REVIEW: Clayton King Reviews Town Theatre's The Secret Garden for Jasper

In The Secret Garden at Town Theatre, a team of theater artists use a wealth of talent to the task of bringing Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved 1911 children's novel to the stage. The 1991 Tony award-winning musical's script and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon, who packed a lot of story into the script. The show won three Tony awards, including Best Book of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and Best Scenic Design.

The show leaves no stone unturned in telling the story of how a 10-year-old orphan, Mary Lennox (Bailey Bostic*), wins the love of her distant, widowed guardian, her uncle Archibald Craven (Lanny Spires), even as she finds her own self-worth by communing with nature in the locked garden of the uncle's vast Yorkshire estate. A catalyst for her journey comes from the character of Collin (Ezra Lindley*), Mary’s 10-year-old cousin and the bedridden, spoiled, and sickly son of Archibald Craven. Both children handled these complicated roles with equal aplomb. Other supporting roles included Martha, a housemaid (delightfully portrayed by Ashton Boland), and her brother, Dickon (unsurprisingly well done by Nathan Jackson). As the production moves forward, the performers are charged with unveiling many story threads and themes.

Under the direction of Jane Cato, the cast has accomplished their basic mission. Performances by actors with named roles were robust, and the deceptively difficult musical score was aptly led by Musical Director Michael Simmons, with a small band that delivered an orchestral sound. It was particularly nice to see the band on stage. In full disclosure, I was part of a production of The Secret Garden almost two years ago, which gave me insight into the wealth of information presented and devices used to convey it; because of this, some moments were easier for me to understand than for some other audience members with whom I had the opportunity to chat at intermission and after the show.

The production uses a combination of flashbacks and “past into present” devices to tell the tale. The production at Town Theatre offers a credible if sometimes confusing adaptation. Included in the ensemble were the Restorers, a group of dancers that appeared throughout the production, played by Whitney Allen, Meryn Creasman, Taryn Davis, Laura-Louise Rice, Lauren Sudduth, and Bethany Truel. As a theatrical device, this was especially effective in two places: the opening scene, where the spread of Cholera in Mary’s home in India kills everyone she knows, and in “Wick,” when Dickon (ably performed by Nathan Jackson) shows Mary that nurturing a garden can bring it (and humans) back to full life. Also in the ensemble are the Dreamers – ghosts from Mary’s past who serve as a kind of Greek chorus, carrying the score’s intricate, haunting musical themes and often interacting directly in scenes. In Town’s production, the Dreamers handle the score evenly and are played by Emily Banks, Gavin Slusher, Karly Minacepelli Shorter, Sam Derrick, Ethan Wilson, Caroline Lindler, Connor Etcheson, Emily Grace McIntyre, Sadie Slusher, and Gracelynn Wall (Young Mary).

Lanny Spires shines as Archibald Craven and is known to Columbia audiences for his strong vocals, offering a beautifully poetic, tortured soul as he tackled both musical and thematic demands. It was odd, though, that as a hunchback, he appeared without a hump and was encumbered with a cane. This limited his otherwise flawless performance. Lily (Carley Campbell Siglin*) in ghost form delivered soaring vocals and set the tone of the show in the opening, as she hauntingly beckoned, “Come to my Garden.”

Archibald’s younger brother and keeper of the estate (Austin Means) was solid in his vocal performance, and Carol Beis (unsurprisingly) nailed both the accent and character as Mrs. Medlock, the estate’s housekeeper.

Ashton Boland was absolutely delightful as Martha, a housemaid who gently pushes Mary to become more independent, and Todd Gustafson as Ben Weatherstaff, the head gardener at the estate, was delightfully crotchety and caring at the same time. Ezra Lindley, as Collin Craven, was another delight, rambling with questions or telling a story as children are wont to do.

Jeremy Hansard’s set was part representative and part literal, mixing a ramshackle, declining sort of house/garden combination and providing several staging areas in an effective way. Lighting, while sometimes too dim, was quite effective in setting the mood as performers moved to various spaces that included both indoor and garden locations. I should note that Town Theatre’s fairly recent practice of having a cast member record the preshow speech delights audiences, and last night was no exception.

Heather Gonzalez's costumes were a standout, providing period-appropriate garments, and had the Dreamers, all costumed in ghostly white, making it easy to distinguish ghosts from humans.

Apart from a few “opening night” issues with microphones or costumes, The Secret Garden is a success, and everyone involved should be proud. The audience sometimes had trouble locating the show's pulse in a few areas. For example, unlike traditional musicals, The Secret Garden does not employ full-scale production numbers. While the dancers were clearly enjoying their time on stage, I found that they sometimes distracted from other poignant moments, such as “I Heard Someone Crying” and “Quartet.” Both songs are individual soliloquies, performed introspectively by the principal characters. So much movement on stage took away from the strength of what each of these characters was relating to the audience. Early on, I was momentarily confused when Mary first got dressed and donned a white dress. Then, while I was trying to make sense of this, she added a richly colored coat, which instantly answered the question. At times while using the spaces available, scenes felt separated a bit too far making them hard to follow. Audiences should be prepared for a longer-than-usual running time, but the show's pace keeps them engaged and wondering what the resolution to Mary’s situation will be.

*The show runs March 13-29, with Caitlin Thomas White alternating as Lily, Molly Adams as Mary, and Carter Ellingson as Collin.

(Editor’s Note: In the original post the name Gracelynn Wall was inadvertently omitted. We apologize for this error.)

REVIEW: Jane Peterson Reviews Guys and Dolls at Workshop Theatre

Dames, Dice, and Plenty of Charm: Guys & Dolls at Workshop Theatre

Workshop Theatre raised the curtain Friday night on Guys & Dolls, the beloved musical comedy set against the colorful backdrop of 1950s New York, and the audience could not have been more receptive. The show traces its roots to the short stories of Damon Runyon, brought to the stage by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling, with the irresistible score and lyrics of Frank Loesser. The production first dazzled Broadway on November 24, 1950, earning the Tony for Best Musical the following year, and later inspired a 1955 film featuring Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, and Vivian Blaine.

At its heart, the story follows two incorrigible gamblers who find themselves wagering on something far more unpredictable than dice — love. Sky Masterson (Evan Cook) accepts a bet from Nathan Detroit (Frank Thompson) that he can't convince straight-laced Salvation Army missionary Sarah Brown (Sara Slaughter) to join him on a spontaneous trip to Cuba. Meanwhile, Detroit is doing everything in his power to avoid walking down the aisle with his long-suffering girlfriend Adelaide (Maegen Hodges), a dancer at the Hot Spot nightclub. The two storylines weave together through a lively mix of gamblers, showgirls, Salvation Army meetings, and one memorable Cuban detour.

Workshop's production delivers a genuinely good time. The music is bright and infectious, though at times the music threatened to drown out the vocals — which is a pity, because the singing across the cast was commendably very strong.

Frank Thompson brings Nathan Detroit to life with wonderful energy, capturing the character's perpetually flustered, shifty charm as he scrambles to find a venue for his floating craps game while staying one step ahead of the law. His vocals were solid throughout, particularly in the duet Sue Me alongside Maegan Hodges, whose voice was simply outstanding. Hodges deserves real credit for holding her own in some of the more demanding passages, and her portrayal of the lovably scatterbrained nightclub performer was both sharp and thoroughly entertaining. Her turn with the Hot Box girls in A Bushel & A Peck was a genuine crowd-pleaser.

Sara Slaughter was a standout as the buttoned-up Sarah Brown, bringing a sharp comic sensibility and a wonderfully expressive face to the role. Her rendition of If I Were a Bell was a real highlight.

Evan Cook's take on Sky Masterson carried all the Brando-inflected cool the role demands — self-assured and magnetic, it's a performance well worth the price of admission on its own. His scenes opposite Slaughter were especially fun, and their duets ranked among the evening's best moments.

The gambling fraternity — George Dinsmore as Benny, Joshua Diveley as Nicely-Nicely, Davis Herndon as Harry the Horse, and Julian Deleon as Big Jule — gave the show much of its texture and flavor. Each brought something distinct to their role, and the ensemble felt cohesive and committed. The "confession" scene was another high point, and Deleon's turn as the menacing Chicago gangster was particularly fun to watch.

The ensemble featured Lisa Baker, Dylan Livingston, Sophie Legare, Caroline Leonard, Blythe Long, Abby Mathias, Ann McGaha, James Nolan, Absalom Oliver, Elizabeth Rawson, Katie Rooney, Joey Weaver, Dara Younce and Tyler Zangler, whose portrayal of the policeman added some great comedic moments.

The vocal performance of the night, for this reviewer, belonged to Rich Fisher as Arvide Abernathy, Sarah's grandfather. His solo More I Cannot Wish You was quietly moving and left a lasting impression — here is a performer worth watching. Also deserving of mention were Joshua Dively's spirited Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat, and the entire ensemble’s rousing rendition of Luck Be a Lady Tonight.

Director Bakari Lebby kept things brisk and lively, moving the show along at a confident clip. That said, a couple of production details gave pause. A push-button pay phone appearing as a set piece was a noticeable anachronism — period-appropriate props shouldn't be difficult to source for a show so firmly rooted in its era. Similarly, one particular wig felt like an afterthought, lacking the period styling that the rest of the costumes — which were largely on point — carried off so well. On the technical side, Patrick Faulds' set and lighting design served the show admirably, Kathy Seppamaki's music direction was crisp and capable, and Katherine Brown's choreography kept the stage energized. Additional crew included Hayle Barry (assistant director), Jeni McCaughan (producer), Andie Nicks (costumes), and Adeline Huggins (stage manager).

Guys & Dolls runs through March 28th at Workshop Theatre. Tickets can be purchased online at workshoptheatreofsc.org or by calling the box office at 803-799-6551. Workshop Theatre is located on the Columbia College campus in the Cottingham Theatre, at 1301 Columbia College Drive, Columbia, SC.

Jane Turner Peterson

REVIEW -- Village Square Theatre's SCHOOL OF ROCK by Jane Turner Peterson

Young Performers Rock the Stage in School of Rock at Village Square Theatre

Get ready for some good rock ’n’ roll…performed on stage by kids! Yes, kids! School of Rock the Musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, kicked off Friday night at Village Square Theatre in Lexington. Along with a superior band in the pit—Patty Boggs (drums), Nigel Grant (guitar), Camille Jones (piano), and Katie Miller (bass)—the young performers who make up the onstage “School of Rock” band absolutely rocked the house.

