Nikole Babb
nbabb@cherryroad.com
The El Dorado Elks has partnered with the Kechi Playhouse to bring a live play and dinner evening to El Dorado on February 14 and 15. The play features a WWII love story that blossoms through love letters over thousands of miles of distance and uncertainty.
The Kechi Playhouse is a historic community theater operating since June 16, 1983, in Kechi, Kan. The Playhouse has hosted over 150 productions and 430 local actors/actresses. Owned and operated by Misty Maynard, the Playhouse produces 5 shows every year from June to October.
This year some members of the El Dorado Elks visited the Playhouse to witness Dear Jack, Dear Louise, play and ended up enjoying the talent and story so much that they wondered if it could travel to El Dorado in cooperation with Playhouse. The agreement was made, and the date was set for a Valentine’s dinner.
The show, Dear Jack, Dear Louise, written by Ken Ludwig, which is based on his own parent’s story, follows a man and woman living in WWII. The fathers of the young couple are old friends and decided over supper that Jack and Louise should write to each other and become pen pals, despite having never met. Jack, played by Andrew Johnson, is a captain in the Army stationed in Oregon, and Louise, played by Anna Kraus, is a free-spirited, aspiring Broadway dancer living in New York City.
Although the duo seems an unlikely couple, the two begin to write to each other and despite the separation of a thousand miles and the uncertainty of wartime, the two manage to navigate young friendship and eventually a long-distance romance.
The play is sure to be the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner date. The show will have two shows only on February 14 and 15. Doors will open at 6:30pm at the El Dorado Elks Lodge located at 121 East Pine Ave. Reservations can be made over the phone by calling 316-321-9393 or 316-775-5968.
The El Dorade Elks Lodge #1407 was instituted on February 7, 1921, with a building dedicated in 1931 at 121 East Pine Ave. The Elks offer a space for the community theater group, Act I Players, to perform and serve dinner with the shows while hosting bingo nights every Thursday to raise funds for the community. The Elks organization is known for raising funds for unmet needs in the community by helping children, supporting local schools, and providing scholarships to students.
