A pair of songs from Kieran Cunningham, the well-known Irish actor (Game of Thrones), who is coming to the Danville Irish Festival in July to star in The Search for Tinker Doyle.

Nationally known comedians Jim Wiggins and Bob Batch will headline a comedy show on Saturday, May 11 to remember Pioneer Playhouse’s beloved Holly Henson and to benefit Stand Up To Cancer.

Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) describes itself on its Website as:

[A] groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that [...]]]>

Nationally known comedians Jim Wiggins and Bob Batch will headline a comedy show on Saturday, May 11 to remember Pioneer Playhouse’s beloved Holly Henson and to benefit Stand Up To Cancer.

Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) describes itself on its Website as:

[A] groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now.

SU2C is bringing together the best and the brightest researchers and encouraging collaboration instead of competition among the entire cancer community. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C creates awareness and builds broad public support for this effort.

Show time is 8 p.m. There will be a silent auction beginning at 6.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day of show, and available from the Pioneer Playhouse Box Office  (859-236-2747)

The Playhouse, along with the Community Arts Center, Boyle County Public Library, Danville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the Heart of Danville, and the Sister Cities Commission, are working together on this four-day event (July 11-14) that will [...]]]> Pioneer Playhouse is joining with Danville arts, culture, and tourism organizations to organize the first-ever Danville Irish Festival.

The Playhouse, along with the Community Arts Center, Boyle County Public Library, Danville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the Heart of Danville, and the Sister Cities Commission, are working together on this four-day event (July 11-14) that will celebrate Danville’s connection to Carrickfergus, Danville’s Irish Sister City, by showcasing Irish heritage, culture, and art by known Irish dancers, musicians and actors at various Danville locations.

A complete schedule of events will be posted soon, but here’s a little preview of some of what will be offered over the four day period:

• An original play premiere at Pioneer Playhouse: The Search for Tinker Doyle by local award-winning Kentucky playwright, Elizabeth Orndorff. A funny and fictional comedy about the relationship between a small Kentucky town and its Irish sister city, which was inspired by the playwright’s trip to Ireland last fall as part of the first-ever arts exchange to Carrickfergus.
• Artist exchange: Kieren Cunningham, well-known Irish actor who has appeared on HBO’s popular series, Game of Thrones, will spend four weeks in Danville starring in The Search for Tinker Doyle and participating in community events.
• Tea Talk and Tasting of Irish Teas by Bruce Richardson of Elmwood Inn Teas.
• Lunch with the Arts at the Community Arts Center: A chance for the public to meet and talk with Kieren Cunningham, and hear stories and songs from Ireland.
• A “Shamrock Stroll” featuring Irish art and music at various downtown Danville locations.
• Céilidh Dance lessons (Traditional Irish Dance) at Community Arts Center.
• A Street Fair at Constitution Square: This day-long event will feature Irish food, music and dance by well known Irish musicians.

Please contact Pioneer Playhouse or Heather Henson at 859-236-2747 for more details!

Not all of our patrons are familiar with Act II Custom Wood Creations, a charming shop/showroom located on the grounds of the Pioneer Playhouse. We encourage everyone to come visit, and there is a brand-new Act II Website, for those who want to make a virtual visit to Phillip Pickthall’s custom [...]]]>

Not all of our patrons are familiar with Act II Custom Wood Creations, a charming shop/showroom located on the grounds of the Pioneer Playhouse. We encourage everyone to come visit, and there is a brand-new Act II Website, for those who want to make a virtual visit to Phillip Pickthall’s custom wood business.

Below is a brief note Pioneer Playhouse proprietress Charlotte Henson wrote for the Act II Website:

  Happy Coincidence! A chance encounter with the local newspaper delivery man making his route at 5:00 a.m. in Danville, Kentucky has resulted in some totally awesome, beautiful, and one-of-a-kind reclaimed wood furniture.

Phillip Pickthall and his wife, Martha, came to Danville as a semi-retired couple from Georgia, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Always working a paper route for extra income, Phillip had run commercial wood shops and was responsible for the most visible piece of his career, the giant bar, 100 feet long, at Gilley’s in Las Vegas. He has an affinity for old wood.

Inside the city limits of Danville, Pioneer School of Drama, a summer stock theatre known as Pioneer Playhouse, was built 63 years ago. Stored on the grounds were 100-year-old poplar, cedar and oak beams with siding from a recently torn down barn.

That chance meeting between Pioneer Playhouse producer Charlotte Henson and her paper carrier resulted in an empty store front being utilized for a workshop and showroom.

(The name was picked by Holly Henson for the second life of reclaimed wood, and the creation of useful pieces from the real thing).

Real wood is used sparingly in modern pieces. They are mostly made of composite, heavy and not able to hold screws and clamps, and with a wood veneer.

Phillip Pickthall romances the wood, finding the right piece that speaks to him–planing, sanding, hammering and finishing. He and Martha work together. If you’re interested in hearing the history of a piece that catches your eye, they will be more than happy to tell you.

