The 19th Century Charitable Association
1st Floor
178 Forest Avenue
Oak Park, Illinois
60301

It all started in an acting class at the Oak Park Village Players.
Larry Baldacci was teaching an Advanced Scene Study class; the students were people who had worked with and known each other for years. Because of that, the class was an exceptionally rewarding experience.

As the class came to a close, someone said, "I wish we could do this ALL the time." That was all Paulette Cary needed to hear. She came up with an idea...an idea of forming an ensemble of players from our class to read plays in a readers theatre format. We would invite an audience to come, but even if they didn't, that was okay. We were going to do this for ourselves...as a way to stay together, work together - have fun together.

And so "The Free Readers Ensemble" was born. Our first season started in the summer of 1993. We started slowly; a dozen or so people in the audience; twenty people on our mailing list. Those numbers grew. People seemed to want to see us "having our fun".

Our founding members were Paulette Cary, Mercita DeMonk, Marie Henry, Miriam Petzke, Ann Slivinski, Carol Mullen, Jim Mullen, Larry Baldacci, Larry Wiley and Paul Noble. Over the years, some of the founding members left us; Jim, Carol and Marie - too soon. But new members came on board: Randy Hoole, Andy Scott, Barbara Eulenberg, David Krajecki, Keith Eric Davis, Ray Cunha, Thad Anzur, Sarah Hayes and Jerry Bloom.

We've changed locations and we've changed performance times, but through it all, there was one thing we could always count on: our loyal audience. Thanks to them and their incredible support, here we are - "The Free Readers Ensemble".