Directed by David LaTorre, Village Square Theatre’s artistic director, this high-energy rock musical is great fun for audiences of all ages. While the original School of Rock film leaned heavily on the antics of its adult lead, the stage version puts a stronger spotlight on the students and their families. LaTorre’s direction keeps the large production moving smoothly and energetically. With a cast of 35+—and several roles double cast—this was no small undertaking. Yet the ensemble remained fully engaged throughout the show, always in character and clearly listening and reacting to one another onstage.

Though a number of adults appear in the production, the majority of the cast is made up of teenagers and younger performers. If these young actors continue their involvement in community theatre, the future of the art form in our area looks very bright.

Based on the 2003 film School of Rock, this musical (originally based on a book by Julian Fellowes (known for Downton Abbey, and The Gilded Age) was adapted for the stage by Mike White. The show premiered on Broadway in 2015 at the Winter Garden Theatre. The story follows struggling rock singer and guitarist Dewey Finn (Taylor Diveley, who—after being kicked out of his own band—impersonates his geeky friend, Ned Schneebly (John Carter), a seasoned substitute teacher, to land a high paying job at a prestigious prep school. When he discovers his students’ musical talent, Dewey secretly forms a rock band with the students and sets his sights on the winning the Battle of the Bands. Needless to say, he is not your average teacher!

The musical moves at a brisk pace, with numerous scene changes handled efficiently by the cast and crew. Add in live instruments both onstage and in the pit, and the result is a production that demands serious stamina and energy from everyone involved. Thanks to LaTorre’s strong direction, the show hits the mark.

As Dewey Finn, Taylor Diveley is perfectly cast. His energy and enthusiasm propel the show, and his rock ’n’ roll persona—along with some solid vocals—keep the momentum going. Diveley is simply a joy to watch. John Carter fits perfectly in the role of a semi-nerdy friend, whose girlfriend, Sophie (D’Asia White) nags him about his loser friend, Finn.

Shelby Sessler nearly steals the show as the tightly wound principal Rosalie Mullins. Her vocal power and impressive range shine throughout the performance, and she deftly reveals several sides of the character as the story unfolds.

Several young musicians deserve special recognition. Alex Lease, who plays Zack in both casts, portrays the talented young guitarist desperate for his father’s approval, delivering some seriously impressive electric guitar work, better than many adult performers. Leo Portney brings equally strong skills to the drum kit, with drum solos that are a highlight of the show. Keyboardist Westin Black and bassist Allison Wengerd are similarly terrific.

Another standout is Mackenzie Bruder as the delightfully bossy and rule-loving Summer. Her confident stage presence, comedic timing, and sharp characterization add plenty of fun to the production.

Kudos also go to the entire ensemble of band members and classmates, including Lydia Reed, Grace Carlton, Jo Davis, Jack Carlton, Zach Cieri, Jackson Livingston, Catherine Cieri, Scarlett Ellingson, Soph Carlton, Ciara Nash, Kate Bruder, Eliot Stewart, Janely Burgos, Finn Carlton, Selah Lyle, Graham Gibson, Alyssa Presutto, Reese Catalanotto, Mackenzie Miller, Pete Roberts, and Scarlett Powell. Each performer brought strong character work and plenty of enthusiasm to the stage.

The adult roles are capably handled by Andrew Coston, Will Dowd, Eric Jewell, Max Ferro, Zanna Mills, Tracey Lease, Megan Stewart, Chris Bender, and John Carter.

Depending on what night you go, there are a slew of other young actors in the other cast. They include Ethan Schalund, Grace Bender, Aleah Headen, Brighton Dunbar, Rilyn Boehme, Hunter Gibson, Cully Srikanth, Logan Blackledge, Emily Sippel, Charlee Gay, Adalynn Williams, Genevieve Savage, and Emma Grace Simpson.

Choreography by Maggie Pszenny is lively and well suited to the production, adding to the show’s overall energy. The production is produced by Tricia Miller, and musical direction by Julia Turner keeps the rock sound tight and exciting. It’s clear that everyone involved poured their hearts into this production.

If you’re ready for a fun night filled with great rock ’n’ roll—and a chance to see the promising future of community theatre and young performers—make plans to catch School of Rock: The Musical at Village Square Theatre in Lexington. The show runs through March 22. Tickets are available at villagesquaretheatre.com or by phone at 803-359-1436.

REVIEW – "A Pointy Reckoning”: Trustus Theatre's The Crucible by Jon Tuttle

In his autobiography, Timebends, playwright Arthur Miller described McCarthyism—the hysteria that gripped postwar America in the 1950s—as “the inexorable march of the cheerful totalitarian patriots” who reprehended “all that was not simple to understand, all that seemed foreign, all that implied something slightly less reassuring than that America stood innocent and pure in a vile and sinister world beyond its borders.”  During the attendant hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Miller “saw the civilities of public life deftly stripped from the body politic like the wings of insects or birds by maniac children, and great and noble citizens branded traitors.” 

During that dark chapter in American history—engineered by Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) on behalf of his party—Miller was called to answer for his involvement with left wing intellectual circles and to surrender the names of his commie comrades.  Whereas some of his contemporaries, including friend and collaborator Elia Kazan, willingly surrendered their integrity, Miller refused to “use the name of another person to bring trouble on him.”  He was therefore convicted, in 1957, of contempt of Congress, a decision whose reversal the following year triggered the dismantling of the HUAC and caused Edward R. Murrow to conclude that “No one can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all accomplices.”  By then, McCarthy had been condemned by the Senate and had died of cirrhosis. 

In the meantime, Miller’s The Crucible (1953) had opened Broadway and won the Tony Award for Best Play.  It was not the first play to compare the HUAC to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692; there were at least three others preceding it, including William Carlos Williams’ Tituba’s Children (1950).  But it was by the far the most commercially successful and the only one we still turn to when we need it most.   

“No one can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all accomplices.” — Edward R. Murrow

Hence Trustus Theatre’s current production, which opened on Friday, February 20, to an utterly thunderstruck audience.  It is magnificent. There is indeed so much to admire here that it’s hard to know where to begin, so much to say about each element that it will be hard to know when to stop.

For instance, the acting. The ensemble of nineteen is perfectly choreographed, wholly worthy of one another, and up to the heady challenge posed by Miller’s dialogue, which on the page can smack of melodrama but becomes in their performances nigh operatic.  Names must be named:  Jason Stokes, as John Proctor, inhabits the play’s moral center of gravity with an authority gradually leavened with vulnerability. Stokes’ delivery of Proctor’s famous speech at the end—the one about names being the last vestiges of legacy—is the pitch perfect crescendo it should be.   As Proctor’s goodwife Elizabeth, Ashley Rose Montondo is the deep well of fortitude from which he has always drawn and, ultimately, marvelously, his jury.  Around them, invisible but powerful social forces constrict like nooses, beginning with the Puritan clergy, namely Reverends Parris (played by William Paul Brown), who is nefarious, and Hale (Asaru Buffalo), whose attempts at honorability demonstrate Miller’s desire not to blame religion for absolutely everything. 

 Through the courts’ machinations, the play reveals the worst of America’s timeworn banes: superstition, ignorance, hypocrisy, litigiousness, sanctimony, greed, jingoism, and above all, the threat to bodily autonomy, which starts with the women but comes, like vengeance, for everyone. 

That blame lies largely with his magistrates. Cameron Muccio portrays Judge Hawthorne as an embarrassingly sycophantic Lindsey Graham-like jurist made tumescent by his new power, and this, lest it reads otherwise, is a high compliment.  Muccio proves an apt intern for Steve Harley’s Judge Danforth, whom Miller, in his research, found so sadistic as to be a primary evil. As a primary evil, Harley is superb, primarily because he’s not playing evil at all.  Rather, his Danforth is a man so blindly committed to Puritan jurisprudence that he would gladly “hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes.”  As unfortunate stooges of the court, Logan Keller (as bailiff Ezekiel Cheever) and Adam Hobbs (as marshall John Willard) ably demonstrate the depths to which good men might sink in order to save their own skins.  Through the courts’ machinations, the play reveals the worst of America’s timeworn banes: superstition, ignorance, hypocrisy, litigiousness, sanctimony, greed, jingoism, and above all, the threat to bodily autonomy, which starts with the women but comes, like vengeance, for everyone.  

At stake in all of this is civilization itself, represented here by the townsfolk of Salem, to whom we’ll turn in a minute.  First, though, we must admire the writing. Miller’s legacy needs no championing; he is arguably the foremost American dramatist of the past hundred years—superior, yes, to Eugene O’Neill, owing to the latter’s hopelessness.  Miller is, conversely, very hopeful.  He believes in America’s virtue, and so many of his plays (see also Death of a Salesman, All My Sons, The Price, The American Clock, A View From the Bridge), are embodied warnings about the menace America poses to itself. When you go see The Crucible, which you must (it runs through March 15), watch the way menace metastasizes from rumors and abstractions in the world outside to visitors standing in our dining room.

And so now to the townsfolk, beginning with the least able to defend themselves, like the dispossessed Martha Corey and Sarah Good, (both played by Catherine Bailey); or Ann and Thomas Putnam (Brittany Hammock and Adam Hobbs again) as parishioners so desperately devout they’ll swallow anything; or Francis and Rebecca Nurse (Stann Gwynn and Ilene Fins), he a man powerless to stop the murders sanctioned by his neighbors, she an unreproachable pillar of the community and the best gauge of the magistrates’ bloodlust. 

This reviewer cannot explain how [Hunter] Boyle manages to create such a complex, compelling and complete character, and so concludes it must be sorcery.

Here, a whole paragraph must be devoted to Giles Corey, in history a savvy farmer versed (after much experience) in courtroom protocol, in the play a sometimes comic but ultimately wily and triumphant martyr for the growing resistance against the court.   Corey’s execution and last words, though reported only indirectly onstage, still somehow linger long after the play is over, which testifies to the authority Hunter Boyle brings to the role. This reviewer cannot explain how Boyle manages to create such a complex, compelling and complete character, and so concludes it must be sorcery.

Which brings us, at last, to the witches. The witches are not witches, sorry, they’re just girls, but they writhe exquisitely and do creepy things and are responsible for the most unnerving scene this reviewer has ever witnessed on any stage.   They are Mercy Lewis (played by Meagan Aubuchon), Betty Paris (Chloe Newport), Susanna Walcott (Maryssa Drake), and their Jamaican squad leader Tituba (Nicole Perez).   Particular mention must be made of Kate Anderson’s portrayal of Mary Warren and Kaeleigh Miller’s of Abigail Williams.  Abby is, in history as in the play, the primary architect of the horror visited upon Salem, a girl motivated less by piety than puberty, but made somehow remarkably beguiling in Miller’s portrayal.  Mary begins the play as Abby’s accomplice, but then bravely attempts to save Salem from itself until she is undone by the most unnerving scene this reviewer has ever witnessed on any stage.  The actors playing these five witches, though younger, rise to the level of professionalism evinced by their more experienced castmates and complete an ensemble that is collectively and unequivocally the star of the show. 

