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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Judy Sutter - Charter Member By: Roy Riedy |
Judy Sutter was the fourth recipient of the Significant Achievement Award and received the award at the end of the Fifteenth Season, in 1989. Judy was one of the 45 "stagestruck" participants, as Calli Rose Starai termed them in her Sebring News article of April 11, 1974, who met the previous Friday, April 5, at the Art Center, then located on North Commerce Street, for an organizational meeting of what was to soon become the Highlands Little Theatre.
During the first five years of HLT Judy participated in thirteen of the sixteen plays that were presented. Her first performance was in the second play put on by the newly formed organization in November of 1974, a comedy called Dear Phoebe by Tom Taggart and James Reach in which she played the lead character, Mickey Riley. She was on the Production Staff of the next show, Night Watch, presented in March of 1975, as one of the costumers.
Judy returned to the stage in the second production of the second season as Rose, the "resplendent sister" of Lily Blossom, "a tender prairie flower" (Tammie Pollard) in the "Dashing Western Romance" Deadwood Dick. She was backstage doing makeup for Barefoot in the Park and Ten Little Indians and returned to the stage in Noel Coward's Blythe Spirit as Elvira in HLT's eighth production in February of 1977.
Again backstage working on wardrobe and make-up for Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, Judy emerged as a bathing beauty in HLT's salute to the Roarin' Twenties in the revue Here's Charlie in the spring of 1978. In August of that year she played the part of Susan Hollander in HLT's first production of Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water.
Four plays were given in the Fifth Season of HLT and Judy participated in three of them: she acted and did the choreograph in Dirty Work at the Crossroads; was a villager in Fiddler on the Roof; and played the role of Muriel Tate in Neil Simon's triptych, Plaza Suite.
During this first five year period Judy also served on the Executive Committee of the HLT Board during its Third Season. In the Second Five years she had a short stint as Vice-Chairman (January - March, 1980) and was Secretary of the organization in the Sixth and Seventh Seasons. Besides her secretarial work in the second five years of HLT, she found time to participate in 17 of the 21 plays given during that period.
As unbelievable as it seems, she beat her outstanding participation record of the first ten years by participating, in one way or another, in every one of the 25 plays that were presented during the third five year period, and still found time to be the Treasurer of the organization for four of those five years.
Judy added fifteen more plays to her participation record during the fourth five year period bring her collaboration total to 70 out of a possible 87. She still found time to be Treasurer during the 16th and 17th Seasons and sat on the Board of Directors during the 18th Season, these offices involved her in eleven different positions in seventeen years. It came as no surprise to those that were aware of Judy's many activities that she was honored by her organization with the crowning accolade of "Life Member."
The fifth five years found her participating in three presentations; in Godspell and in The Wizard of Oz occupied with props; and then working on make-up in the first of the Children's Academy of Theatre shows, The Available Left-Footed Princess.
In the 26th season Judy was seen again on the stage as the deliciously malicious Stepmother in the CAT production of Cinderella, Cinderella, and the co-producer of Bye Bye Birdie. In the 27th season she drew on her theatrical background to thrill the HLT audiences with her Zenon nominating role of Annie Nations in the drama Foxfire. In Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat Judy involved herself in the costuming of the play; in Move Over Mrs. Markham, she was the producer; and in Peter Pan she worked with props. And as if that isn't enough, Judy has been the Secretary of the organization since April of 2000.
I know I speak for all the members of HLT when I say that everyone in the organization salutes you Judy for your dedication and wonderful contribution in making our enterprise the outstanding success that it is today. We are forever in your debt as you are in our hearts.
