a phone call from Jo Reed-Trakimas, a local drama and voice teacher. She told me that Carmel-area children, when auditioning for parts at other local theaters, were told: "We are casting local kids first, and then if there are any parts left over, we will cast you."

At that point, I decided to act on an idea I'd been mulling over: starting a community theater. Carmel had been without a local community theater since the Old Schoolhouse Players had disbanded several years earlier.

At that point, I spoke with my wife, who quickly agreed to be a part of this endeavor. I could not do it without her. I then called three more people: Dick Davis, Ed Beck and my brother, Ron Creviston. Now we had a much bigger task, to start a viable community theater.

Our group planned its first show, "Once Upon a Mattress." We actually did two complete productions with two casts. One was with a children's cast and the other was an adult cast. The shows were well-received.

Then we decided to take a big step. It was felt that we needed to do a big-time musical and see if the community really wanted what we were trying to offer. We also made another very important contact: Theresa Brust. She had just built a dance studio with a stage and auditorium that could seat 200. She quickly agreed to allow use of her place.

Everybody is familiar with "The Sound of Music," and there are seven children in the show. We had 86 children audition for those roles. We quickly saw that this was exactly what the city wanted. After this show, Carmel Community Players took off. The audience numbers were incredible for "The Sound of Music." We planned for the next year to be a full season of shows. We wanted to build on this success.

And build we did. Two very important people were added during "The Sound of Music." Deb Hepler, a local attorney, was added to the board, and Shelly Griffin agreed to take on the costume department. People say that I was the heart of CCP early on. If that was true, Deb quickly became the brains.

She joined our board and made us into a truly professional organization. Shelly just started in costumes -- she quickly went on to become a director and eventually served as board president for several years. Shelly gave us courage to move into several new directions.

You see, we have a heart, a brain and courage; now if we can find a wizard to get us a home, we will have CCP's future all cast.

We hope we have found that wizard. Mayor Jim Brainard and the city of Carmel have come up with the idea to build CCP a home. A fine-arts center has been planned as a crown jewel of the City Center project.

This project would include a 500-seat auditorium for our future performances. We are making plans to grow the organization to use this building. We see CCP in the future as a center not only for theater performances but as an education program.

If anybody wants to join our group, we are always looking for new volunteers.

To contact CCP, you can go to www.carmelplayers.org or call 815-9387.

 

The Carmel Community Players are located at Studio 15 - 15 First Ave., NE in Carmel, Indiana, 46082.  

CCP provides live dramatic and musical presentations that expand and develop creative opportunities for the entire community.  Founded in 1993, CCP responded to a growing need in this community for affordable, local, quality entertainment that would meet the needs of cultural enrichment for the entire family.   
The majority of market analysis studies undertaken by the traditional Indianapolis theaters revealed that as much as 75% of their audiences came from northern Marion and Hamilton counties.  

CCP focuses on providing a community-based venue for both experienced and inexperienced participants in theater, both on-stage and behind the scenes.  Adults and children alike extol the virtues of being on stage.  Such experiences allow you to overcome fears, develop talents, work in a team environment, experience excellent literature and improve self-confidence.