ABOUT US
The Imagination Players are a group of 60 talented area children and teens (ages 7 to 18 years of age) who use song and dance to entertain families in the Wilmington area. A portion of all proceeds generated by The Imagination Players will benefit local, national and international charities, especially those which benefit children and families. This community service based performance group is a division of Pure Imagination, LLC and was founded by Pure Imagination's founder/owner, Debbra A. Johnson.
OUR MISSION
To serve Delaware families & children by 1) performing age-appropriate numbers which are entertaining and offer positive messages pertaining to today's youth issues, 2) assisting Delaware youth by raising funds and awareness for area children's charities, 3) to provide a quality performance outlet for talented Delaware-area children -- a forum where they can not only perform and share their talents on a regular basis but to hopefully instill a love of community service and volunteerism at the same time, and 4) teach our young members about the importance of "getting involved". All members of our group are required to participate in various "hands-on" community service project each year and are encouraged to research various children's charities and make recommendations to the group regarding possible beneficiaries.
Our goals? To utilize our talents to better our community and our world. To help instill leadership skills in our members and to promote brotherhood and tolerance within our group and beyond. The youth who perform in The Imagination Players not only contribute to various charities via their talents and performances, but are also required to learn who & what each charity benefits. Any youth member of our organization is also encouraged to recommend a children's charity to receive a portion of The Imagination Players' proceeds.
Currently, all positions within The Imagination Players are volunteer. Proceeds, if any, from appearances will pay for various expenses (sheet music, performance/accompaniment CDs, bus transportation, costumes, props, etc.) and any remaining amount will be donated to charitable organizations. At this time, there are no paid staff members. All work involved with The Imagination Players, both by the youth performance troupe as well as the adult artistic team is on a volunteer basis. Youth members of the ensemble pay a one time fee of $75 when they are accepted into the group which pays for their t-shirts, and helps offset the cost of sheet music, rehearsal CDs, costume accessories and other miscellaneous supplies. The membership fee is discounted for families with more than one child in the group.
OUR TEAM
DEBBRA A. JOHNSON (Founder/Artistic Director)
Deb has been involved in children's theatre in the Wilmington area since 1994. She developed her company, Pure Imagination, LLC in 2003 to provide affordable creative arts services (music & movement, interactive story time, drama, etc.) to youngsters in the Wilmington area. A seasoned actress/singer, she has performed with at many local community theatres, but considers Delaware Children's Theatre her "home". Besides the work she does through her own company, she has also taught for The Child Drama Workshops and The Delaware Children's Theatre. She is also proud to be Associate Producer for the Delaware All-State Theatre (sm) where she served as Assistant director of their highly acclaimed productions of Les Miserables School Edition (2008), West Side Story (2009), Urinetown the Musical (2010), and Ragtime (2011). She directed Big River at The Wilmington Drama League and served as Assistant Director for the Brandywine School District Summer Stock Theate productions of Bye, Bye Birdie! (2008) and Honk! (2009). Regardless of her many theatrical activities, The Imagination Players are closest to her heart. She resides in the Prices Corner area with her husband Rick and their loveable dogs, Mackenzie and Gizmo.
JESSICA BENNER (Assistant Artistic Director/Choreographer)
Jessica is a 2009 graduate of DeSales University with her BA in Theatre. She got her acting start performing at the Delaware Children's Theatre and since then she has been involved in several community, high school, university, and professional productions. Her favorites include The Mikado (Katisha), Honky Tonk Angels (Angela), and Frankenstein: A New Musical (Justine). Along with performing Jessica has taken a special interest in the "behind the scenes" aspect of theatre. She has experience in directing, choreography, stagecraft, sound design, and costume design. Jessica costume designed for her 2009 senior class production of "Aladdin". When not performing Jessica is an educator for Child Drama Workshops where she teaches after school drama classes for Delaware schools including: Independence School, North Star Elementary, Wilmington Friends School, and CACC Montessori. Jessica has a special love for sharing the joys of the theatre with young children. www.JessicaBenner.com
MARY SPACHT (Associate Director) Bio coming soon!
RYAN STOFA (Technical Director)
Ryan is a student at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, where his major is Technical Theatre. He has designed and run lighting and sound for many events & shows, both at school and within regional theatres. Originally a charter performing member when the group was formed in 2007, Ryan's extraordinary talent as a baseball player keeps him too busy for weekly rehearsals. But his technical experertise and dedication to the The Imagination Players have made him irreplaceable when it comes to setting up and running our sound at many events.
MARIA CASARES (Assistant to the Director)
Maria is excited to be a part of The Imagination Players. She is currently a 5th grader at Linden Hill Elementary School where she enjoys playing the flute in band and also participates in the chorus. She is looking forward to her 4th summer participating in The Backyard Players summer camp. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with her friends, listening to music, and seeing shows. But most of all, she likes playing with her dogs, Baby and Daisy.
JENNY TORGERSON (Project Coordinator)
Jenny graduated with a degree in Theatre from New York University and just like the rest of her artistic IP colleagues, is a veteran of many shows at The Delaware Children's Theatre, including the title role in Cinderella in 2001. She has enjoyed many summers teaching drama to young students at the Jewish Community Center in North Wilmington. In addition, she has coordinated and directed the Sunflower Benefit Cabaret for three consequetive years which has raised in excess of $8,000 for the Sunflower Orphanage in Peru. Jenny currently makes her home in Brooklyn, NY, but ventures back to Delaware regularly to help stage numbers for the group and helps to coordinate our performances/activities.
KEVIN SHOTWELL (Creative Consultant)
A charter member of The Imagination Players, Kevin left the group in the summer of 2009 when he was cast in the revival of Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway. When he returned to Wilmington following the close of the show, he came on board as IP's rehearsal assistant and has been instrumental in staging some of our favorite numbers. He has served as choreographer, teacher, mentor and friend to all of the IP members. He is a graduate of A.I. DuPont High School, where he was active in the marching band and has performed in many shows at the Delaware Children's Theatre, OperaDelaware, Wilmington Drama League and New Candlelight Theatre. He is now attending college at PACE University in NYC, but still visits and assists with IP projects whenever he is home on break.
BETTY MOUDY (Founding Musical Director)
Betty is a retired Christina School District music teacher who stayed very busy in music in the Wilmington area. She taught piano at the Sanford School, as well as privately. For many years, she served as music director and accompanist for many area organizations, including The Delaware Children's Theatre, Chrysalis Players, Candlelight Dinner Theatre, the Brandywiners, Ltd., and Chapel Street Theatre. Betty retired as Musical Director of The Imagination Players in July 2008 and moved to Pennsylvania in October 2008, but she remains dear to the heart of our organization!
THE ENSEMBLE
Many of the children and teens involved in the group are veterans of the Delaware Children's Theatre, Chrysalis Players, Delaware Arts Conservatory, and other performing institutions. Others have been referred to us by choral music directors and teachers, as well as local vocal and dance instructors. When necessary, open auditions are held to fill openings within the group. We keep a balanced number of youth active in the group at all times so that we can work our programs around their many other school, community, and church obligations.