Credit for this magic trick goes to director Jayce Tromsness, a Trustus veteran from the Thigpen era and a well-traveled actor/playwright/designer/educator/musician/maybe a witch.  In his hands, The Crucible is a perfectly realized theatrical event.  It begins with a barely audible but still disturbing audio of an interrogation, and ends with a devastating tableau you will not see coming and will never unsee.  Each scene along the way begins with characters staring at us accusingly, which frankly we deserve.  When you go see it, which you must, watch the way lighting designer Marc Hurst deploys shadows, silhouettes, even apparitions to cast a spell, but also explosive flashes to shock us out of it.  Watch the way costumer Adai’Shun Cook transports us from the 17th century into the 21st.   Watch the scene design, particularly the eerily Kandinsky-esque  scrims and flats (Tromsness again) manipulate atmosphere.  Listen to the sounds (Tromsness again, he’s a witch) particularly the cheerful non-existent bird in the most unnerving scene this reviewer has ever witnessed on any stage. And oh: pay close attention to the color red.

And consider, when you go, which you must, Eric Bentley’s observation, in The Dramatic Event, about the timelessness of The Crucible:  “One sits before this play with anything but intellectual detachment. At a moment when we are all being ‘investigated,’ or imagining that we shall be, it is vastly disturbing to see indignant images of investigation on the other side of the footlights. Why one wonders aren't there dozens of plays each season offering such a critical account of the state of the nation?”

NB: As The Crucible includes triggering images/social issues, it is not appropriate for all ages.  Tickets are $35, or $32 for seniors/students/military. 

Jon Tuttle is a member of the Jasper Project’s Board of Directors and the author of The Trustus Collection and South Carolina Onstage. 

REVIEW: Chapin Theatre Company's HOW TO SUPERVISE WOMEN

By Cindi Boiter

At the Jasper Project, we are committed to supporting, promoting, and celebrating new art wherever we can find it. Last night I found an outstanding example of new theatre just down the road from me at Chapin Theatre Company in the dress rehearsal for Lou Clyde’s new play, How to Supervise Women.

A tight two-act comedy, How to Supervise Women features an equally tight ensemble cast of loveable characters who make one of the most important cultural changes in the history of American women cogently understandable even for folks who might be hesitant to identify as feminists. Set in an aircraft assembly plant in San Diego in 1942, the play introduces us to four women who, though demographically different, find commonality and community during World War II. The women are answering the call to leave their lives as homemakers and take on the responsibilities of the men in the workforce who left to fight in the war.

The playwright does a fine job of representing four recognizable domestic situations in the backgrounds of her lead characters. Shirley Kaminski, played by Debra Haines Kiser, is a widow with three sons serving overseas. The wisdom of knowing what is at stake in the country weighs heavily on Shirley, but Clyde gives her the defense mechanism of humor, which she readily shares with her cohort, helping them all to cope. Loretta Beutel, played by the perpetually cute Zanna Mills, is a young woman with a secret reflective of the limited options available to women at the time. Millie Kram, played by Jill Brantley, is a young mother with a third baby on the way and a husband overseas.

But my favorite character was Joyce Johnson,  a young Black woman who starts out relegated to the role of custodian but clearly has much more to offer Consolidated Electronics, if not the world. Played by poet, singer, songwriter, and now actor, Alyssa Stewart, Joyce is aware of the power her almost invisibility in the workplace affords her and uses it to her and her work mates’ advantage. But Joyce is all-seeing. Her smirks, chuckles, and knowing glances are priceless. Having worked for years at Consolidated Electronics, her awareness that poor women and women of color were already a part of the labor force long before the war even started, informs her approach to her job and to dealing with the men in supervisory positions. Let’s hope Alyssa Stewart, the actor, finds herself on another stage soon!

Speaking of the men, the characters Herman Mueller, played adorably by Jack Bingham, and his supervisor and the play’s antagonist George Perroni, played by CTC executive director Jim DeFelice, served the play’s narrative well. While George’s character is somewhat informed by the stereotypical mid-century husband, who offers much sound and fury on the job but ultimately submits to his powerful wife, DeFelice gives his role the kind of humility that makes his character receptive to growth and change. George’s long-awaited epiphany that women are strong, capable, and let’s face it, amazing is facilitated by the pure kindness of Herman’s character. In his words and actions, Herman consistently conveys the message that everyone is really just doing the best that they can under world-altering conditions. In this role, Bingham could not have been more authentically open and vulnerable. I look forward to seeing Bingham on a local stage again, as well.

The cast is rounded out by Samantha Hansford playing the role of Phyllis and Barry Smith as the announcer/messenger, both of whom took smaller roles and made them meaningful. Jamie Carr Harrington directed the play with sound and lights by Simon Marchant. Tiffany Dinsmore and Abby Mathias did an excellent job with costume design, not only remembering to make the characters’ shoes fit the time period but giving some of the characters charming spectator styles that made even a non-shoe person like me swoon a little.

Similarly, Jane Peterson took no short-cuts with the show’s props, putting her graphic design skills to good use wherever she could. To that end, don’t miss the pin-up calendar she designed for the first act! (Full disclosure, Peterson is a member of the Jasper Project board of directors and theatre editor for Jasper Magazine.) And kudos again to DeFelice and Dinsmore for creating an appropriately industrial set complete with uncomfortable aluminum chairs à la The Whig.

How to Supervise Women is more than a comedic play. Lou Clyde has created a rich narrative full of grace notes that subtly pepper the play with hints that give nuance to the culture in which the story is set. Whether it be an off-the-cuff comment by a female character that after working a double shift she still works a third shift when she gets home, or notes left in the women’s un-locked lockers with messages like, “Broads belong on their backs,” or the bathroom signage that changes from MEN to WOMEN to POWDER ROOM, How to Supervise Women is a portrait of a period in American history that spurred changes in gender roles, workplace dynamics, the way women viewed their value, and so much more.

In her Playwright’s Note, Lou Clyde writes, “My mom was one of the six million women who worked in a factory while my dad served in World War II. … This play is meant to honor these trail-blazing women who proved they could not only do the jobs of men but do them well.” Not only does How to Supervise Women accomplish Clyde’s mission, but it does so with an abundance of humor and theatre artists who bring their meticulously designed characters to life with sensitivity and finesse.

Go see How to Supervise Women at Chapin Theatre Company

February 7,12,13,19, and 20 at 7:30 pm

and February 8, 14, 15, 21, and 22 at 3 pm.

Visit Chapin Theatre Company for tickets.

REVIEW: Village Square Theatre’s 12 Angry Jurors Demonstrates the Power of Diversity in the Live Theatre Experience

by Amanda McSwine with Cindi Boiter

Village Square Theatre’s current production of 12 Angry Jurors  has a storied past. Originally written by Reginald Rose as a teleplay titled Twelve Angry Men that premiered on CBS in 1954, the now well-known tale of the power and contagion of reasonable doubt was adapted as a stage play, a film, and a different stage play written by a different writer during the first decade of its life. While many viewers think of Twelve Angry Men as the 1957 film directed by Sidney Lumet featuring an ensemble cast that included Henry Fonda and Jack Warden, the loose premise of the play has inspired everything from parodies likeTwelve Angry Elvises to TV shows like Sesame Street, Murder She Wrote, and Happy Days (“12 Angry Fonzies”) that used the practice of entertaining reasonable doubt as the loose structure for a weekly episode. A 2015 star-studded, sketch parody written by Amy Schumer for her series, Inside Amy Schumer, garnered rave reviews as it debated the question of whether Schumer was “hot enough” to have her own show. Village Square Theatre’s straight production of 12 Angry Jurors is a thoughtful and inclusive update to the original that better resonates with a contemporary audience. 

The show opens in the jury room of a seemingly clear-cut murder case—so clear-cut, in fact, that before we even meet the jury, the bailiff tells the audience that the defendant “doesn’t stand a chance.” As our jurors enter, we see the intentionality of director Glenn Farr in his selection of a diverse cast. Almost any member of the audience may see themselves represented. 

As the jurors begin to deliberate, we witness a clash of perspectives and an unveiling of biases. We see how the jurors negotiate with each other—and themselves-–as their worldviews are put to the test. In this age of echo chambers and curated algorithms, 12 Angry Jurors invites us to sit with the discomfort of differing opinions.

Katie Mixon’s compelling performance as Juror #3 (played in the original film by Lee J. Cobb) captures the defensiveness, anger, and desperation that surfaces when deeply held beliefs are challenged. Charles Zuber’s heated monologue as Juror #10 (played in the film by Ed Begley, Sr.), exposes the danger of how using rhetoric that includes terms like “those people” can turn bias into blind prejudice and discrimination.

The VST ensemble included LaQuana Aldridge, Tristan Brown, Beth DeHart, Will Frierson, Pat Gagliano, Kathleen Godwin, Rae Kostal, Kyle Mason, Jeff Sigley, and Brian Teusink. And, while all of the performers give their characters life with feeling and depth, as well as diversity, there were some production elements that were lacking. While many of the costume choices supported the director’s intention to set the piece “outside the normal timestream,” a handful of accessories distracted from this illusion due to their distinct association with a specific time period. 

I appreciated the minimalist set which kept the focus on the exchanges between the jurors and the system in which they existed. But pacing was awkward at times. I would have liked for the cast to have found a smoother rhythm in order to better build tension during heated exchanges. 

Overall, Village Square Theatre’s production of 12 Angry Jurors is a timely examination of the strength it takes to stand alone in the face of overwhelming odds, and the courage it takes to put aside one's pride and change one’s mind.

12 Angry Jurors runs through February 1. An additional show has been added on Thursday, Jan. 29 to accommodate the cancellation last week due to weather. For tickets call 803-359-1436 or visit the theatre’s website online.

REVIEW: A Deadly Good Time - Over My Dead Body Delivers Laughs at Town Theatre By Jane Turner Peterson

Town Theatre’s production of Over My Dead Body by Michael Sutton and Anthony Fingleton is a delightful throwback to some of Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries. While it takes place in the 1990s, it evokes the feel of old-school whodunit plays. Skillfully directed by Allison McNeely, Over My Dead Body is a comedy-mystery that borders on farce, with some wonderful physical and situational comedy moments. There are several great twists in the plot that make the production even more fun. The entire cast was fun to watch.

