Woodlawn Chapel becomes community center for arts

By Melissa Hargrave, Correspondent

Dave Pierce, a founder of Abbey Players, has established a new community center for the arts. Woodlawn Chapel, located in Maurice, host weddings, receptions, retreats, class reunions, theatrical and musical events.
The son of Casey Pierce and Nellie Marceaux, Dave grew up in Intracoastal City. He worked as a disc jockey at KROF and KVOL in Lafayette while attending USL. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of 19 when he received an acting scholarship at the Pasadena Playhouse where he attained a degree in theatre arts.
Dave worked in the record business as a music promoter, and earned membership into the Screen Actors Guild. He built the Cellar Theatre and Actors Video Workshop in Hollywood. Pierce was also one of the pioneers in developing the Free Form Underground Radio format in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Those years were documented in his book, Riding on the Ether Express, a front row seat of a Cajun farm boy in 1960s Los Angeles, published by the UL Press. In the early ‘70s, Dave and his family returned home to Abbeville. Dave worked in radio, and then in television handling sales and marketing at KATC and KADN. He stills works part time with Delta Media and Catholic Radio 90.5 and plays oldies on 1330am KVOL on Saturdays.
In 1976, Pierce joined forces with husband and wife team Teddy and Lynette Cessac (of TV’s Gidget) to form Abbey Players which became one of the most successful community theaters in the country. Over the next 26 years, Dave produced some of Abbey Players’ greatest hits. In 2002, Pierce created Woodlawn Players and began touring with the musical This Magic Moment. In 2003, Woodlawn Players performed an original play entitled Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s Wedding at Vermilion Landing. The play, which Dave co-wrote with Shelly Deshotel, was the most successful community theater shows in this area.
In 2010, a Catholic church was moved from Carencro to Woodlawn Road in Maurice. Dave and his wife and partner Sarah Fox (Costume Designer for Belizaire the Cajun) spent the next six years restoring the church and named it Woodlawn Chapel. Now that the church is fully renovated, Woodlawn Chapel is available to rent for weddings, receptions, retreats, and class reunions. Woodlawn Chapel is also home to Woodlawn Players and will feature community theatrical and musical events.
Three weeks ago, Woodlawn Players resurrected an old hit: Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s Wedding. The play centers on the wedding of Boudreaux’s daughter BeBe to Thibodeaux’s son T-Boy. Pierce says, “It has all the Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes that you’ve never heard!”
Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s Wedding is an interactive play. Dave explains, “It’s a magical show with audience participation. If you’re there, then it’s like you’re coming to the wedding of someone you know.”
Performances are held on Saturday nights at 7pm, and will run into April. The event is catered by the premier caterer of South Louisiana – iMonelli. Tickets cost $30, and reservations can be made through iMonelli’s by calling 337-989-9291 during business hours, or through Dave Pierce at 337-247-2292.
The play features an all-star cast and toe-tapping Cajun music. Dale Ann Trahan plays Maw-Maw, Natial d’Augereau is the musical director and plays Nan-Nan, Richard Landry plays Thibodeaux, Dave Pierce plays Boudreaux, and Sarah Fox plays Marie Boudreaux. Mattie Hartman is BeBe Boudreaux and Judge Byron Hebert, another Abbey Players’ founder and performer, portrays Father Pierre, Mickey Atchetee, also an Abbey alumni, plays Klebe’. Nonc Boudini even drops by to talk to his alligator puppet about CoCo’s Bayou Playhouse!
In the future, Woodlawn Players hopes to reprise old favorites such as JukeBox Jack and Esplanade Avenue Bridge Club. Woodlawn Chapel is located at 8001 Woodlawn Road in Maurice, which is situated 10 minutes north of Abbeville and a mile south of the Woodlawn Bridge. For more information about Woodlawn Players and Woodlawn Chapel, look them up on Facebook or contact Dave Pierce at 337-247-2292.