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Notice something different about our scholarship? It has a new name! The Robertson County Players Performing Arts Scholarship has been renamed to honor the memory of Judy Stanley, a founding member of the RCP, and a beloved educator and friend.
The 2023-2024 Robertson County Players season has been dedicated to Judy. The following tribute was written by Judy's husband, Guy Stanley:
A Tribute to My Wife:
As I write this, it has been a little over thirteen months since the original First Lady of the Robertson County Players left our world. When I learned that the Board of Directors, in my absence, had decided to dedicate the season to my wife, tears came to my eyes. I have been reflecting on my life with the players and my family. I am pleased to say that all of our family, Guy, Judy, Stan, Ley, Morgan, Connor, and Sloane have appeared in at least one RCP production. The RCP could not have been where we are today without Judy.
Many of you know that she appeared in the first of our plays, "Plaza Suite", in 1978. She also appeared in almost every one of our plays during the first of several seasons. She and Verne Bolen starred in "The Silver Whistle", which was directed by Hal Aldrich, one of our founders. She is also remembered by the cast of "You Can't Take It With You" for the tirade she exhibited when, in rehearsal, she stepped out of her character Penny to berate the rest of the cast for not knowing their lines.
When we decided to do a musical, she auditioned for and was cast as Aunt Eller in "Oklahoma" in 1980. That was followed by The Widow Paroo, mother of Winthrop, played by her seven year old son, Stan. She reprised that role in 2011 when Stan played Harold Hill. Even then, the memory problems which eventually led to Alzheimers had already started to appear. That did not stop Judy from performing. In fact, in some ways, it seemed to make her better. When she played Ouiser Boudreaux in "Steel Magnolias", the cast said that she didn't actually have any of her lines memorized. Again, she stole the show.
I must also mention that she was an outstanding director with such memorable children's theater plays as, "Invisible People" and "Charlotte's Web". She was also great in directing for an older audience with plays such as "Dracula", "The Diary of Anne Frank", and "To Kill a Mockingbird." Not only did she act and direct, but she also designed the sets, painted the sets, and often helped build them. There was not anything connected to a production that the Robertson County Players did that she was not willing to do. The last time she spoke on the stage for the Players was the final night of "Beauty and the Beast" on October 6, 2017. That, however, was not the last time she performed. She sang with the cast of, "There's No Business Like Show Business". She sang perfectly even though the disease which eventually would take her from us had progressed to the point that she had to be led onto the stage when it was time to perform. She never missed a word of a song, or a BOW.
Please join us in celebrating this year's graduates and honoring the memory of an RCP legend!
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