The story is set in England and revolves around three elderly founding members of a mystery/crime writers’ literary club: Dora Winslow (Kathy Hartzog), Trevor Foyle (Bill DeWitt), and Bartie Cruikshank (Clayton King)—collectively known as the “Murder League.” A new, young writer, Simon Vale, has joined their ranks, and they are not fond of him. Vale makes fun of their old-fashioned style of writing, while the League mocks his inappropriate language used to describe his murders. The play spoofs the whodunit genre as the three members of the “Murder League” attempt to plan and execute the perfect crime to boost their careers—only to have their old-fashioned methods go comically wrong.

As the married couple Trevor Foyle and Dora Winslow, DeWitt and Hartzog bring their wonderful chemistry to full force. Having played opposite one another many times over the years, the pair are always a delight to watch. Their timing and delivery are spot-on. Clayton King’s Bartie adds a delightful dose of eccentric energy to a character who is shrewder than he first appears.

Wayne Wright’s portrayal of Vale strikes just the right mix of snobbery and cockiness to make you distrust—and dislike—his character. The club’s butler, played by Steve Reeves, adds another layer of comedy to the production. His slow-moving, dim-witted portrayal of the aging servant is fun, and even more commitment to the character would have been welcome. The murder victim—Simon Vale’s utterly despicable American literary agent, Leo Sharpe—is played by the imposing Sam Chamberlain, who dives into the role with great enthusiasm and makes you dislike him from the moment he appears.

Rounding out the production is the star-struck detective, Chris Kruzner, whose portrayal of the slightly dim-witted investigator, reminiscent of Jacques Clouseau (The Pink Panther), is spot-on. His self-assured partner, Sergeant Trask, portrayed by Chavous Camp, is also fun to watch. Together, the two make a strong comedic pairing.

Big kudos to the entire set, costume, and prop crew—Nathan Jackson, Jeremy Hansard, Julian Harley, Shannon Willis Scruggs, and Jodie Harris—whose work was very well done and served the production beautifully. Town Theatre is lucky to have such a wonderful space. A few technical elements could be tightened up, but it is live theatre, after all.

If you’re looking for a fun, lively evening at the theatre, this one is for you. Over My Dead Body runs Thursdays through Sundays until Feb. 1. For tickets or more information, visit towntheatre.org.

REVIEW: The Comeuppance Delivers a Fearless, Ensemble-Fueled Night By Jane Turner Peterson

Trustus Theatre’s Side Door production of The Comeuppance, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, is a modern-day dramedy set in Washington, DC. It’s an intense evening of angst, truths, secrets, and lasting friendships, as a group of five diverse millennials gather for a pre–20th high school reunion party for their “gang” of misfits—known as MERG (Multi-Ethnic Reject Group). Think of the play as a grown-up The Big Chill. This particular group of friends has faced a lot in their lifetimes so far, including 9/11 and COVID, to name just a couple. Some of these friends see each other on a fairly regular basis; others have not been together in nearly 13 years.

While alcohol—and a little pot—soothe some, others find themselves stuck in the past with doubts, unrequited love, anger, and regret. Each character has been shaped by history and by time itself. The group’s anchor, Ursula, has lost an eye due to diabetes and has endured tremendous loss; Kristina, a doctor and vet, numbs herself with alcohol to escape the pressures of being a mother of five stuck in a suffocating marriage; Emilio is a bitter, brilliant artist who has self-exiled to Europe; and Paco, a veteran suffering from PTSD, is treated as an outsider and haunted by abuse from his high school years. Each character breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience about mortality and the stories they tell themselves to survive.

Be prepared: the play runs two and a half hours with no intermission. Yet it never feels indulgent or slow. The momentum of the piece is part of its power, and it is difficult to imagine where an intermission could even exist without disrupting the emotional current. Ginny Ives’ direction honors the depth and complexity of this script. Her fluid use of the intimate Side Door Theatre at Trustus (a 50-seat space) allows the audience to feel like silent members of the group, fully immersed in their reunion.

Patrick Dodds delivers a riveting performance as Emilio, capturing both the character’s caustic wit and profound ache. His opening monologue—where he reveals that we may know him as Death—is haunting, intimate, and immediately pulls the audience into the world of the play. Dodds sustains this emotional precision throughout the evening with a richly layered performance.

Jessica Francis Fichter shines as Caitlin, bringing emotional clarity and vulnerability to a character torn between nostalgia and disappointment. Her performance is filled with subtle shifts that reveal Caitlin’s longing, regret, and unresolved affection, grounding the play with honesty and heart.

Tashera Pravato brings warmth, strength, and a deeply human gentleness to Ursula. As the emotional center of the group, she radiates compassion and quiet resilience, giving the production its moral and emotional anchor.

Ellen Rodillo-Fowler fully commits to the chaos of Kristina, delivering a fearless performance that is at once biting, funny, and heartbreaking. Her portrayal captures both the bravado and the devastation of a woman unraveling, making Kristina’s pain impossible to ignore.

Mario Haynes gives Paco a moving sense of restraint and inner conflict. His performance thoughtfully conveys the weight of PTSD and long-held wounds, allowing Paco’s vulnerability and dignity to emerge with authenticity and care.

Jonathan Adriel adds resonance and gravitas as Simon, the friend who is only heard on the phone and who cancelled on them at the last moment. His rich voice and grounded presence bring an unexpected depth to the ensemble and underscore the themes of erasure, reinvention, and accountability.

The chemistry among the cast is exceptional. Their relationships feel lived-in, volatile, and deeply rooted, creating an ensemble that is emotionally transparent and compelling from start to finish.

The set, designed by Trustus company member Dewey Scott Wiley, is ideally suited to the space and supports the storytelling beautifully. Costumes and props are equally strong and specific. I highly recommend seeing this powerful and affecting production. The Comeuppance runs Thursdays-Sundays through Feb. 1 at the Side Door Theatre. Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at trustus.org or by calling 803-254-9732.

REVIEW: Town Theatre’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE MUSICAL Shines! By Jane Turner Peterson

Don’t wait another minute—head to Town Theatre’s website or pick up the phone now! Tickets will go fast for this dazzling production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol the Musical, and you do NOT want to miss it. This spectacular musical, directed by veteran Jerry Crouch, is guaranteed to fill you with holiday cheer from the moment the curtain rises. With masterful choreography by Christy Shealy Mills and gorgeous vocals shaped by music director Kathy Seppamaki, this show is easily one of the standouts of 2025. 

Featuring music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Mike Ockrent and Ahrens, this adaptation remains one of the most beloved versions of Dickens’ classic—and Town Theatre’s massive, talented cast brings every note and moment to life with heart and precision. 

We follow Ebenezer Scrooge on his iconic Christmas Eve journey as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future visit him. Each encounter is beautifully realized, reminding us all of the timeless power of reflection, redemption, and the true meaning of Christmas. 

With a cast of more than 50 adult, teen, and child performers, this production is nothing short of impressive. Crouch’s direction is seamless, moving the company through polished scenes and picture-perfect vignettes. The multi-level set is both stunning and functional, transitions are smooth and choreographed, and the use of the trapdoor (a fan favorite!) adds a delightful theatrical flair. The period costumes are exquisite, adding authenticity and charm to every scene. 

The dance numbers alone are worth the price of admission. “Link by Link” and “Dancing on Your Grave” light up the stage with thrilling choreography and ensemble work, while “Mr. Fezziwig’s Annual Christmas Ball” bursts with joy and energy. Christy Shealy Mills—with some help from her daughter Zanna Mills—delivers showstopping choreography that elevates these big dance moments into true highlights of the night. 

Tracy Steele delivers a brilliant performance as Ebenezer Scrooge, effortlessly capturing every comedic beat and emotional turn. His vocals shine, his presence commands the stage, and his transformation is deeply satisfying to watch. Additional standout performances include Jerimy Woodall as Marley, Zanna Mills as the luminous Ghost of Christmas Past, Gavin Slaughter as the exuberant Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ashton Boland as the chilling Ghost of Christmas Future. And don’t miss Gina Saviola’s delightful moments as Mrs. Mops! 

This is the holiday production to see this season. A Christmas Carol runs December 5–21. Tickets are available by phone at 803.799.2510, online at towntheatre.com, or in person at the theatre from noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday–Friday, at 1012 Sumter Street in downtown Columbia. 

Make it part of your family’s holiday tradition—get your tickets today!

REVIEW: Chapin Theatre’s A Seussified Christmas Carol Sells Out Before Opening!** by Jane Peterson

One thing I always hope to do as a reviewer is to help boost ticket sales for local productions. Community theatres rely on us to keep their mission of bringing quality theatre alive. In this case, though, it is a true “snooze, you lose” situation—A Seussified Christmas Carol by Peter Bloedel sold out before opening night. It’s a shame Chapin Theatre isn’t extending the run for one more weekend, because this delightful production deserves to be seen by even more people. Drawing from the genius of two of my favorite authors—Charles Dickens and Dr. Seuss—this show blends the best of both worlds to retell the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation, complete with Marley’s ghost and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

Before I go on, here’s a tip: jump on Chapin’s 2026 fall membership deal! It’ll save you some money and guarantee your seat for next season. You can find all the details at chapintheatre.org.

A Seussified Christmas Carol follows Scrooge—the meanest, stingiest man in town—as he discovers his heart and soul through encounters with the spirits. He’s forced to face his selfish ways and ultimately embraces love, family, and the true spirit of Christmas. All of this is told through the wacky rhyming couplets of Dr. Seuss, making for a charming and whimsical experience. A stage full of young actors, mixed with seasoned performers of all ages, worked together wonderfully to bring this magical story to life. I smiled from start to finish.

Directed by Bonnie Hill Lyon, the large cast is expertly anchored by Gerald McWilliams as Scrooge, whose facial expressions and comic timing fit this miserly character perfectly. And yes—it’s “The Scrooge,” as he was once a rock star in his youth! Narrators 1 and 2 (think Thing 1 and Thing 2), played by Leah Gilbert and Emma Lyon, brought terrific energy and agility to their roles, guiding us through the story. Lonnie Owen—who must be nearly seven feet tall—was a fantastic contrast as Scrooge’s determined nephew, Beadheaded Fred. His booming presence and the chorus of children mimicking his laugh made him a standout Seuss-inspired character. Other notable performances include Scott Anderson as poor, anxious Bob Crachett, father of Timmy Lou Hoo, and Abby Mathias, who showed wonderful comedic range as both the Ghost of Christmas Past and Mrs. Cratchet.