Visitors from out of state are amazed at the reasonable prices compared with high-end catalogs and stores. Prices range from $35 for cheese or bread boards to $850 for the New Holland bench. Items can be shipped.

Phillip Pickthall is also a masterful restorer of furniture. Most pieces are expertly taken apart and glued or fastened according to the age of the piece. Missing bits can be restored, and the furniture comes back as strong or stronger than when it was new. Favorite pieces, some made by family members, can be used again.

Patron Passes for Pioneer Playhouse! Stun them with the perfect gift!

Available Now for the Sizzling 2013 Season! Patron Passes: $80 each (6 shows for the price of 5!) Super Passes: $140 (10 shows for the price of 9!) Theater tickets make great stocking stuffers! Check out our family friendly line-up of plays

It’s chock full of stories and pictures from the fantastic 2012 season, and features a preview of 2013′s sizzling list of plays.

To get the newsletter delivered by [...]]]> The Pioneer Playhouse newsletter is available for easy download by clicking here. (PDF document: you must have Flash Player, available for free download from the Adobe site).

It’s  chock full of stories and pictures from the fantastic 2012 season, and features a  preview of 2013′s sizzling  list of plays.

To get the newsletter delivered by mail go to our contact page.

June 7 – June 22 DEATHTRAP A long-running Broadway thriller by Ira Levin about a famous playwright who will stop at nothing (including murder!) to create his next big hit. Great writing with heart-stopping twists. Sure to keep you guessing… and gasping… until the end!

June 25 – July 6 TAMED A [...]]]>

June 7 – June 22  DEATHTRAP
A long-running Broadway thriller by Ira Levin about a famous playwright who will stop at nothing (including murder!) to create his next big hit. Great writing with heart-stopping twists. Sure to keep you guessing… and gasping… until the end!

June 25 – July 6  TAMED
A modern-day version of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew adapted by Holly Hepp-Galvan, where the fast-talking hero hired to tame and marry a rich but uncatchable bride is a rugged back-woods reality TV star famous for catching wild animals. (Sound familiar? Hint: “Yee-yee-yee-yee!”)

July 9 – July 20 THE SEARCH FOR TINKER DOYLE
**New Play Premier!** by Elizabeth Orndorff
A comedy about the wife of a small-town Kentucky mayor who journeys with her husband to their town’s sister city in Ireland. Her agenda: to search out and reconnect with a long lost boyfriend, whose name in Ireland is as common as John Smith. Share Danville’s unique bond with its own Irish sister city, Carrickfergus.

July 23 – August 3 MOON OVER BUFFALO
Eben French Mastin and Patricia Hammond star in Ken Ludwig’s hilarious Broadway comedy about a zany theatrical family trying to keep their level-headed and responsible daughter from giving up the theatre to marry a weatherman! Meanwhile a blizzard barrels down on Buffalo!

August 6 – August 17  COCKEYED
A brilliantly written new comedy-romance by William Missouri Downs (author of KOSHER LUTHERANS) about the office romance between a one-eyed beauty queen and a Plato-quoting philosophy major (who happens to be invisible). He must woo the gorgeous, one-eyed gal before she agrees to marry the boss.

August 22, 23, 24 Etta May Back By Popular Demand!
The Queen of Southern Sass returns for a stand-up comedy special – and this time she is joined by Comedy MC and Playhouse favorite Eben French Mastin!

BURGIN — Actor Eric Hedlund is playing a criminal. He has a gun in his hand and is about to hold up a store.

Suddenly, his legs get wobbly, things start swirling around him, and as he struggles to maintain balance, a mysterious man [...]]]> Voices Inside theater project helps inmates reflect on lives, possibly change

BURGIN — Actor Eric Hedlund is playing a criminal. He has a gun in his hand and is about to hold up a store.

Suddenly, his legs get wobbly, things start swirling around him, and as he struggles to maintain balance, a mysterious man appears holding a red umbrella.

When Hedlund asks the identity of the man, played by inmate Derek Trumbo, he replies, “I’m that little voice in your head that tells you you’re about to do something stupid.”

The scene is playing out in front of a room full of people who have done something stupid — and illegal. The short play, Second Chance by Nathan Wright, is being performed in the chapel at Northpoint Training Center, a medium-security prison in Burgin, in front of an audience of prisoners and invited guests.

It is part of Voices Inside, a writing and performance project run by Pioneer Playhouse in Danville.

Read the entire article at Kentucky.com

Inmate Derek Trumbo, with umbrella, and professional actor Eric Hedlund performed inmate Nathan Wright’s play “Second Chance” on Aug. 13, 2012 at Northpoint Training Center in Burgin as part of Voices Inside. The writing-performance project is run by Pioneer Playhouse and is financed by an arts grant and the prison canteen. Photo by Rich Copley | staff.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/31/2318817/voices-inside-theater-project.html#storylink=cpy