P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
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P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
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Joyce Uebelhart - Pianist, Actress, Gracie Winner and House Manager, whose Salad days are not yet over By: Roy Riedy |
Joyce Uebelhart's name showed up for the first time 10 years ago as a House Manager for the June, 1993 production of Marian Dunham's production of The Philadelphia Story. It has occurred most recently in Peter Pollard's January, 2003, reprise of Steel Magnolias, again as a member of the same list. In the intervening 10 years, her name has been seen in 38 other HLT playbills.
Joyce's name alternated between the House Manager's list and the Salad Bar section of the Gourmet Staff for the rest of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Seasons. The exception to this rule was during the presentation of Jet Hansen's Show Boat, the last play of the Nineteenth Season, when Joyce was the play's piano accompanist.
During the Twenty-first Season, Joyce specialized on being a House Manager for all five shows. In the Twenty-second Season she worked mostly with the Gourmet Staff as part of the Salad Bar and Dessert team but also found time to appear in two shows. In March, 1996, Joyce was one of the villagers of Anatevka, in Frank Oberhausen's reprise of Fiddler on the Roof; and in August she appeared as one of the Dreamers in Mac Byron and Marian Dunham's production of The Secret Garden. At the Eleventh Annual Zenon Awards Ceremonies in October, Ms. Uebelhard was awarded her first Zenon, a Board Service Award for her contributions to gourmet and building maintenance.
Joyce appeared as a member of the Salad Bar and Dessert team throughout the Twenty-third Season at HLT, but she also found time to reappear on stage in the April, 1997, production of Frank Oberhausen's flashy musical La Cage aux folles as Mme. Dindon. With her role went a short biography in the playbill which let it be known that Joyce "(was) neither a newcomer to HLT; nor to the performing arts in general. Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pa., Joyce's background includes a leading role in New Moon, numerous appearances in musical variety shows . . .a choir director and soloist in a traveling Gospel program, and was selected for a Vocal Concert Tour in six European countries in 1988. Joyce has been performing with the Sweet Adeline's for eight years . . ."
Joyce remained with the Gourmet Staff for all five plays of the Twenty-fourth Season and still found time to reappear on the Lakeside Playhouse stage in Beverly Brando Gillilan's June musical Paint Your Wagon as one of several miners of debatable gender. That October, at the Thirteenth Annual Zenon Awards Ceremonies, Joyce received a nomination for another Board Service Award for her work with the Gourmet Staff.
During the Twenty-fifth Season, in addition to two appearances at the Salad Bar, Joyce worked on the Set Construction for Melanie Boulay's November presentation of her famous The Wizard of Oz; was part of the cast of the first Unity Sounds of the Season, presented on the HLT stage in December; played the part of Sister Margaretta in Frank Oberhausen's reprise of The Sound of Music, in April, 1999; and was part of the Set Construction team for Beverly Brando Gillilan's revival of Arsenic and Old Lace, that June.
Joyce's name does not appear again in HLT records until the end of the Twenty-seventh Season when it was seen again in the program for the August, 2001, production of Tammie Pollard's outstanding West Side Story, once again with the Gourmet Staff section labeled "Soup, Salad, Dessert Chefs & Sous Chefs," the nouveau cuisine craze was leaving its mark on the Little Theatre's menu.
During the Twenty-eighth Season Joyce's name is listed as a member of the "Soup, Salad, Desert Chefs & Sous Chefs" for all five plays of the season. Most recently she has appeared in the same spot for the first two plays of the Twenty-ninth Season: Frank Oberhausen and Kathy MacNeill's Man of LaMancha in November, 2002; and Peter Pollard's January, 2003, reprise of Steel Magnolias.
All told, Ms. Uebelhard has been associated with 40 plays and 2 Zenon Ceremonies at HLT in the last ten years. She is the recipient of a Board Service Zenon; she has been cited in 7 HLT Newsletters and 8 local news articles for a total of 57 Citations. Highlands Little Theatre is indeed favored to have Joyce as one of its most loyal and active members.
Joyce Uebelhart hasn't been idle since her last profile in January, 2003. Since then her name has appeared in twelve more Playbills, three more Newsletters, and two news articles for a grand total of seventy-five citations.
In June 2005, Joyce was the recipient of the monthly Gracie Award. Goldie Garnich revealed why Joyce was chosen: "Joyce has been giving and giving and giving for more than ten years. She works in gourmet for the dinner shows, every membership meeting, and every special event. She was seen staining the walls and painting ceiling tiles for the lounge make over. In the kitchen when no one is around she sometimes goes unnoticed, but that doesn't bother her, she keeps coming back because of her loyalty and dedication to HLT. She has even found time to be on stage. Never one to say 'no', Joyce really deserves this award. Thanks, Joyce, for all you do. We appreciate you."
At the Twentieth Anniversary Zenon Celebration Joyce received her second well deserved Zenon Award for outstanding and tireless efforts with the Gourmet Division and assisting with finishing the lounge. The excellence of HLT is due to dedicated volunteers like Joyce Uebelhart who makes our theater look so very good.
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