SEQUIM — Readers Theatre Plus’ 2012-2013 season of shows, which ranged from “Lombardi” to “Cotton Patch Gospel” to “The Shadow Box,” generated nearly $30,000 for local nonprofit groups, said Jim Dries, co-founder of the theater troupe.
Since its inception in 2006, Readers Theatre Plus has been staging comedies, dramas and musicals with a twist:
Net proceeds go to organizations such as the Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, the Sequim Guild for Seattle Children’s Hospital and Peninsula Friends of Animals.
Another fundraiser gets under way this weekend.
A silent auction and raffle will take place at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, concurrent with the Readers Theatre Plus-Peninsula Singers production of “The Mikado.”
Theatergoers will be invited to bid on more than 50 auction items donated by businesses around the region.
Silent auction items
Among the items: tickets to Key City Public Theatre plays in Port Townsend, to a 5th Avenue Theatre musical in Seattle and to the season of Port Angeles Community Players shows; yoga classes in Carlsborg; ukulele, guitar or piano lessons in Sequim; and gift certificates for Mad Maggi, Les Schwab Tire Center and Sunny Farms.
The bidding and raffle-ticket buying will be open during the “Mikado” performances at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday and June 28 and 29, and at 2 p.m. this Sunday and June 30.
Proceeds from the auction and raffle will go toward another primary Readers Theatre Plus initiative: college scholarships for local teenagers, particularly those who plan on careers in the arts.
“Each year, we’ve increased the number of scholarships we give,” Dries said.
In 2013, six awards of $800 each went to Port Angeles high school seniors Lucy Grace Bert, Elizabeth Helwick and Heather Kauffman, and to Sequim seniors Amanda Bennett, Emily Carel and Victoria LaCroix.
So there’s a double meaning to the Readers Theatre Plus motto of “enriching the community through the arts,” Dries noted.
The troupe seeks to produce good theater in Sequim, he said, while putting real money into the bank for nonprofit groups.
More details can be found at www.ReadersTheatrePlus.com and 360-797-3337.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.