REVIEW: The Arts Center of Kershaw County's The Rocky Horror Show--A 50-year-old Cult Classic--by Beth DeHart

What in the world is happening at the Arts Center of Kershaw County, you might ask?

Oh, nothing much. Just a little-known production that surely none of you has ever heard of: The Rocky Horror Show!

Just in time for spooky season, this cult classic has made itself at home on the Camden stage with its deliciously twisted blend of Frankenstein, Star Trek, and Fifty Shades of Grey, topped off with music, dancing, and a healthy disregard for good manners.

Maybe there are a few things you haven’t done lately. Heard a live band. Gotten dressed up to see a show. Had a glass of wine in a theater lobby. Well, you’re in luck! You can do all three through October 31 when you see The Rocky Horror Show at the Arts Center of Kershaw County.

Director Bakari Lebby’s aesthetic stamp is visible in the casting and the use of video to punctuate key moments in this musical with music, books, and lyrics by Richard O’Brien. The cast is clearly having fun, and that energy is delightful. Particular kudos go to Catherine Hunsinger as Columbia, Aric Zion as Dr. Scott, Lee O. Smith as the Criminologist, Shelby Sessler as a surprise Riff Raff, and Michael Conway as a Phantom whose performances really bring their characters to life. Applause to Tyler Dee as Dr. Frank N. Furter, Brandon Campbell as Rocky, Carley Kersey as Janet Weiss and Justin Munn as Brad Majors. Rounding out the exciting cast were Alexis Sherr, Matt Williams, Taylor Woodie, Sam Chamberlain, and Kim Scott.

Catherine Hunsinger at the Rocky Horror Show Opening Night Prom

With music direction by Ike Pitts, the live band is stellar. Kudos also to choreographer Erin Bailey for helping bring the production together.

Although of one cloth, The Rocky Horror Show and The Rocky Horror Picture Show are two unique projects. The musical, The Rocky Horror Show that you’ll be seeing in Camden, premiered in London in 1973 and went on to run for 2960 performances there, and has been produced across six continents, in 20 different languages, for more than 30 million audience members across the world. In 1973, The Rocky Horror Show produced and directed by Jim Jarman won the Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical. The 1975 musical/horror/comedy film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was based on the original 1973 musical stage production and starred Tim Curry in his film debut. Curry had originated the role of D. Frank-N-Furter in the stage production .

Brad and Janet played by Carley Kersey and Justin Munn

Whether you’re a longtime fan of The Rocky Horror Show or a curious newcomer wondering what all the fuss is about, this is an opportunity to experience one of theater’s most delightfully outrageous traditions. It’s glam rock meets American B-movie camp with a Halloween twist!

The Rocky Horror Show runs through October 31 at the Arts Center of Kershaw County. Tickets are available at artscenterkc.org/ac/the-rocky-horror-show/.

It’s not just a musical—it’s an experience!

All photos by Perry McLeod.

Trustus Theatre Brings Us Women+ on the Edge of Democracy 10/29 & 11/1

From our friends at Trustus Theatre …

October 29 - November 01

Trustus is proud to announce that we’re partnering with the Post & Courier Columbia to present select plays from Women+ On The Edge of Democracy, a groundbreaking initiative encouraging conversation about American democracy initiated by the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Vermont and The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Our presentations will be on Thursday, October 29 at 7:30PM and Sunday, November 1 at 2:30PM on the Thigpen MainStage, featuring a number of Trustus company members and frequent artist collaborators. Each presentation will include a discussion moderated by members of the Post & Courier newsroom.

The Flynn created this groundbreaking cultural and civic initiative which commissioned 36 prominent women+ playwrights from around the world to write ten-minute plays or monologues in response to these urgent questions: What is the current state of democracy in America? What can history, global context, or futurism offer us in this pivotal moment?

As the United States marks its semiquincentennial, the Flynn will publish the complete collection of plays as an anthology – free to perform – inviting artists, community groups, and citizens across the country to stage readings and performances between October 23 and November 3, ahead of the U.S. Midterm Elections. The anthology will be available for purchase in September with rights waived for individuals and non-profit organizations who would like to present the plays free of charge to the public.

Women+ on the Edge of Democracy is presented by the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in partnership with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Original artwork by Paula Scher and Pentagram.

