Lisa Parker
There’s no place like home.
These are the sentiments enthusiastically voiced by Lisa (Dieli) Parker and husband Craig, who happily returned to Suffield after a nineteen-year absence. The Parkers, both Suffield High School graduates, moved to New Jersey in 1995, and then to New York in 1998 as Lisa’s insurance career continued to expand. In 2002 she left that industry and became a full-time executive coach and seminar leader. In 2006 she started her own executive coaching firm, Heads Up Coaching and Consulting, headquartered in midtown Manhattan. But her heart was always in Suffield.
“There came a time when the tug of home was just too strong to ignore,” Parker says. “Thanks to technology I can run the business from anywhere, and with easy access to Bradley Airport and the Amtrak in Windsor Locks, I can get anywhere I need to be.” Getting re-involved with the Suffield Players was a motivating force to return to Suffield. “We often made the trip to see a show, which helped us stay connected to the group and to the community,” she said.
Long-time Players fans will remember her from musicals like Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and Little Shop of Horrors, as well as in numerous comedies and dramas. In all, she appeared in 23 Suffield Players productions and won several Best Actress awards before leaving the state. “I’m easing back in now,” she adds, having appeared in two stage readings and a one-act before landing the role of Faye in Neil Simon’s romantic comedy Chapter Two.
The Suffield Players’ Chapter Two by Neil Simon performs on May 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14,* 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. (*2 p.m. matinee) at Mapleton Hall in Suffield and is directed by Anna Marie Johansen.
Tickets are available at 800-289-6148, and at www.suffieldplayers.org. Special discounts are available for students, seniors, groups and season subscribers.