We are happy to announce the start of a fundraiser put on by Payton Myers, Miss Junior Teen Alabama. She is a talented actor, singer and dancer who has been seen on the Leeds stage in many productions. Her Spark the Arts platform meshes perfectly with the mission of the Leeds Arts Council, so we’ve teamed with Payton to offer these T-shirts to raise money for new sound and lights here at the Leeds Theater and Arts Center. We want our performers to shine, and new technology would be a terrific addition to our theater.
Sizes available: YS YM YL AS AM AL AXL 2XL 3XL Cost for t-shirt is $20. Cost for 2XL and 3XL shirts are $25. If you want the t-shirt mailed to you shipping is $5 per order.
If you would like to arrange pick-up please mark that option at purchase and we will be in touch through e-mail.
The Leeds Area Visual Artists will be featured at the Leeds Arts Center in September. The Arts Council will honor the artists with an opening reception on Sunday, August 29, 2021, 1:30-3:30 pm. You are cordially invited to meet our talented local artists and enjoy their beautiful and varied works. Additional art work will be on display and available for purchase in the theater during the reception. Admission is free. Participating artists include Janice Cook, Maura Davies, Cheryl Hornbuckle, Gudrun Rominger, Tanna Rose, Cindy Schmidt, Kevin Wheeler, and Beverly Wilson.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Ramey Channell, a Leeds native, began her love of painting and drawing early in life, studied art in high school, majored in journalism at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky, and majored in art at UAB. She is a member of the Portrait Society of America, and Leeds Area Visual Artists (LAVA). Her artwork exhibit includes oil portraits, multi-media illustrations, still life acrylic paintings, Native American art, wildlife portraits, and whimsical drawings.
Janice Cook, an Alabama native, grew up in a home where drawing was a favorite family after-dinner event. Her desire to teach led her to Troy University and later to art educators forums at Savannah College of Art & Design. A retired Jefferson County art teacher, she won the PTA Teacher of the year in 1994, Secondary Art Educator in 2000 AAEA, and Second Mile Teacher from Erwin HS in 2006. She showed her artwork and won in many local art associations. Recent exhibits include: selection for the Oneonta ArtWalk of Murals 2020, St. Vincent’s Art Gallery solo show, April-June 2021, and the Trussville Library Exhibit September 2020. Maura Davies, a Leeds resident originally from Huntsville, has enjoyed photography as a hobby for many years, beginning as a teen and taking photography courses in college. Her photography often highlights her other interests, such as plants and gardening, nature, and history. Documenting her children’s activities has led to photographing the band programs at Leeds High School and Leeds Middle School, and Leeds High School Soccer. She has exhibited at Leeds Arts Center, St. Vincent’s East, the Genesis Gallery of the Cahaba Springs Church, and the Trussville Public Library.
Cheryl Horncastle has been interested in all forms of art her entire life. She took art classes in high school and college. As a teacher of visually impaired children, she helped them with art projects and was pleased when they received awards for their work. Since retirement she has worked in several mediums including pottery, watercolor, pastels, and mixed media. She has exhibited at Leeds Arts Center and St. Vincents. Her work is in private collections. Gudrun Rominger is a native of Heidelberg, Germany. She received her B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University, studied at the University of Louisville, Louisville School of Art, the Europaische Kurist Akademie, and completed a Masters at Georgia Southern. Both artist and art educator, she has taught at colleges and high schools in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Brazil, and England. Her work is in private collections throughout the southeast, west coast, Europe, South Africa, Brazil, and Japan. She works in numerous media, with a focus on painting.
Tanna Rose has been drawing as long as she can remember. She took art classes in high school, was in the art club, and won awards. She received her BFA from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She has worked for Southern Living Magazine; Luckie & Company advertising agency; and WMU. She retired in 2020 and is currently teaching art classes at the Leeds Arts Center and is fulfilling her lifetime dream of painting and drawing full time. Her work has been exhibited at First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Leeds Arts Center, St. Vincent’s East; and the juried art show at the Warrior Arts Center, where she was awarded honorable mention.
Cynthia Schmidt is a retired teacher from Leeds Elementary School and Banks Christian Academy. Her favorite art medium is watercolor. She has taken classes with Wayne Spradley. Cindy loves for her paintings to glow with color and have light from the creator of all. Her desire is to learn more about other forms of art. She lives in Moody and has three grandchildren.
Kevin Wheeler, originally from Connecticut, is an amateur photographer living in Odenville. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1995 after serving over 21 years and from pastoral ministry in 2016, when he and his wife moved to Alabama. In his youth, Kevin’s passion was drawing and oil painting, copying the masters and doing nature and landscape scenes. In recent years, he’s taken up photography as an art form, still passionate about nature and landscapes. His desire is to capture and share glimpses of God’s glory as revealed in nature. He has photographed in various locations around the world, including England, Ireland, Guatemala, Tanzania, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Louisiana, New England, New York, Tennessee, the Smokies, and more.
Beverly Wilson is a resident of Moody. After retiring from UAB, she became interested in painting. After all, if President George Bush could suddenly begin painting portraits, she thought she might try painting a landscape or a still life. Self-taught, she discovered several educational and fun tutorials on the internet. Each new painting is a learning experience for her, mostly in perseverance and patience, but the rewards are greater than the frustrations. Inspiration for her paintings comes from photos taken while traveling and suggestions from friends. She finds painting to be an enjoyable pastime and looks forward to continuing.
