Local Actors Perform Script Reading of “Children of the April Rain”

Local actors and actresses gathered for a script reading of “Children of the April Rain” on Nov. 9 at G’s Dance and Night Club in West Hempstead.

The event celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Babylift operation in Vietnam in April 1975, when more than 2,500 Vietnamese War orphans were evacuated to the United States and several other countries during the final month of the Vietnam War.

“It was a tremendous honor to be there as the talented local cast made the play come to life,” said Lana Mae Noone, co-author of “Children of the April Rain,” which was the first-ever play about the Vietnam Babylift.

Organizers of the event recognized Mae Noone at the script reading. Valentina Janek, founder and president of the Long Island Breakfast Club, and Gregg Cajuste, owner of G’s Dance and Night Club, put the event together.

The actors and actresses all volunteered their time, including acting professionals from the Long Island Film Festival.

Charley Runko, Beatrice Laurence and Karen Lopardo-Tymecki. (Photo by Ed Shin)

Councilman Tom Muscarella. (Photo by Ed Shin)

Valentina Janek, president and founder of the Long Island Breakfast Club. (Photo by Ed Shin)

Lana Mae Noone, author of Children of the April Rain. (Photo by Ed Shin)

In honor of Veterans Day and the Vietnam Babylift’s 45th anniversary, local actors read the script of “Children of the April Rain,” a play that deals with that famed humanitarian effort at the end of the American war in Vietnam. (Photo by Ed Shin)

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