Heber Theatre to present Dracula, Baby

HEBER SPRINGS — Just in time for Halloween, theater patrons will have a chance to visit Transylvania when the Heber Theatre presents Dracula, Baby on Oct. 24 and 26 and again Oct. 28 and 29.

The musical comedy in two acts will be presented at 7 each night at The Pavilion in the Pines, 21 Park Road west of Heber Springs on Arkansas 110 on property owned by St. Albert’s Catholic Church. The pavilion is covered, in case of rain. Admission is “donation only.” June Painter, co-founder of the Heber Theatre with her 18-yearold daughter, Chelsey Painter, said the community theater group is a “nonprofit charity help organization designed for the benefit of the entire community of Cleburne County.” Proceeds from the production will benefit the Arkansas Dream Center of Heber Springs, which helps feed children through its Adopt a Block project, and the Christian Health Center, which provides basic primary-care services for uninsured adults living in and around Cleburne County.

Painter said since its inception in January 2011, the Heber Theatre has raised approximately $16,000 for charities and nonprofit organizations in Cleburne County. In addition to the two charities already mentioned, other groups that have benefited from Heber Theatre productions include Court-Appointed Special Advocates of the 16th Judicial District, the Heber Springs Humane Society, Children in Arkansas Loved for a Lifetime (The CALL), Maggie’s Haven House (a women’s shelter to

SEE DRACULA, PAGE 13S help victims of domestic abuse) and the Community School of Cleburne County.

“We invite the charities to our productions,” Painter said. “Before each performance, we give them an opportunity to talk about their charities, so this provides public awareness for them.”

Painter said that when her family moved to Heber Springs from Macon, Ga., daughter Chelsey, who had just entered Heber Springs High School as a 10th-grader, was anxious to get involved with a local community theater group because she had been active in theater in Georgia.

“But the one here was inactive,” June said. “Chelsey said, ‘Let’s start our own and do it for charity.’ That’s how it all began.”