The minimal cubic set and props by Sandy Steffan, along with costumes designed by Abby Mathias, were a perfect fit for this playful production. Chapin also made excellent use of their projection system thanks to the smart design work of Chris Harre. Choreographer Meredith Boehme kept the large cast moving smoothly and magically through the intimate space.

This talented ensemble also includes Luke Anderson, Christian Banks, Meredith Boehme, Rilyn Boehme, Gigi Cunningham, Lauren Dawkins, Nathan Dawson, Perry Dawson, Caroline Futch, Leah Gilbert, Lindsey Kelso, Nicole Kingsley, Len Lesslie, Gabriel Lyon, Faith Magann, Garrett Martin, Leo Owings, Audrey Roberts, Charleston Stalker, and Beaux Tyler.

Chapin Theatre’s 2026 season will feature:

How to Supervise Women by Lou Clyde — Feb. 6–22

Nana’s Naughty Knickers by Katherine DiSavino — May 14–31

Mary Poppins by Julian Fellowes — July 16–26 (Harbison Theatre)

Holmes and Watson by Jerry Hatcher— Sept. 25–Oct. 11

Holiday Show — Dec. 3–13

For memberships or individual tickets, visit chapintheatre.org.

From the print issue - REVIEW: THE WEIRD GIRL, Weirdness Becomes Witness—And a Way to See Our Own City Clearly

By Christina Xan

Carla Damron writes with one foot in the world of fiction and the other in the very real, very personal world of social work. In Columbia, SC where Damron herself is deeply rooted, her books feel less like imported thrillers and more like dispatches from our own streets. Her last novel, The Orchid Tattoo (Koehler Books, 2022), introduced readers to Georgia Thayer, a social worker caught up in a case involving human trafficking. With The Weird Girl (Stillwater River Publications, 2025) Damron continues Georgia’s story, this time shifting the focus to the fentanyl epidemic. The message is clear: these crises don’t just happen out there. They are happening here, woven into the fabric of Columbia. And even more striking, these crises don’t just happen but are willfully created and supported.

The plot begins with a party. Sara Clark, a high schooler, leaves the Hawthorne family’s gathering impaired by fentanyl and is struck by a Hawthorne car. Who was behind the wheel remains unclear at first, and the uncertainty becomes central to the novel’s unraveling. It looks at first like a teenage tragedy compounded by privilege, the kind of scandal that might be swept aside by lawyers and money. But in Damron’s telling, this hit-and-run becomes the key to a much larger story about how fentanyl seeps into schools, families, and emergency rooms. By the time Sara is stabilized in the ER where Georgia works, we’ve already seen this community is tainted: Cooper’s father Fletcher, a solicitor with political ambitions, will do anything to protect his son, even if it means leaning on Marcus Landry, a local drug boss. What follows isn’t so much an investigation as a slow peeling back of how deep the rot goes.

As in The Orchid Tattoo, Georgia is the heart of the novel. She is a foster mother as well as a social worker, and that dual role makes the crisis achingly personal. Her teenager Tessa hovers at the edges of temptation, just one bad decision away from the ER cases Georgia sees night after night. And Georgia herself isn’t a flawless hero: she struggles with the stigma of her own mental health history, and DSS officials question whether she is “fit” to foster at all. That tension—between how institutions judge and how individuals care—gives the book its power.

Pulling from her own experience in care work, Damron writes in short, fast-moving chapters that keep the pages turning. Her style isn’t about excess lyricism or flourish but about clarity and momentum. Conversations carry much of the weight, and sometimes you can feel the exposition slip in a bit too neatly. But the accessibility is the point: the book is designed to move, to pull you through the overlapping crises with emotional immediacy. She also shifts perspectives, weaving between Georgia, the teenagers, the Hawthornes, and even those entangled in the drug trade. That kaleidoscopic structure keeps the story from narrowing into a single vantage point and forces us to see the crisis as it ripples across every layer of the community. The result is a thriller that doesn’t just keep you hooked but keeps you alert to what’s at stake. You don’t forget that Georgia’s exhaustion mirrors that of real ER staff, or that Sara’s overdose echoes the tragedies that have played out in real schools.

What continues to help The Weird Girl stand out from more formulaic crime fiction is how it blends genre with social realism. The bones of a police procedural are here—an abduction, a cover-up, a climactic raid—but Damron keeps pulling us away from the lone-wolf detective narrative. Georgia is no hard-bitten cop; she’s a woman whose strength lies in care, in community, in refusing to look away from suffering. Even the simmering tension between her and Detective Lou, which could feel like a genre cliché, is rooted in trust and mutual reliance rather than sweeping romance. The book isn’t interested in distracting us with passion so much as reminding us that these characters are human, bruised and still reaching for connection.

The strongest thread of all is the way Damron interweaves the personal and the systemic. On one side, our characters each have their own struggles: Georgia holding onto her foster daughter, Sara fighting for her life, Lily Grace abducted after witnessing too much, Tessa wavering between rebellion and trust. These are characters—often women and girls—who do not fit, whose weirdness becomes their power. Their voices are distinct and their struggles tangible, which prevents the fentanyl crisis from collapsing into abstraction. On the other hand, you have the structural forces: Fletcher’s backroom deals, Marcus’s grip on the supply chain, DSS threatening to rip a family apart on a technicality. What could feel like two novels occurring side by side, Damron expertly merges together through her cast of distinct characters and interactions. A party overdose ripples into political corruption, a vigilante firebombing underscores the desperation of citizens abandoned by institutions, and every small story reveals the larger system grinding in the background. The book doesn’t let readers rest with the easy conclusion that drugs are bad, one we can easily separate ourselves from. Instead, it insists we reckon with how entrenched power protects the pipeline, and how entire communities are complicit in the harm.

Reading The Weird Girl feels urgent because Damron refuses to exoticize the crisis. She writes Columbia as Columbia, with no comforting distance. And while that specificity makes the book hit especially hard for those of us here, its urgency isn’t limited by geography. The networks of privilege, corruption, and exploitation Damron exposes are recognizable in cities and towns everywhere. The point isn’t just that it happens here, it’s that it can, and does, happen anywhere. The result is a thriller that doesn’t just entertain but unsettles, reminding us that these networks of corruption and compromise are not only possible but present. It’s a crime novel that asks readers to face the realities behind the headlines, and to consider what it means to fight for care in systems designed to fail.

If The Orchid Tattoo announced Georgia Thayer as a protagonist worth following, The Weird Girl confirms it. Damron has carved out a space in the crime genre that is less about puzzle-solving and more about moral witnesses, less about lone heroes and more about collective survival. For readers in Columbia, the novel lands close to home, but its reach extends well beyond these stories could unfold in any city where privilege shields the powerful and fentanyl devastates the vulnerable. Damron’s accomplishment is to make us see both at once.

Christina Xan is a former intern and member of the board of directors for the Jasper Project and is currently assistant professor of English at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

The original version of this review appears in the Fall 20025 issue of Jasper Magazine.

REVIEW: A Heartfelt and Hilarious Start: Second Samuel Kicks Off Columbia Soda City Theatre’s First Season by Jane Turner Peterson

Second Samuel is the kind of show that reminds you why community theatre matters. It makes you laugh, makes you think, and makes you feel connected — to the characters, to the town, and to each other. -JTP

Columbia’s newest theatre company has officially arrived — and what a debut! Located inside Brookland United Methodist Church in West Columbia, Soda City Theatre launches its very first season on a high note with Second Samuel, delivering a show that’s both laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly moving.

Directed by Jeff Sigley, Pamela Parker’s Second Samuel takes us to a small Georgia town in the 1940s, where life seems simple… until it isn’t. When a beloved resident, Miss Gertrude, passes away, her friends and neighbors discover a secret that rocks their little community to its core.

This play may be set in another time, but its themes are as relevant as ever. One of the cast members, Ripley Thames, summed it up perfectly — Second Samuel touches on “the trifecta” of issues that still challenge us today: homophobia, racism, and prejudice toward people with disabilities. And somehow, the show manages to explore all of that with humor, warmth, and a whole lot of heart.

Sigley’s direction really shines here. He uses the stage cleverly to create three locations — the Bait and Brew, the beauty salon, and Miss Gertrude’s front porch — and the smooth scene transitions, supported by smart lighting, keep things flowing beautifully. The set design makes great use of the space, and the period-appropriate costumes and props (kudos to Joanne Shaw and team!) really help transport the audience to the 1940s.

Now, let’s talk about this cast — because hats off here.

First, keep an eye on Cash Conroy. His performance as B Flat, the young autistic man who narrates the story, is simply stunning. He brings so much heart and honesty to the role, guiding the audience through the story with charm and depth. It’s no surprise he’s already been in several local youth productions — this young actor is definitely going places.

The rest of the cast is just as strong. Debra Leopard is a joy as Omaha Nebraska — her timing is impeccable, and it’s wonderful to see her back on stage. Nathan Wright had the audience in stitches as June Cline, the town caretaker, with his expressive reactions and storytelling flair. Ripley Thames made Mr. Mozel perfectly intolerable (in the best way), and Bill Arvay brought a grounded, easy energy as Doc.

In the beauty shop scenes, Gayle Stewart (Marcella) and Ginny Walker (Ruby) were a hoot, trading zingers, and sass with Tammy Smith as the bigoted Jimmie Dean. And rounding out the Bait and Brew gang — Roderick Haynes (U.S.), Mark DiNovo (Frisky), and Barry Smith (Mansel) — each added their own spark to the mix.

All in all, Second Samuel is the kind of show that reminds you why community theatre matters. It makes you laugh, makes you think, and makes you feel connected — to the characters, to the town, and to each other.

If this production is any indication, Soda City Theatre has an exciting road ahead. Here’s to a fantastic start and many more stories to come!

Catch Second Samuel at Columbia Soda City Theatre before it’s gone. Performances run November 8, 13-15 at 7:30 pm and on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 3:00 pm. For tickets and more information, please visit their website at sodacitytheatre.com.

REVIEW: Workshop Theatre's THE MINUTES - By Jon Tuttle

In a few weeks we’ll gather with friends and family ‘round our family hearths and dining room tables to celebrate the original Thanksgiving, one of our most joyous holidays, which commemorates a brief détente during bloody upheavals between the Pilgrims, who did not wear all black and big buckles, and the Wampanoag tribe, who had been decimated by leptospirosis, Europe’s most lucrative export, and which starred Squanto, who having escaped slavery in Europe, assisted the pilgrims only as a means of gaining political advantage.  We will recall that the main course was probably venison and waterfowl, not turkey, and that in 1621 there were in the colonies no potatoes, sweet or otherwise, no bread, no gravy, no scrumptious desserts, and that after the three-day truce, all the old hostilities were renewed, and all of these truths were buried when the occasion was fictionalized during the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln, seeking détente, declared it a holiday.

