Hidden Treasure Productions

T his is the third blog in a series about the creation of Hidden Treasure Productions (HTP).   This blog will be covering the people who became the Board of Directors (BOD). This process started with John and Valerie Herrera, who were the first to meet with us. They became the first two on the BOD. Valerie is now the Director of Productions of HTP. She proved herself in Ukraine, as the Stage Manager, that she has the skills to be the leader in all HTP productions. John is now the Artistic Director for our company. He has an eye for how things look on stage, aesthetically. He is also the company Photographer. He demonstrated his skills in Ukraine, as he transformed the stage with the best sets and lighting available. This was not easy to do, as we had limited and ever-changing venues and sets! Next on the Board of Directors, Chris and Kitty Inouye joined up. Chris is the Director of Technology. That is a big job, as he must handle aspects of the play which include sound

At the end of my last blog, I mentioned that we planned to meet with certain individuals to discuss their interest in this new venture. It really began with John and Valerie Herrera, wanting to talk with us about their profound experiences in Ukraine. We had a heartfelt discussion over lunch, as Valerie told us that she cannot get the trip to Ukraine out of her heart and mind! I told Valerie that I felt the same way and that maybe we should think about doing more international drama. We had a long discussion about what we could do because the organization we went with to perform Prodigal, only wanted to produce plays and perform them locally, rather than on the international stage. We talked about creating a business for profit, but in the end, we came to the consensus that we needed to form a 501 (C) (3) corporation. We realized what we wanted to do is to take 2-Act professional, quality plays to places where others in the entertainment field did not go. (places like Ukraine).

  It all started in October of 2018, we took a drama cast to Uzhgorod, Ukraine. We performed a 2-Act Broadway-quality play called PRODIGAL , written by James Shaver. It ended up overwhelming us, as well as the people who saw it! It was a very affective drama, which resonated well with the people of Ukraine. It seems that the play’s topic of “Rebellion” crosses all cultures and time periods. We know today that one of the cities we performed in, has developed a drama team like ours, because of what they saw in us. In the city of Uzhgorod, besides performing the play, we also reached out to the university students. The company we worked with, "One Collective," now has a thriving relationship with university students, because of our drama cast. That is a great feeling! Since returning home, many of us have been reflecting on our trip, and how much it transformed us! On a trip like this, one tends to think about how the people and country were impacted, without even considering h