April 2010 Volunteer of the Month

David Foster 

Dave is one of those special people who is there when needed and eager to pitch in. Currently a resident of Ridgefield, he hails from Lake Bluff, Illinois.  After thirty years at Prudential Insurance, he retired as an Operations Director in 2000.

His impressive history of service to the arts and culture in Ridgefield includes membership on the Board of the Ridgefield Symphony, volunteer work at the Aldrich Museum, the Ridgefield Library, and the Ridgefield Community Foundation. And, now his latest contributions to the community, have been his valuable assistance in the building of an apartment in Queens (The House of Blue Leaves), a homeless person’s shelter (Godspell), a Salvador Daliesque landscape (How I Learned to Drive), and most recently, a pig farm (A Moon for the Misbegotten.) The sets of all these Ridgefield Theater Barn productions bear the imprint of Dave’s ingenuity, and generous labors.

When it comes to community service, Dave’s daughter Meredith, a doctoral candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health did not fall far from the family tree. We wish to thank Dave for his valuable contributions, not only to the Ridgefield Theater Barn, but to the arts and culture of our community.    

Stephen Schwartz visits 'The Barn'

The audience, cast and crew of our current production of Godspell had the pleasure of meeting Ridgefield's own Stephen Schwartz  following a recent performance. Mr. Schwartz, who wrote the music and new lyrics to Godspell has 3 Oscars, 4 Grammys, 4 Drama Desk Awards and a Golden Globe to his credit.

The boyishly handsome and charming Mr. Schwartz was joined on stage by Robin Lamont who sang Day by Day in the original production of Godspell and by Carol de Giere, who wrote Mr. Schwartz's biography, "Defying Gravity". Taking
questions from the audience and cast, Mr. Schwartz related stories about the early days of his career and his experiences as a young songwriter working on Godspell.

The Ridgefield Theater Barn is extremely grateful to Stephen Schwartz for making the evening one to remember for all in attendance.

Stephen Schwartz, center with Robin Lamont
on his right with the cast of Godspell.