Roadshow Players was a traveling theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 troupe that performed for children in the 1970s and 1980s in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

.

The group was organized as a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 in the state of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It was started by actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 Joseph Sheppard

Joseph Sheppard

Joseph Sheppard is an American Actor. His first public appearance was in 1968 as a child guest on the Art Linkletter House Party television program.Sheppard was graduated Verdugo Hills High School Joseph Sheppard is an American Actor. His first public appearance was in 1968 as a child guest on...

 who directed and produced

Theatrical producer

A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...

 most of the performances.

The original play performed was called Tails, and consisted of original and adapted fairy tales. Sheppard wrote the script along with Kevin Center and Patricia Brandow as an entry to the 1977 Los Angeles Valley College

Los Angeles Valley College

Los Angeles Valley College is a community college located in the Valley Glen district of Los Angeles, California in the east-central San Fernando Valley. The school is a part of the Los Angeles Community College District....

 one-act play festival. Actor Center took the Best Supporting Actor award at the festival for his portrayal of the Frog in an adapted version of the classic fairy tale The Frog Prince

The Frog Prince

The Frog Prince can refer to the following titles:*The Frog Prince ,*"The Frog Prince" , a song by English band Keane*The Frog Prince , the soundtrack album of a British film released in 1984, featuring Enya...

.

The group was invited to perform the play at the Sunland

Sunland

Sunland may refer to:* Sunland, Inyo County, California* Sunland, Los Angeles, California* Sunland , a Seaboard Air Line train*Sunland Hospital, a defunct mental health chain in Florida...

-Tujunga branch of the Los Angeles Public Library

Los Angeles Public Library

The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...

 in the summer of 1977.

After Sheppard graduated from the Theatre Academyhttp://theatreacademy.lacitycollege.edu/ at Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...

, he contacted former members of the 1977 cast and put together a touring company that performed the "Tails" script at Public Libraries and children's charitable organizations throughout the Southern California.

Demand for the group grew. Sheppard and Center wrote a series of additional shows named "Tails Too", "Tails of Tails", "Tails of more Tails", "Tails Gold" and Christmas Tails.

By 1982, the group was in such demand that one Christmas show required three complete casts and crews in order to fulfill all of the requests for performances.

One cast and crew were formed and dedicated exclusively to performances at the Los Angeles Zoo

Los Angeles Zoo

The Los Angeles Zoo , is a zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California. The City of Los Angeles owns the entire zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals...

.

In December 1982, Sheppard retired from the group to seek other opportunities. Kevin Center took over the organization and produced shows until 1984.

Notable performance locations

• Children's Hospital Los Angeles
  Children's Hospital Los Angeles
  Children's Hospital Los Angeles, formerly Childrens Hospital Society, is a private, non-profit teaching hospital in Los Angeles. The hospital provides multidisciplinary care to over 93,000 children each year, with physician expertise in over 100 pediatric specialties and subspecialties.The hospital...
  
  
• Hathaway Home for Children
• Los Angeles Blind Children's Center
• Los Angeles Children's Museum
• Los Angeles Zoo
  Los Angeles Zoo
  The Los Angeles Zoo , is a zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California. The City of Los Angeles owns the entire zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals...
  
  
• Pasadena Public Library
• Sunair Home for Asthmatic Children

Cast and crew

• Ceptembre Anthony
• Mary Baker
• Sherry Berrens
• Roger Bezanis
• Brian T. Brady
• Pat Brandow
• Barbara Brouse
• Scott Brown
• Kathy Burmeister
• Bob Cates
• Kenny Cates
• Kevin Center
• Christopher Dean Cory
• Mike Demke
• John Eickemeyer
• Beth Enari
• Kira Enari
• Treece Franks
• Sidnie Gallien
• Don Goetter
• Clare Gwinn
• Phyllis Harvey
• Wendy Hughes
• Mark Hunter
• Dane Jones
• Nick Karsai (Kernetics)
• Karen Kuehne
• Will Markland
• Jeff Okabayashi
• Dan Penn
• Teri Rash (Demke)
• Katie Santini
• Sue Sarricione
• Jimmy Sheppard
• Joseph Sheppard
  Joseph Sheppard
  Joseph Sheppard is an American Actor. His first public appearance was in 1968 as a child guest on the Art Linkletter House Party television program.Sheppard was graduated Verdugo Hills High School Joseph Sheppard is an American Actor. His first public appearance was in 1968 as a child guest on...
  
  
• Tim Simpson
• Mike Slifkin
• Carolyn Stone
• Donna Sweet
• Jane Sweet (Sheppard)
• Keeli Tebeau
• John A. Wade
• Debbie Ward
• Marti Ward

External links

• RoadShow Players Website