In preparation, go enjoy Workshop Theater’s production of The Minutes, running through Sunday, November 9, at Cottingham Theatre, a play which pillories our desperate presumptions of civility and harmony and is really quite astounding.

The Minutes is by Tracy Letts, who in 2007 received a Pulitzer Prize for his play August: Osage County, which has been produced locally and in 2013 was adapted for the screen. The Minutes was nominated for the Pulitzer and for a Tony Award after having moved to Broadway in 2022. His other plays, most of them originating at Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf Theatre, include Killer Joe (1993) Bug (1996), and the brilliant Man From Nebraska (2003), which is about a man searching far and wide for the purpose and fulfillment that is literally sitting in the chair across from him. Letts has become, in addition to being an accomplished actor, one of our finest playwrights.

Therefore, when you see this play, make sure your expectations are high.

At first, you will feel you’ve been tricked. The play presents as a city council meeting in the town of Big Cherry, a middling little burgh about fifty miles from Anywhere, USA. The meeting is as vapid and fatuous as any you’ve ever attended. The council members are all recognizable types—the Old Codger, the Neurotic, the Social Crusader, the Stolid Secretary, The Righteous Gasbag, and the Probably Drunken Visionary—who proceed, following the Prayer, and according to Robert’s Rules of Order, from one tedious agenda item to the next, culminating in the Closing Ceremony. The whole thing comes across, at first, as a harmless cartoon satirizing our best civic intentions.

Our Mr. Blake, played with aplomb by Brandon Campbell, proposes a new “Lincoln: Smackdown!” cage-fighting event to be staged during the town’s annual Heritage Festival, Abe Lincoln having had nothing to do with the town’s founding, but cage fighting being a crowd-pleaser. Our Mr. Hanratty (Marshall Spann, also excellent) lobbies for a new fountain in the village square fully accessible to his crippled/handicapped/disabled/impaired sister, which leads to a debate about inclusion versus costs, idealism versus practicality. Yawn. The most scandalous topic, for a while, is the apparent resale of lost and stolen bicycles by the town’s sheriff.

But then, but then….

The trick being played here is that this meeting only seems boring. It’s the same trick Thornton Wilder played on us in Our Town, which for two acts shows us how empty and mundane our lives are--but then, but then, in the third act, reveals their immensity.

There are two extraordinary moments in The Minutes that reveal the play’s bait-and-switch gadgetry, one of which I will spoil. It is the spontaneous re-enactment, by the council members, for the benefit of newcomer Mr. Peel, of the Battle of Mackey Creek, upon which Big Cherry was founded. Amazingly, breathtakingly, they assume many dozens of roles—farmers, hostile Sioux, American militia—pantomiming the heroic rescue of little Debbie Farmer, who would grow up to be the town’s wealthy matriarch, by one heroic soldier, Otto Pim, who for his valor would earn the Medal of Honor, and so “the Town of Big Cherry is Saved!”

That moment was greeted on the night I attended by an enthusiastic roar from the audience, which was small because the performance was competing with game seven of the World Series and the University of South Carolina football game, the irony of which I will return to later. The point here is that, from this point out, director Patrick Michael Kelly reveals just how deft he is at theatrical sleight of hand. Kelly is well-known and rightfully respected in the midlands as a meticulous, scrupulous orchestrator of theatrical events, and this production can only add to his reputation. From this point out, the play was utterly stunning.

The other extraordinary moment I will not spoil, except to say that it occurs in flashback, when ousted council member Mr. Carp (Glenn Rawls, whose native honesty and compassion suit his character well) re-educates the council about the town’s actual founding and the myths that have been piled upon it since. “We have built this town upon a fiction!” he declares, and so reveals his colleagues as uninformed at best, ruthless hypocrites at worst.

Had the play stopped there, it would have been fulfilling, if perhaps a bit too easy, too moral, because it reveals to us what we already know: that America has always and is still now dancing as fast as it can to validate old lies and invent new ones. Kelly chose to direct The Minutes because, he says, with each news cycle, it keeps becoming more relevant:  “In our era of misinformation, disinformation, and alternative facts, in a country that is deeply divided despite our common humanity, this play skewers national and local politics and blurs the line between parody and truth.”

Kelly cites, as an instance, the recent controversy surrounding the nineteen Medals of Honor given to American soldiers who, at the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee, slaughtered 300 Lakota men, women, and children, many of them after they had been promised mercy. About the carnage, American general Nelson Miles, who arrived a few days after, noted he had “never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre.”  In reaffirming the validity of the soldiers’ medals, current Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that “this decision is now final, and their place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate.”

But the play does not stop there—at the revelation about the Battle of Mackey Creek. Instead, it twists back upon itself and implicates us, as citizens in the gallery, as hypocrites as well, showing us our willing complicity in historical revisionism, because we prefer, over truth, our “cocoon of comfort and safety.”  That climactic sequence is enacted by the town’s Mayor Superba, played here and well by John Brunty, who also transforms before our eyes from one thing into something very other. Resplendent, at the beginning, in his red blazer, he looks more like a game show host and comports himself as the voice of reason and moderation. But then, but then, at the end, he declares that “history is a verb” and gathers the council in a horrific, chilling, primal, brutal closing ceremony worthy of Shirley Jackson.

Though I found the acting existed at times on different levels, the cast did a fine job of creating a unified ensemble out of disparate characters who find safety in numbers. Among my favorites were the sanctimonious Mrs. Innes (Carol Beis,), who proclaims, “you all know how I adore low-income children,” and the manipulative Mr. Breeding (Laurens Wilson), whose every posture reveals exaggerated self-worth. Particular mention must be made of Cameron Muccio, whose Mr. Peel, though earnest and guileless, performs an honest interrogation of the council’s motives, only in the end to be subsumed, and also the set designed by Patrick Faulds, which in its cherrywood stolidity and attention to surface detail becomes its own character.

I returned from the play too late to catch the Gamecocks’ loss to Ole Miss, which is a shame, because like every other American, I like the ritual of a familiar story. I did manage to catch the last two incredible innings of game seven, during which the announcers proclaimed that the name Will Smith—the Dodger catcher who hit a game-winning solo homer—will live in our history forever, provided it does not get confused with the other Will Smith, whose name now lives in infamy, and even though two years from now most of us will have completely forgotten who won the 2025 World Series, though it must have been the Yankees.

Because history is indeed a verb. Because it is constantly changing, depending on who’s telling it, it requires persistent inquiry, which is different from denial. The Minutes warns us of this, because outside the committee room, it’s been raining for days, and won’t stop.

Remaining Show Dates & Times:

Wed, Nov 5 - 8:00 pm

Thu, Nov 6 - 8:00 pm

Fri, Nov 7 - 8:00 pm

Sat, Nov 8 - 8:00 pm

Sun, Nov 9 - 3:00 pm

BUY TICKETS HERE

Cottingham Theatre

1301 Columbia College Drive

Jon Tuttle was for many years a professor and administrator at Francis Marion University and is the author of THE TRUSTUS COLLECTION, which gathers six of his plays produced by Trustus Theatre, and SOUTH CAROLINA ONSTAGE, a representative history of theatre in the Palmetto state. He is a member of the board of directors for the Jasper Project. 

REVIEW: Village Square’s The Odd Couple – Classic Comedy Done Right by Jane Turner Peterson

Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple opened Friday evening at Village Square Theatre in Lexington, bringing laughter, nostalgia, and a delightful dose of 1960s charm to the stage. Under the sharp direction of Allison McNeely, this production captures the timeless humor and heart of Simon’s beloved play while offering a fresh, lively take on the story of two polar-opposite roommates. From the first moments, the show delivers exactly what audiences hope for—snappy dialogue, hilarious physical comedy, and a genuine sense of camaraderie among its cast. 

Director Allison McNeely has crafted a production that feels both authentic and full of energy. Her attention to pacing and character dynamics keeps the comedy crisp without losing the play’s warmth. The 1960s setting is beautifully realized—Dell Goodrich’s costume design perfectly captures the era’s style, from the guys’ sloppy dress to the mod dresses and shoes for the girls, and the set transports the audience straight into Oscar Madison’s cluttered New York apartment. It’s clearly a labor of love, with many members of the cast and crew contributing to its creation. Every detail, from the furniture to the period-appropriate props, feels thoughtfully chosen and true to the time. 

While the production was strong overall, there were a few technical hiccups with the wireless microphones on opening night. But that’s live theatre—anything can happen—and the cast handled it with professionalism and ease, never breaking character or losing momentum. In fact, the moments when the mics faltered proved that the actors didn’t need them; their projection and clarity carried beautifully across the intimate space. In smaller venues like Village Square, strong vocal work often serves better than amplification, and this cast proved that point with confidence. 

The cast of The Odd Couple was uniformly strong, led by David LaTorre as the neurotic Felix Ungar and Davis Herndon as the lovable slob Oscar Madison. LaTorre fully embodied Felix’s nervous energy—his fussy mannerisms, anxious pacing, and relentless tidying perfectly captured the character’s comic tension. Herndon, by contrast, brought an easy charm to Oscar, a man who lives for poker nights, cold beer, and controlled chaos. Together, the two actors found a natural rhythm, their chemistry and timing making the famous odd pairing feel both believable and fresh. 

Adding to the fun were the delightfully ditzy Pigeon sisters, played by Ivy Munnerlin (Cecily) and Melissa Frierson (Gwendolyn). Their infectious giggling and lively energy lit up the stage, serving as a perfect foil to Felix’s nervous breakdown and Oscar’s barely contained frustration. The result was comedy gold. 

Oscar’s poker pals added another layer of humor and heart to the production. Clayton King, Charles Zuber, Steve Reeves, and newcomer Cole Allen created a believable band of mismatched friends who clearly enjoy one another’s company—both onstage and off. Each brought a distinct personality to the table: the sarcastic wit, the mild-mannered pushover, the no-nonsense realist, and the good-natured joker. Their overlapping dialogue and easy camaraderie made the poker scenes feel wonderfully natural, as if the audience were eavesdropping on a real group of lifelong friends ribbing each other through a Friday night game. Their chemistry grounded the show and reminded us why The Odd Couple continues to resonate—because friendships, however messy, are what make life bearable. 

