Page 22 - Previews: Regional Theatre

22
May 2009
Magazine
Regional Theatre
Check with venues to confirm performance dates and times.
• Closing May 2: The Johnson City
Community Theatre is presenting The
Foreigner on Fridays and Saturdays. While
s t ay i n g a t a r e m o t e G e o r g i a l o d g e , a
pathologically shy man pretends to be a
foreigner who doesn’t speak English to avoid
participating in conversations. Assuming he
doesn’t understand them, other guests speak
openly around him, and he soon becomes
privy to secrets and scandals. The nonstop
hilarity leads to a wild and funny climax. 423926-2542, www.jcct.us
Meet Author
Tony Earley
during
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May 17
3:00 p.m.
Conference Room
Washington County
Public Library
Abingdon, VA
Earley is one of the South’s leading
writers, a prolific short story writer,
and the author of two novels that
have been hailed as modern comingof-age classics: Jim the Boy (2000)
and the sequel, The Blue Star (2008).
The first novel charts the life of 10year-old Jim Glass who, after his
father’s death, is cared for by three
uncles on whose farm Jim has
become a farmhand. In the sequel,
Jim is a teenager at the beginning of
World War II. Earley is the Samuel
Milton Fleming Associate Professor
of English at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tenn
Sponsored by Friends of the
Washington County Public Library
A member of Arts Alliance Mountain Empire
• May 5-10: Kingsport Theatre Guild
will present The Secret Garden in the
Kingsport Renaissance Center Theatre. In this
literary classic, an Englishman blames his
crippled son, Colin, for his wife’s death and
leaves him neglected and isolated until the
man’s niece comes to live with them. When
the girl discovers a secret walled garden
hidden on the estate, she releases the magic
and adventures locked inside, changing their
lives forever. Performance times are TuesdayThursday at 10 a.m.; Friday-Saturday at 7
p.m.; and Sunday at 3 p.m. 423-392-8427,
www.kingsporttheatre.org
• Opening May 7: Wohlfahrt Haus
Dinner Theatre in Wytheville, Va., will
present Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King
and I through June 28. When a widow from
Wales arrives at the royal palace in Bangkok
to serve as tutor to the king’s many children
and wives, the king becomes conflicted over
how to reconcile western ways with his own.
This Tony award-winning musical features such
timeless favorites as “I Whistle a Happy Tune,”
“Getting to Know You,” “Shall We Dance?” and
“Hello, Young Lovers.” Performances are
Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings:
dinner at 6 p.m., show at 8 p.m.; and Sunday
matinees: lunch at 1 p.m., show at 3 p.m.
888-950-3382, www.wohlfahrthaus.com
• May 8-24: T h e Jonesborough
Repertory Theatre w i l l p r e s e n t The
Hallelujah Girls May 8-24. Hilarity abounds
when the feisty females of Eden Falls, Ga.,
decide to shake up their lives by turning an
abandoned church into a day spa. The comedy
is by the same playwrights who authored The
Dixie Swim Club and the wildly popular Futrelle
Fa m i l y Te x a s t r i l o g y : Dearly Beloved,
Christmas Belles and Southern Hospitality.
Performances are at 8 p.m. on Fridays and
Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Sundays. 423753-1010, www.jonesboroughtheatre.com
• May 10: Theatre Bristol will present
Alice in Wonderland at 2:30 p.m. at the
Paramount Center for the Arts. $8-$15. 423274-8920. The story follows the adventures
of Alice as she falls into a dream and finds
herself among an assortment of quirky
characters — the White Rabbit, Tweedledee
and Tweedledum, a Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter,
the King and Queen of Hearts, and more. Alice
witnesses such strange activities as a tea party
with musical chairs, croquet with flamingos,
and a walking deck of cards. After the show,
Theatre Bristol will premier the release of a
new book, Directing Confidence: Cathy
DeCaterina’s Theatre Bristol, and local
author Samantha Gray will be available for
book signings.
• Closing May 30: The Blue Moon
Dinner Theatre in Johnson City, Tenn. is
serving a five-course, candlelit Italian dinner
with the Mafioso comedy Breaking Legs.
Performances are Thursday, Friday and
Saturday evenings (meal at 6 p.m., show at 8
p.m.) and Sunday matinees (meal at 1 p.m.,
show at 3 p.m.). Be prepared for a madcap
entrée of murder and menace with a heaping
side of pasta and laughter. This is theatre Tony
Soprano-style! The meatballs hit the fan when
a college professor turned playwright has his
play produced by a Mafia don. 423-232-1350,
www.bluemoondinnertheatre.com
Barter Theatre
Abingdon, Va. • 276-628-3991
www.bartertheatre.com
• Closing May 2: The Barter Players
will present I Can Be Anything: the Simple
Machine Musical on Barter’s Stage II in
Abingdon, Va. In this new musical by Barter
actor Mike Ostroski, kids in grades K-6
explore the fascinating world of simple
machines as Brad the Inclined Plane and his
friends discover the lever, wheel, axle, pulley,
wedge and screw as well as the limitless power
of working together as a team.
• May 5-25: The Barter Players will
present Abe, the story of Abraham Lincoln, a
boy born into poverty who rose above his
circumstances to become the 16th President
of the United States. A boat ride down the
Mississippi, a wrestling match to gain respect,
a fierce political battle and the strange dream
that haunts him — these are just a few of the
exciting moments brought to life from the
legend of Lincoln.
The Blue Moon Dinner
Theatre in Johnson City,
Tenn. is presenting the
comedy Breaking Legs.
Barter Theatre’s production of
Shakespeare’s Othello features
Ashley Campos as Desdemona,
Jonathan Earl Peck as Othello, and (in
the background) Eugene Wolf as Iago.
• Closing May 16: An adaptation of
Shakespeare’s Othello is being presented on
Barter’s Stage II. Noted Shakespearean actor
Jonathan Earl Peck stars in this legendary
tragedy filled with power, love, jealousy and
betrayal. Othello is a celebrated general
passionately in love with Desdemona (Ashley
Campos). They marry and all would be bliss if
not for the jealous machinations of Othello’s
confidant Iago (Eugene Wolf), whose vicious
plot destroys all it touches.
• Opening May 21: Six Dance Lessons
in Six Weeks will be on Stage II through July
26. Audiences around the world have fallen in
love with this heartwarming comedy where
dance helps an elderly widow and a young
dance instructor escape their lonely lives to
find friendship and meaning. In the age of
Dancing with the Stars, you’ll learn a thing or
two about life and about dance.
• Closing May 23: Jimmie Rodgers:
America’s Blue Yodeler is on the Main
Stage. Step into the life of “The Singing
Brakeman” who influenced stars from Bob
Dylan and B.B. King to Elvis Presley and Hank
Williams. Created by Douglas Pote, the author
of Keep on the Sunny Side and Man of
Constant Sorrow, this musical features such
songs as “Frankie and Johnnie,” “Blue Yodel
(T for Texas),” “In the Jailhouse Now” and
“Sleep, Baby, Sleep.”
• Opening May 29: The Wizard of Oz
will be on the Main Stage through August 9.
Dorothy’s not in Kansas anymore as a twister
hits her farm and carries her “Somewhere
Over the Rainbow.” Join Dorothy, Toto,
Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion as they
go “Off to See the Wizard” in one of the most
beloved stories of all time!