Merle Dollar with Chuck King on trumpet, Peyton Grant on piano, Tom Dameron on tuba, and Gaines Brake on clarinet. An evening of music for old souls who are young at heart. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online through LAC website. Or just walk up on Sunday afternoon! We hope to see you there! A bonus feature is that Tom Dameron’s art is on display in the LAC lobby!
Leeds Theatre and Arts Center 8140 Parkway Drive – Leeds, Alabama
Young Frankenstein is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com
Debbie Childers Debbie Childers’ quick wit and hilarious stories make her presentations unforgettable. She loves the Bible, loves to talk, and loves to have fun – the perfect combination for an entertaining and meaningful speaker with a message of value. Debbie’s audiences laugh their way into a lesson that will change their lives forever.
No stranger to audiences, Debbie’s entertainment journey began when she began speaking at medical conferences and seminars. It was during this phase of life that she realized what a passion she had not just for speaking, but for entertaining. In continuing her pursuit of her newfound passion, Debbie began drawing inspiration from everyday life. Her husband, Tim, a pastor, provides a lot of her material as well as the everyday things that happen to Debbie, that do not just happen to other people! Her ability to find the humor in life while focusing on her faith and transparency with everyday life issues has given her the opportunity to speak at several churches, keeping the audience both laughing and inspired.
Realizing she had a knack for humor, in 2018 she entered the “Jeanne Robertson Humor Competition” and won, cementing her as a true humorist. Winning the contest and being recognized by Jeanne for her talents, was a huge factor in Debbie realizing it was her calling to entertain people. Emphasizing clean comedy that you can take both your grandma and your grandkids to see, make an evening with Debbie Childers a must attend event.
The Redcoats on Saturday April 17, at 7 pm. Tickets $20.
Several years ago, Mark Lanter and Garry Burttram were having a late night chat at Local Color. The conversation went to their mutual love of all things “Beatles”. Mark told Garry he had an idea for doing a show of early Beatles music, covering their first releases and albums. He already had a name picked out…The Red Coats. Garry responded, Let’s do it!” The first {“type”:”block”,”srcClientIds”:[“9b2a4e15-ad02-41d9-9225-5b1d5914f61d”],”srcRootClientId”:””}Red Coats show was a stunning success and became a crowd favorite. The rest as they say, is history.
The Red Coats are Mark Lanter drums, J Willoughby guitar, Aaron Branson bass, Brad Wolfe lead guitar, and Peyton Grant keys. The lads have put together a show for true Beatles fans. This show will be Beatlemania Part One, which covers singles and albums from 1962 through 1964. What sets this show apart from Beatles imitators is Mark Lanter’s back stories and anecdotes throughout the show that make the music come alive.
“I began tole painting on wood in 1987 & enjoyed it. About 16 years ago I decided to try painting acrylics on canvas & have found my niche. I have shared my love of painting with some friends & we paint together every week. I plan to keep painting as long as I can.”
Friday and Saturday, January 29-30, 2021 – 7 pm Sunday, January 31, 2021 – 3 pm Leeds Theater and Arts Center 8140 Parkway Drive in downtown Leeds, AL Tickets $10
Come enjoy the music of Steve Pennington’s Broadway Bound troupe as they entertain with a selection of songs written by the prolific Frank Wildhorn, popular composer of Jekyll & Hyde, Dracula, the Musical, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and many others. To reserve your seats, contact the Leeds Arts Council office at (205) 699-1892 or leedsartscouncilal@gmail.com Someone will call or email you to confirm your reservation. All seats are reserved. You can pay at the door by cash, check, or credit card.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday October 1-3 and 8-10, 7 pm Sunday, October 4 and 11, 2 pm
Leeds Theater and Arts Center
8140 Parkway Drive in downtown Leeds
Victoria Boyce, director
Tickets $10
To reserve your seats, contact the Leeds Arts Council office at (205) 699-1892 or leedsartscouncilal@gmail.com Someone will call or email you to confirm your reservation. All seats are reserved. You can pay at the door by cash, check, or credit card. Masks are required for audience members while inside the theater. There will be empty seats between audience members of different households to maintain social distancing. If you make reservations as a group, that group will be seated together.
On a dare from her fellow street urchins, 14-year-old Wiggins tries to pickpocket a strange old man. Not only is Wiggins unsuccessful, but the old man, who is actually Sherlock Holmes in disguise, manages to take the gold ring that was in Wiggins’ pocket and leave behind a note directing her where to go to get it back. When Wiggins goes to 221B Baker Street to retrieve the ring, she is shocked to find out how much Holmes knows about her based on a quick observation. After Wiggins sees Holmes use the ring to solve a case, Wiggins proposes to work as his assistant. Intrigued by her potential, Holmes agrees to begin training Wiggins on a trial basis, so long as she helps Mrs. Hudson with the chores. Wiggins and Holmes must learn to trust each other as Wiggins and her group of street urchins help him solve two dangerous mysteries: The Red Headed League and The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.
Tuesdays (Aug 25-Dec 8), 5:30-6:30 pm Taught by Victoria Boyce
Victorian Drama: A fun, family-friendly look at Victorian theater and basic acting skills with a performance based around Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Showcase dates are Friday December 18 at 7 pm, and Saturday December 19 at 2 pm. Classes will include stage combat and dance as well as acting training. For students in grades 3-12. Spots are limited so call (205) 285-7635 to register. Registration open year-round, so your student can start at any time.
