SYCAMORE ROUGE PRESENTS FOUTH ANNUAL KING CELEBRATION

PETERSBURG, VA- Sycamore Rouge, Petersburg’s Professional Theatre for the Community, will sponsor a Celebration of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this Monday, January 18 at 2pm. The event will be free to the public. In exchange for admission, the Sycamore Rouge staff is encouraging audience members to bring canned food in honor of King’s Day of Service.
The performance, which consists of a staged reading of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and those who knew him, will be performed by local actors and directed by Sycamore Rogue’s Producing Artistic Director kb saine.
Music performances during the event will be led by Donna Lundy and the Petersburg High School Choir. All of the performers are volunteering their time and energy to perform in the program.
Sycamore Rouge’s staff and board are proud to provide this opportunity to celebrate Dr. King and his legacy. Two of the actors in the performance, Tim Harris and Cynthia Walker Mitchell, are also Sycamore Rouge Board Members. Both performed in last year’s production of “Read•y for Right,” which celebrated Petersburg’s role in the civil rights movement.
“This is an important event to provide for the community,” says Sycamore Rouge Executive Director Lacey Ruskin. “It’s an honor to be able to take a day and help others remember the importance of service and selflessness.”
To promote the idea of Dr. King’s Holiday being “A Day On, Not A Day Off,” Sycamore Rouge is hosting a canned food drive as part of the celebration of service. All canned food collected during the event will be donated to the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, which serves tri-cities area citizens in need.
Students from William and Mary, as a part of their weekend of service and learning in Petersburg, will collect the canned goods.
“It’s wonderful to see so many different people come together to celebrate and participate in doing good work,” Ruskin said.
Admission for “A Celebration of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr” is free, but audience members are encouraged to bring canned goods. Doors for the 2 pm performance will open at 1:30 pm. For more information, log on to www.sycamorerouge.org, or call the Box Office directly at 804-957-5707.