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MONMOUTH – Theater at Monmouth, which is celebrating wily, wicked and wonderful women through classic literature’s most fantastic females this summer, is dedicating the season to Nancy Bates Ludewig.
Ludewig, who spent her life in Monmouth and taught for 44 at Henry Cottrell Elementary (beginning when it was still Memorial School), died in December at the age of 73.
The season’s theme is “Roar: The Year of the Woman,” and that is what Ludewig represented to Monmouth residents — a force of nature, an iron will and a tremendous heart, said a news release from the theater.
“If there was a need, she would fill it; from Neighbors Helping Neighbor’s Fuel Fund fundraising events to the Monmouth Healthy Meals Backpack Program, from Mayfair and Garden Club to annual Christmas Shows in Cumston Hall, Nancy brought people together,” the release said.
Producing Artistic Director Dawn McAndrews said, “We discussed a number of ways to honor Nancy Ludewig’s contribution not only to the Monmouth Community but also for her support of Cumston Hall and Theater at Monmouth. We wanted a gesture that reflected Nancy’s spirit of giving and her life-long commitment to this town.”
Theater at Monmouth will rename Monmouth Nights for 2018 Nancy Ludewig Memorial Monmouth Nights and expand opportunities for year-round Monmouth residents to attend productions for $10, not only on the first Thursday of each production (as the program currently exists) but on any Thursday evening or Saturday evening performance throughout the summer. The theater’s Board of Directors felt that dedicating the season to Nancy and inviting the community to gather together in celebration seemed a fitting tribute for a life lived in service to others.
Ludewig refused to let Cumston Hall be a stodgy edifice in the center of town, the release said. She saw it as the centerpiece, a gathering place and a thread to the town’s rich history. She started a children’s drama program to give students the opportunity to create characters, express themselves artistically, and share their voices. For many years, she and husband, Doug, greeted Theater at Monmouth audiences from near and far welcoming them not only into the building but to a way of life here in Monmouth.
“The board, staff and artists of Theater at Monmouth express our sincerest gratitude to you, Nancy, for making this little theater, in this little town a brighter place for all.”
David Libby, of the Monmouth Museum, said, “Nancy demonstrated her love for her family, friends and community by giving of time, her knowledge, her own belongings. Very few people throughout the history of the town of Monmouth have contributed more than she has.”
Doug Ludewig, her husband of 55 years, said, “Nancy would be greatly honored to have such a dedication. For some reason she never thought about being recognized for all that she did. She just did it and never expected that what she did would be remembered as being anything exceptional.”