In the end, Village Square Theatre’s The Odd Couple delivers exactly what audiences come to the theatre for—a night of laughter, nostalgia, and genuine connection. Under Allison McNeely’s direction, the cast brings Neil Simon’s iconic characters to life with heart and humor, reminding us why this play remains a timeless classic. Whether you’re a longtime fan of The Odd Couple or discovering it for the first time, this production is a delightful reminder that even the most mismatched friendships can endure. It’s smart, funny, and filled with charm—an evening well spent at Village Square Theatre. 

The show will run through November 2, so hurry and get your tickets before they are gone. You can purchase them online at villagesquaretheatre.com.

***

REVIEW: Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors by Jerry Crouch

Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, opened Friday night, October 3rd at Chapin Theatre Company and grabbed the audience by their throats, tickling their collective funny bones, sucking every laugh possible from the applauding fans. In the slapstick, standup comedy tradition of Mel Brooks and Monty Python, this silly spoof of Bram Stoker's classic 1897 vampire novel is dazzlingly acted out by five of the most versatile actors Columbia theatre has to offer. Four playing a brew of manic, murderous multitude of roles, not unlike last Chapin Theatre season's role-switching The 39 Steps where the starring lead male then was none other than this show's fang-tastic director, George Dinsmore.

This 90-minute blood-thirsty play offers these actors—Debra Kiser, David Fichter, Frank Thompson, Katie Mixon and Josh Kern—the challenge of a theatrical lifetime,  throwing puns, punchlines, and naughty innuendos against the ever-changing castle walls amid the nimble narrative, with lightning quick costume changes (some hilariously done on stage) and with a plethora of accents! The big character role winners by a Transylvanian mile are Fichter and Kiser, blending proper British and German accents along with a variety of other dizzy dialects and personalities making for a madcap cocktail of fun. But let's toss kudos of garlic-laced funeral wreaths to the entire cast of this bawdy farce.

David Fichter is a dead-on hoot playing the misogynistic Dr Westfeldt, who begins as the arch-nemesis of Kiser's strict, straightlaced German Van Helsing. But their second act reactions take a decided turn for the better. Fichter's loony, bug-eating, straight-jacketed Renfield almost steals the night's spotlight from Kiser's redhead coiffed Mina, a desperate date-deprived spinster in need of some serious orthodontal intervention. Fichter also manages to step into the role of a salty Sea Captain with both actors early on, becoming ferocious howling wolves along with Mixon.

Mixon is the epitome of the courageous but romantically confused heroine, Lucy Westfeldt, hitting every nuanced note and her role switch to the kleptomaniac mental nurse, Kitty, is a delicious surprise. Mixon also plays a rowdy carriage driver in the opening scene. Master comedian, Frank Thompson plays the night's straight man in the role of the cowardly real estate agent, Jonathan, and in one scene (with a bow to Sesame Street) plays three characters at once in the guises of the Scottish Lord Cavendish, the very British Worthington, and the Texan, Lord Havemercy. Thompson also easily polished off the double roles of a scurvy Bosun and a drunken Gravedigger. 

But with all the night's multiple role switching, is the leading actor short-changed playing only a single role? Hardly. Josh Kern in the sexy buff role of Dracula proves a deadly, charming centerfold and an equal opportunity romancer of both Lucy and even her intended, Jonathan Harker. As Harker, Thompson enjoys a late act romantic renovation after his rendezvous with Kern which proves to be a neck-biter twist. Earlier this season, Kern perfectly played the comic lead of Paul in Barefoot in the Park, so here, his sly, narcissistic, revisited take on this horror icon shows his considerable versatility on the Chapin stage in two radically different performances in one season. Bravo!

Special honors goes to Dracula Producers, Jim DeFelice and Tiffany Dinsmore for bringing this comedy gem to their Chapin stage. The beautiful, facile set, sound, costume, props, and dramatic projection designs are ambitious, but all laser quick transitions came off with nary a hitch on opening night.

Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors 
Adapted by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen plays for two more weekends
October 3, 4, 9-10-11 and 16-17-18 at 7:30 pm evening performances with 
October 12 and 19 on Sunday 3:00 pm matinees.

Chapin Theatre Company is located at 830 Columbia Avenue, Chapin 29036
For tickets: chapintheatre.org    [803] 240-8544

REVIEW: You’ll Leave Churched - Choir Boy Shines at Trustus Theatre By Jane Turner Peterson

I’ve been churched—and I loved it. That’s the only way to describe Trustus Theatre’s electrifying production of Choir Boy, a play with music that bursts with life, laughter, conflict, and harmony. Directed and choreographed by Terrance Henderson, this production is a moving, joyful, and thought-provoking journey that should not be missed.

The play begins at the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, an elite all-Black academy. It’s graduation day, and Pharus (John Ballard), a flamboyant and gifted junior, is chosen to sing a solo. When his performance is disrupted by Bobby Marrow (Jlynn Montgomery) and his sidekick Junior (Jamal Davis), who sling racial and homophobic slurs, Pharus falters. But in a dazzling recovery—equal parts comedic and defiant—he riffs his way through the interruption, instantly capturing the audience’s admiration. Ballard’s performance sets the tone for the evening: witty, vulnerable, and utterly captivating.

As the new school year begins, Pharus is named leader of the choir, sparking conflict with Bobby. Their battle of wills plays out against the larger expectations of Headmaster Marrow (William Paul Brown), who struggles to discipline his nephew Bobby while remaining fair to Pharus. Brown brings both authority and humanity to the role, portraying a man who is equal parts stern administrator and conflicted guardian.

The student ensemble is a highlight of the show. Montgomery gives Bobby a fiery intensity, making him more than just a bully—his commanding vocals and emotional depth reveal the layers beneath the bravado. Davis, as Junior, captures the hesitancy of a follower caught between loyalty and conscience. Jonathan Adriel’s AJ, Pharus’s loyal roommate, is portrayed with warmth and sensitivity; his friendship with Pharus is one of the production’s most touching threads. Daniel Mason shines as David, the deeply religious student torn between faith and desire. Mason’s vocals are rich and heartfelt, and his emotional honesty gives his performance a memorable weight.

Adding depth and humor to the mix is Larry Hembree as Mr. Pendleton, a guest professor who challenges the boys to think critically and independently. Hembree’s performance is a welcome blend of charm and gravitas, bringing levity to tense moments while grounding the story in its themes of growth and change.

The music of Choir Boy is its heartbeat, and under the musical direction of Kristin Claiborne with arrangements by Katrina Garvin, it soars. The cast delivers rousing renditions of spirituals like Eyes on the Prize and Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, alongside modern selections like New Edition’s Can You Stand the Rain. The harmonies are powerful and deeply moving—sometimes jubilant, sometimes haunting, always resonant. The music is not just accompaniment but storytelling in its own right, carrying the history, faith, and struggles of the characters.

Henderson’s direction and choreography tie it all together with artistry and precision. His infusion of prayer dance and stylized movement elevates the production, turning moments of conflict and celebration into something almost transcendent. The staging is fluid and alive, reinforcing the themes of identity, resilience, and community.

At nearly three hours, the production is a full evening of theatre, yet it never feels long. The pacing is sharp, the performances captivating, and the music unforgettable. By the curtain call, the audience is left exhilarated, reflective, and deeply moved.

Trustus Theatre has delivered a production that is both entertaining and meaningful. Choir Boy doesn’t just tell a story—it invites its audience to feel, to question, and to celebrate. In the end, you don’t just watch the show—you experience it. And when it’s over, you too will feel that you’ve been churched.

Choir Boy runs through October 12 at Trustus Theatre. Tickets are available at trustus.org or by calling 803-254-9732. Don’t miss the chance to be part of this extraordinary experience.

REVIEW: Village Square Theatre Offers a Magical Experience in Freaky Friday

By Jerry Crouch

Freaky Friday  is a Disney-style musical that opened last weekend at Village Square Theatre about a controlling mother and a rebellious teenage daughter who magically trade places for a single day. It is about how a magical hourglass that, when pulled wide open, creates a dazzling couple of hours in the actors' lives on stage, and at Sunday’s matinee, the audience was transported on a magical, musical trip complete with fabulous leading performances, a trove of talented teens, a beautiful, evolving stage set, energetic choreography, and a lively orchestra. The lesson learned from the production is that if we stopped to see the world through each other’s eyes we would discover true understanding within our modern, frantically busy families. 

That ever-changing quest first appeared in Mary Rodgers’ 1972 book Freaky Friday and in the subsequent four film adaptations, and is now captured again as this spunky musical from Disney Theatrical Productions, aiming its target in laser focus on the teen market. 

Served at a bright, spunky pace by director Robert Harrelson, Freaky Friday has a relentless pop score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal) and by book writer Bridget Carpenter.

Thanks to Harrelson and his capable stage designers, husband and wife team Raymond and Jacqueline Elling, scenes switch briskly between the household’s kitchen, a wedding reception prep area, outdoor locations, as well as various high school locales, and are ably aided by beautiful projections against the back scrim. The Ellings do double duty by also playing roles on stage throughout the show with Raymond playing the mom's intended beloved delivering a solid vocal solo in Act Two.

As the personality-switching mom, Katherine and her spunky daughter Ellie, local theatre veterans, Leighton Creed Mount and Eliza England, definitely have the vocal goods to deliver with multiple heartfelt duets and solos. Mount, in particular, is a theatrical force to be reckoned with in scene after scene poignantly conveying the mother's love and concerned commitment.

But the uber talented teens owned this Sunday matinee! Village Square Theatre veteran youths – Cash Conroy, Jack Carlton, and Mackenzie Bruder shone brightly as true professionals as boyfriend Adam, little brother Fletcher, and resident mean girl Savannah. For added coolness, boyfriend Conroy slickly and confidently rides the stage on a blinking hoverboard in a piece of choreography like a young matinee idol.

What fun it was to see Village Square Theatre adult veterans steal their well-deserved moments in the supporting roles spotlight – Kristin Ferrante, Carissa Ferro, Tammy Smith, Amanda Scott, Kory Taylor, Robin Saviola, Teresa McWilliams, and John Fetner! In particular, Smith, Ferrante and Ferro made each of their moments count in roles as Grandma Helene, Torrey, and Ms. Meyers.

No community theatre musical can succeed without its orchestra, choreographer, and backstage crew, so I also salute Music Director, John Norris, and his musicians; Choreographer, Krista Haidle, and her dance captains; and Stage Manager, Lindsay Brown, and her crew.

Village Square Theatre is located at 105 Caughman Road, Lexington, 29072 (803) 359-1436 — click here for reservations.

