Bringing the world of ‘Roamers’ to life

Creating imaginative worlds is nothing new to Constance Hasapopoulos. An award-winning screenwriter and actress who makes her home in Las Cruces, Hasapopoulos has made a career of bringing projects from a child’s perspective to life. In addition to founding ACT Children’s Theatre, she also wrote and starred in the Cannes Film Festival showcase film, “Eyes of a Child.” Now she’s written and directed a children’s audiobook, featuring a full cast of local luminaries and produced right here in Las Cruces.

The audiobook, titled “Roamers,” follows the story of 12-year-old Beatrice, who in addition to being bullied by classmates and family members alike, is thrown into a strange “Tim Burton-esque” world where she must save her brother from a murderous sea witch. Running three hours and 16 minutes, the target audience is between the ages of 9 and 14, but Hasapopoulos is quick to add, “I’ve had several adults tell me they really enjoyed it. It has so many life-affirming messages for young and old people alike.”

Produced at Studio 603 by local sound guru Dave Wheeler, the recording also includes music by Albuquerque composer David Kelly, and final touches by CMI student Jeret Gladstone.

For her part, Hasapopoulos is proud of the work that went into the project, adding that she believes it to be the first of its kind for the area, since it utilized only regional talent.

In fact, many of the voices will be recognizable to anybody who attends theater in Las Cruces. Among them are Norman Duttweiler, Teddy Aspen Sanchez, Janet Beatty-Cold, Melissa Munoz, Darin Robert Cabot, Gail Wheeler, Dave Edwards, Ed Montez and many more. All of the young actors called upon to play the kids in the production were culled from area schools.

“We have so much talent here, it’s just amazing,” Hasapopoulos said. “It was a lot of work, with many challenges, but there were also times when I just couldn’t stop laughing. It was an absolute joy.”

Actor Norman Duttweiler, who plays the evil Thin Man, refers to the project as a very happy and creative experience. “The quality of the material we were reading was really excellent – a great plot with great characters, so it was a lot of fun to work on."

Janet Beatty-Cold, who voices the eccentric Dorothea, agrees. “Since I had never worked on voicing an audiobook before, this was a really interesting project.  I’m glad I had the chance to be part of it!”

Finished in April of this year, the audiobook was uploaded to several platforms, including Spotify.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, Play.Google.com, Audiobooks.com and ChirpBooks.com. It can also be found in the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library’s digital library. So far, the reception has been positive.

“I happened to check on Barnes and Noble a couple of weeks after we posted it, and they had featured it as their Mother’s Day promotion,” Hasapopoulos added. “It was our cover art and everything! I almost fell out of my chair.”

Hasapopoulos will present a “Roamers” meet and greet with the actors, from 2-4 p.m., Saturday, July 27, at Barnes and Noble in the Mesilla Valley Mall, 700 S. Telshor Boulevard.