“FunRaiser – A Night of the Stars” will be held from 6-9 p.m., Saturday, June 1, at Pistarckle Theater in Tillett Gardens on St. Thomas. It will benefit the Pistarckle Youth Education and Enrichment programs.
For over 20 years, Pistarckle Theater’s Youth Education and Enrichment Programs have offered thousands of Virgin Islands students, ages 9 to 18, the opportunity to experience rich, hands-on, live performing arts while developing acting and technical skills.
Throughout the years, many of these students attended every year, moving on when they graduated high school to study theater and performing arts in college, many launching careers in the performing arts and theater post-graduation. Some even return in the summer months to intern at the very programs they attended.
In 1991, Pistarckle Theater’s Nicola “Nikki” Emerich, founder and artistic producer, had a vision and passion to offer live performing arts, youth education and enrichment programs, and special events to the community. Emerich, an accomplished actor herself, and at the time a mother of two young children, experienced Herculean challenges throughout nearly three decades of running the theater (think: economic downturns and devastation from multi-hurricanes). Yet, she energetically and tenaciously kept the doors open, lights on and curtains up… for 28 years.
This year, she is retiring and turning the reigns over to a new generation of enthusiastic leaders, but her legacy will continue for all the years to come. That is why she was chosen as the key honoree for the Saturday, June 1st “FunRaiser: A Night of the Stars” at Pistarckle Theater.
Also being honored is the late Brian Emerich (May 2018), an entrepreneur, Rotarian and community leader. Brian, an accomplished and award-winning architect, was also instrumental in developing and launching the theater. The third honoree is the late B. Greg Miller (May 2018), for many years a theater board member, donor and passionate supporter of island-wide youth programs, entrepreneur, community activist and longtime Rotarian.
“FunRaiser – A Night of the Stars” will be held from 6-9 p.m., Saturday, June 1, at Pistarckle Theater in Tillett Gardens on St. Thomas. Tickets are $125 pp/$225 per couple and include entry, a champagne toast, a 50/50 auction, live music and entertainment, sumptuous hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, and a fantastic opportunity to purchase greatly discounted services and items via the silent and live auction.
There will be a cash bar available throughout the night. The auctioneer for the evening will be Jay Matthews, and the band featured is Eddie Kusar’s Radical Excess. Longtime island music icon Danny Slber will also be providing entertainment, along with vocal performances by former cast members, including Mary Christensen, Ryan Firment, Elgin Gordon and Jada Lark. Purchase tickets at www.pistarckletheater.com/events or call 775-7877.