Remaining Village Square Theatre Performances
Friday, September 19 @ 7:30 PM (Cast Freaky)
Saturday, September 20 @ 7:30 PM (Cast Friday)
Sunday, September 21 @ 3:00 PM (Cast Freaky)
Friday, September 26 @ 7:30 PM (Cast Friday)
Saturday, September 27 @ 7:30 PM (Cast Freaky)
Sunday, September 28 @ 3:00 PM (Cast Friday)

Jerry Crouch is celebrating his onstage and directorial credits for 107 productions in Columbia, Atlanta, and Asheville over the last half century.

REVIEW: Chapin Theatre Company's Once Upon a Mattress -- A Royal Treat for All Ages

by Jane Turner Peterson

Grab your kids, grandkids, aunts, uncles—and of course, moms and dads—and get your tickets now! Once Upon a Mattress is a hilarious, heartwarming musical that’s perfect for all ages, and Chapin Theatre Company’s production is one you don’t want to miss. With just one weekend left at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Tech, this charming retelling of The Princess and the Pea promises big laughs, catchy songs, and plenty of fun.

Originally debuting on Broadway in 1959, Once Upon a Mattress introduced audiences to the unforgettable Carol Burnett as Princess Winnifred. With music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and a book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Barer, the show has rightfully earned its place as a musical theatre classic. Chapin’s version stays true to the spirit of the original while adding its own lively flair and fresh energy.

The plot takes us to a whimsical kingdom “long ago and far away,” where King Sextimus has been mysteriously struck mute, and his domineering wife, Queen Aggravain, has taken control. She’s decreed that no one in the kingdom may marry until her son, Prince Dauntless, finds a princess who can pass her ridiculously unfair test. This causes chaos for young lovers Sir Harry and Lady Larken, who have urgent reasons to wed.

Enter Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, found in a swamp and brought to court by Sir Harry. She’s bold, brash, and unlike any princess the kingdom has seen. But Queen Aggravain is determined to sabotage her son’s romance, leading to a series of uproarious schemes and surprises.

Maggie Baker is delightfully bold and brassy as Princess Winnifred, with a perfect mix of comedic timing, crystal-clear vocals, great dance moves, and a natural stage presence that lights up every scene she is in. Tyler Zanga charms as Prince Dauntless, nailing both the humor and sincerity of a young man struggling to grow beyond his mother’s grasp. Their chemistry is funny, sweet, and wonderfully genuine.

Queen Aggravain, played by Debra Kiser, literally stole the show as the irritatingly chatty and bossy Queen. Her comedic timing was impeccable, and the scenes with Prince Dauntless were hysterical. The pair was delightful to watch as the overpowering mother and son duo. Be sure to watch out for her “traveling” beauty mark!

Abigail Williams, in her first Chapin Theatre role, impresses with her powerful voice as Lady Larken, making it clear she is a rising star to watch in town. Frank Thompson as the Minstrel, Joel Yarborough as the Wizard, and Billy McNeill as the Jester are a comedic trio in the best sense—playful, sharp, and totally in sync, like a medieval version of the Three Stooges. Lonnie Owen is a commanding Sir Harry, with strong vocals creating wonderful harmonies with Williams’ Larken. And Jim DeFelice nearly steals the show as the silent King Sextimus, relying entirely on physical comedy to earn big laughs—he does it masterfully.

The creative team behind the scenes pulls it all together beautifully. Director Mary Jo Johnson and musical director McCall Bethurem, both Chapin summer show veterans, guide the production with confidence and care. Choreographer Meredith Boehme brings the stage to life with clever, energetic movement—especially in the showstopping “Spanish Panic” number, which earned rousing applause.

Everything from Queen Agrivan’s outrageous costume to the royal court's vibrant costumes to the whimsical set design adds to the fairy tale magic. And yes—the giant bed lives up to the hype!

With just one weekend left, Thursday, August 24 through Sunday, August 27—this production of Once Upon a Mattress is not to be missed. Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm.

Don’t miss your chance to enjoy a delightful night at the theatre. This musical proves that fairy tales—and community theatre—are alive, well, and absolutely worth celebrating.

Tickets are available now at chapintheatre.org.

REVIEW: Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida at Trustus Theatre

by Cindi Boiter

Before attending Friday night’s production of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida at Trustus Theatre, I stopped by Ron Hagel’s new Gemini Studio complex to do my part in celebrating the work this talented collection of visual artists has created. I met an artist there who had already seen the show and they shared that it was so good that the audience had given an actual standing ovation after the end of the first act! I automatically assumed this was probably the result of a group of friends or family attending the musical and enthusiastically supporting their favorite cast member. Then I saw the show for myself and found myself on my feet, too, after the first act’s dramatic closing song, The Gods Love Nubia. That said, there were many times during this performance when I was tempted to stand at my seat, clap, cheer, whoop, and maybe even dance. The performance deserved this kind of enthusiastic response, and more.

The musical Aida, written by Elton John and Tim Rice, premiered on Broadway in March of 2000 and ran through September 2004, winning four of the five Tonys for which it was nominated. Based on Verdi’s opera of the same name, Aida is set in Egypt and tells the story of the Nubian princess, Aida, held captive by a sympathetic Egyptian general named Radames. Though their beloved nations are at war, Aida and Radames fall in love, even though Radames is engaged to marry the Egyptian princess, Amneris, a political move encouraged by his father, Zoser. The reconciliation of this love triangle is a story of love, devotion, social and familial expectations, and the challenge we all face to live an  authentic life and be true to one’s own sense of right and wrong. It is as beautiful as it is tragic.

It is difficult to determine where the magic of the Trustus production of Aida came from. Director Jessica Fichter placed it squarely on the performance of the players, while Patrick Dodds, in a lead role as Radames, named Fichter as the catalyst. Both are right.

The magic became evident early in the performance when Amneris, played by rising USC senior Rachel Vanek, gave us the song Every Story is a Love Story, followed by Radames’ stunning Fortune Favors the Brave sung by Dodds, and the equally stunning opening number from Aida, played  by Rayanna Briggs, The Past is Another Land. For this reviewer, the magic was in the music and how well the truly challenging numbers were executed. Vanek, Briggs, and so many other cast members were refreshingly new to me, but I’ve watched Dodds on the stage for more than a decade, I’m sure, and I had no idea his vocal talents could rise so successfully to the requirements of this role. Like Vanek and Briggs, Dodds was also able to merge the music with the demonstrative requirements of the role almost effortlessly, each bringing their own grace notes to the parts. Vanek, for example, helped us see how complicated her character was while at times providing comic relief that gave hints of Jennifer Coolidge. Briggs, originally from Columbia though now successfully pursuing opportunities that extend to film and TV, was, simply said, amazing, opening the hearts of the audience and crawling in to live there awhile.

These three lead actors and their unique and highly professional performances were clearly enough to carry the show, had they needed to. But they were not. In the role of the wily Nubian servant Mereb, Samaj Whitener was outstanding vocally, bringing an endearing quality to the role. Trustus veteran Kristin Claiborne in the role of Nubian enslaved woman Nehebka, gives a powerful and beautiful performance. Chris Cockrell, as Radames’  scheming father Zoser, similarly delivers the goods in his solo numbers, bringing elements of rock star to his performance. As Pharoah, Columbia theatre icon Hunter Boyle was stately and authoritative as well as inherently aware of his imminent fate. And as Aida’s father Amonasro, Joseph Scott exhibited powerful dignity in the face of despair.

With first-rate choreography by Terrance Henderson, musical direction by a partnership between Amanda Hines Wrona and Ayush Joshi, and scenic, lighting, and  costume design by Jim Hunter, Marc Hurst, and Rachel Turner, respectively, and a dozen-strong ensemble, the Trustus production of Aida checks all the boxes for a regional theatre block buster and it is not-to-be-missed. Not only immensely entertaining, the story of Aida reminds us that the measure of a person in power is how they use that power. Aida succeeds on all accounts.

Elton John and Tim Rise’s Aida runs through July 26 at Trustus Theatre. Visit Trustus.org for tickets and more information.

REVIEW: Workshop Theatre’s Legally Blonde is a High-Energy, Heartwarming Hit

By Jane Peterson

Omigod, you guys—Legally Blonde has landed at Workshop Theatre, and it’s every bit as pink, peppy, and powerful as you'd hope! With performances continuing over the next two weekends, this high-energy musical comedy is an absolute must-see for Midlands theatergoers.

Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the 2001 Reese Witherspoon film, the stage version features catchy, clever tunes by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, paired with a witty script by Heather Hach that stays true to the film’s spirit. Under the sharp direction of Sheldon Paschal, this production is a charming whirlwind of laughter, girl power, and unexpected triumph.

Leading the charge is Camryn Cothran as Elle Woods, whose effervescent energy and powerhouse vocals make her a standout from the moment she steps on stage. She captures Elle’s transformation from an underestimated sorority queen to a confident legal eagle with heart and humor. And she’s not alone—the Delta Nu trio of Serena (Inaara Jadavji), Pilar (Kaeleigh Miller), and Margo (Raven Smith) are an absolute delight, adding sass and sparkle to every scene.

Other notable performances include Jessica Roth’s lovable Paulette, Bella Coletti’s poised Vivienne, Taylor Dively’s charming Emmett Forrest, and the hard-core professor played by Josh Dively. Brooke Blythe’s performance as the accused murderer, Brooke was another that stood out. Her vocals and breath control on “Whipped Into Shape,” was absolutely incredible. Each member of the ensemble brings depth and individuality to their roles, creating a vibrant, cohesive, and funny ensemble.

Paschal’s direction makes excellent use of Patrick Faulds’ dynamic multi-level set, with seamless transitions and clever staging that keep the momentum lively. Stephanie Wilkins’ choreography is terrific—especially the jump rope-intensive “Whipped Into Shape.” The dancing was expertly choreographed. No small matter with the large cast who were nearly flawless in their precision. Andie Nicks’ costume design adds a final layer of fun, with vibrant and era-appropriate looks for the entire cast. The musical direction by Kathy Seppamaki brilliantly blended the voices of this talented cast.

While the sound mix occasionally favored the recording over the vocals—a common hiccup in some older venues—it didn’t diminish the cast’s stellar vocal performances or the production’s overall charm. If anything, it is a reminder of how vital it is to continue supporting local theaters and the hard-working artists who bring these stories to life.

In all, Workshop Theatre’s Legally Blonde is a feel-good, high-energy celebration of resilience, friendship, and self-belief. It’s exactly the kind of uplifting experience that reminds us why community theater matters.

Catch the show May 15–17 and May 22–24 at 8:00 p.m., with a matinee on May 18 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are available at workshoptheatreofsc.com. Don’t miss your chance to bend and snap your way to a fabulous night at the theater.