A tea party, complete with a variety of teas as well as savory and sweet treats, is planned for 2 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in the Community Room. 2 for Tea with Friends is sponsored by the Friends of McCain Board of Directors and precedes the Moscow Festival Ballet’s 4 p.m. performance of Romeo and Juliet at McCain Auditorium, which Meadowlark Hills is sponsoring. Residents, staff and Passport members are invited; please reserve your spot in the Blue Book. While this event is designed to create awareness of the McCain Performance Series and Friends of McCain, attendees DO NOT need to be a Friend of McCain or have tickets to the ballet in order to attend. All are welcome!

Residents or employees with ballet tickets are especially invited, however, because the tea party promises to be an interesting complement to the performance. A featured guest is Jennifer Vellenga, head of Acting and Directing in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance at Kansas State University. Vellenga plans a short presentation titled “The Enduring Nature of Romeo and Juliet.” Romeo and Juliet, published in the late 16th century, was adapted from a poem. Over the past 400 years, the tragedy of the star-crossed lovers has inspired multiple art forms: film, opera, art, musical theatre, comedy, and dance. Structured in perfect balance to keep us in suspense until the bitter end, the story of Romeo and Juliet promises audiences a passionate journey of romance, family obligation, economics, race and religion. Vellenga will share some of the reasons why Romeo & Juliet continues to endure.

Congratulations to IL resident Jean Beatty, who won two tickets to the ballet at the April Town Meeting. For questions about the event, please contact Becky Fitzgerald, a member of the Friends of McCain Board, at 323-3802.