← Poetry

To: Roger Deem

From: Ken Bradbury Rog…Could you please get these to Stephanie for the program, or perhaps you’re the one who needs them. Thanks…..Ken

Coonridge, Illinois, is the fictional home of the irascible Freida Marie Crump, a.k.a. Ken Bradbury of Arenzville, Illinois. The play includes a cast of five well-seasoned Illinois actors: Bob Large, Katie Phelps, Sylvia Burke, and Judith Beiderbecke, along with Bradbury. David Zink provides music for show. An Afternoon with Freida Marie Crump is a collection of the wit and wisdom of this fictional small-town housewife. The Coonridge Digest is collected from Bradbury’s writings which appear in many downstate Illinois newspapers. The column has won the Associated Press Award for Best Humor Column. Many segments of the play have also been published in Bradbury’s book, The Coonridge Digest. Another book, Around the World with Freida Marie Crump, is due to be published before Christmas. The “Coonridge Players” have appeared in many Illinois venues including Lincoln’s New Salem. Bob Large has appeared throughout Illinois in the Bradbury-Bob Crowe production of Vachel With a V…., a play based on the life and writings of Springfield poet Vachel Lindsay, and Large is currently appearing in their production of Abraham! at Lincoln’s New Salem. Sylvia Burke has appeared locally in Annie, Toad in the Hole, and a host of other productions including Vachel With a V…… . Burke also directs the semi-annual production of the Bradbury-Crowe play, The Shadow of Giants at the Morgan County Courthouse. Judith Beiderbecke is a well-known actress in the Jacksonville area having played the title role in Mame as well as appearing in The Shadow of Giants, Toad in the Hole, Bradbury’s Rock Around the Doc, and Vachel With a V……. Katie Phelps is a former Triopia student who is now attending Illinois College majoring in communications. Katie has been judged the area’s foremost prose interpreter for the last four years and has appeared in many of Bradbury’s productions. She was last seen in the Jacksonville Theatre Guild’s production of The Music Man. David Zink is Jacksonville’s musician par-excellence, having served in nearly every musical capacity imaginable, playing almost every conceivable incident. He and Bradbury plan their shows over pre-Methodist coffee on Sunday mornings in Arenzville. Dave is married to the Guild’s premiere choreography, the lovely Tammy. Ken Bradbury is the author of over 100 plays and musicals, and has been named the most-produced author of speech material by schools in the United States for the last two years. He is the author of two books of humor and has co-authored five shows with Robert Crowe, most recently the New Salem production of Abraham. He resides in Arenzville and teaches at Triopia High School.