REVIEW: Town Theatre's GYPSY by Ripley Thames

photo courtesy of Town Theatre

Mama Rose, the iconic heart of Stephen Sondheim’s second musical, has been called the King Lear of American musical theatre. Both characters appear to commit the egregious sin of making their relationship with their daughters all about themselves. It has even been argued that Rose is darker because she demands more than obsequious flattery. She expects her girls to adopt her unrealized ambition and indomitable spirit as their own. But we must remember two things. One, even selfish love is love. And two, Lear had a kingdom to leave his daughters.  Rose has nothing in an ever-shrinking world. After all, Vaudeville is dead.  She has naught to give her girls except her drive and unvanquishable spirit. This truth makes her a character of agonizing complexity that we love because we feel and share her desperation even while we might quietly despair at some of her choices. 

In Town Theatre’s Gypsy, directed by Jerry Crouch, Shannon Scruggs lays bare the swirling conflict of this character with sensitive specificity in a performance that is the central pillar of a lovely, heartfelt production. From her first line, her energy dominates the stage just as Mama Rose would demand. We see her deny her insecurities, insist upon attention, and struggle to provide her family with love, all while trying desperately to keep moving forward. Her voice is beautiful and her songs are not only moving, but they also remain connected to and driven by her character through every word, even when Rose steps out of herself and into her fantasy life in her soaring finale. The energy Scruggs brings to her performance never falters. 

Crouch has directed a tight, well-paced show and the cast is very solid even to the smallest part. The show opens on the stage of Uncle Jocko, smartly played by Chris Matney, who also plays two other character roles. Those familiar with the film version of 1996 recognize that the production has chosen to emulate the style of that film. Dell Goodrich designed colorful vibrant costumes that went very far toward helping the director accomplish that goal. Bob Bramhall and Jeremy Hansard designed and constructed a set that perfects that endeavor, with stunning builds, particularly the show business lights. 

Hayle Berry and Ashton Boland play Rose’s daughters, June and Louise, respectively. They are committed and convincing, but Boland’s performance explodes when Louise begins to undergo her transformation into Gypsy Rose Lee. Her final number is charged with emotion and humor as we celebrate her growing sense of self and laugh at the speed with which she acquires that new awareness. 

Joel Yarborough plays Herbie aptly as he evolves over the course of the story from an essential tool in Mama Rose’s ambition to someone she loves even though she cannot choose the path to make him happy. Herbie has his own expansion of self-awareness when he realizes that while he expects to be second to her daughters, he cannot bring himself to come second to Rose’s ambition. 

Michael Simmons is the Music Director and did a fine job with a talented band. The music pushed the pace of the drama and made scene changes smoother by filling gaps in action. Joy Alexander choreographed the story elegantly and fluidly. The lighting design by Jeremy Hansard seemed to flow perfectly with very nice effects, although there were a few scenes mid-stage where this reviewer had trouble seeing faces and wondered if one of the lighting instruments in those cues might have been out. Live theatre always has fresh challenges. 

The entire production team has come together to create a very well-paced show. We would like to congratulate the entire cast and crew. We would gladly celebrate each of you by name, but there are so many of you, this review would become ponderous (if we haven’t struck that mark already).

This reviewer recommends this show highly, not just because of the quality of the production or because it is Sondheim, but because this is an appropriate moment in history to see it. Our world is changing as rapidly as Mama Rose’s. Desperation is becoming so common that even if we don’t feel it ourselves, it touches our lives. The driving forces of this story and particularly the dark striving heart of the central character, resonates in our daily struggles. The immortal Nina Simone charged us with a duty when she said “the work of the artist must reflect the times in which she lives.” This play was a timely choice for this season. Well done, Town Theatre.

Gypsy

runs through November 1st

at Town Theatre - 1012 Sumter Street

in Downtown Columbia, SC

Tickets Here

Romance and Revenge Collide in a Rarely Seen 17th-Century Spanish Comedy at USC’s Longstreet Theatre

Photo credit - Jason Ayer

From our friends at USC Theatre & Dance …

The USC Department of Theatre and Dance will present The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs, a centuries-old, female-authored comedy from the Spanish Golden Age, November 13-20 at Longstreet Theatre. 

Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with additional 3 p.m. matinees on Saturday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 15. Admission is $15 for students, $22 for USC faculty/staff, military, and seniors 60+, and $25 for the general public. Tickets may be purchased online at sc.universitytickets.com. Longstreet Theatre is located at 1300 Greene St. Entry is through the rear breezeway off Sumter St.

One of only two surviving plays from Ana Caro (ca.1601–ca.1645), a celebrated writer of the Spanish Golden Age, The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs is a subversive 17th-century comedy whose sharp social commentary still resonates today. When Leonor is suddenly cast aside after being seduced by the faithless Don Juan, she concocts a daring plan to disguise herself as a cunning swordsman (Leonardo), restore her honor, and bring her former lover to justice. Filled with wit, romance and intrigue, this modern translation of Caro’s pioneering masterpiece is a fast-paced theatrical romp about a woman reclaiming her agency in a world designed to deny it.

Director Jesse Jou, an associate professor in the theatre program, describes the play as “a swashbuckling romantic comedy,” with a heroine whose wit and determination make her a compelling character across the centuries.

“Leonor is a really dynamic heroine, similar to some of Shakespeare’s strong female characters like Viola in Twelfth Night or Rosalind in As You Like It,” Jou says. “But what makes Leonor very different is that she really is the most driven person in the play. And while she’s constantly outwitting other characters to achieve her goals, she's also very deeply human and flawed. She’s very vulnerable in questions of love.” 

The production uses a recent translation of the play (originally titled Valor, agravio y mujer) created by UCLA’s Diversifying the Classics project, an initiative of scholars dedicated to making plays of the Spanish Golden Age (late 15th – late 17th centuries) accessible to English-speaking audiences. 

“It’s a wonderful project,” says Jou. “What excites me about working on plays like this is encountering writers from so long ago who are talking about things we can still relate to today.”

Along with turbulent romance and witty repartee (often directed to the audience), Caro’s story features exhilarating swordplay, which Jou says he’s particularly delighted to bring to the stage with the students.

“We have been very fortunate to connect with the Carolina Historical Fencing Association,” Jou says, “who will give our cast a taste of what sword fighting might have entailed in this period. We also have a wonderful fight choreographer in Patrick Michael Kelly, who's giving shape to the fights and helping to make sure they’re as safe and exciting as possible. I’m thrilled when students have an opportunity to learn skills they don’t often get to use in most modern plays.” 

The all-undergraduate cast includes Lucas Alvarado-Barahona, Conner Belin, Isnerys Carrasquillo, Destiny McCorvey, Billy McNeill, Chloe Newport, Lucía Ramos Calleros, Asher Thompson, and Lilly Thompson.  The production’s design team includes graduate design students Egba Evwibovwe (scenic) and Helen Ryser (costumes), along with faculty members Jim Hunter (lighting) and Patrick Michael Kelly(sound).

“I hope audiences have a great time watching this story about love, adventure and justice,” Jou says. “Plays from cultures and histories from all over the world can show us things about our own lives that still resonate now.” 

For more information about The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs or the theatre program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush at 803-777-9353 or bushk@mailbox.sc.edu.

In Memoriam: The Magician is Gone - Remembering Christian Thee

UPDATE: Services for Christian Thee will be held at

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

November 16th at 2:00 PM

By Joey Vasquez and Joseph Daniels

Walter Christian Thee Jr., known to the world at large as Christian Thee, was a master trompe l'oeil painter, a Broadway scenic designer, and a magic inventor and consultant. His wand was a paint brush and his stage was canvas. The miracles his genius wrought in all aspects of his life were numerous and truly awe inspiring.

Born on Sept. 27th, 1934, in New Jersey to Walter and Edith Thee, Christian and his sister Anita moved with their parents to Columbia, SC when Christian was only three. His father was a regimented man with little time for foolishness, while his mother, “the artist and free spirit” became Christian’s inspiration and greatest supporter.

Never quite fitting in with his peers, even during his later teens at Dreher High School, Christian was already making use of his talents in magic, learned from Ringling Brothers lead photographer, his uncle, Joe Steinmetz. With his mother Edith’s help, and extensive practice and study on his own, Christian developed a genuine gift for painting and design. By that point, his skills as an actor led to finding his tribe; the people of the world of theatre.

By his teens, Thee was designing sets for Columbia, SC’s Town Theatre. A few trips to New York City during his childhood and teens led to Christian and his mother sharing Broadway classics of the “golden era.” By his graduation, Chris had decided to go to New York on his own to study scenic design from the famed Lester Polakov, an acclaimed American scenic and costume designer, painter, and educator, at the celebrated Lester Polakov Studio of Stage Design. Christian would excel and eventually graduate and go on to work on such successful Broadway productions as Hair, Guys and Dolls, Sunset Boulevard, and Dracula among many others, and design sets and scenic pieces for the 1964 World’s Fair. 

Chris also had an affection for games and game design and would create Artifax, a game allegedly stolen from him by Parker Bros (renamed Masterpiece) as well as one that he loved to fool guests at his home with, Detente.

He dreamed in his paintings, and he created fantastical worlds where the viewer danced with their eyes.

While in New York he purchased his first residence—a warehouse in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood he would craft into a secret oasis affectionately referred to as “Some Garage in Brooklyn” which would host guests such as Broadway luminaries like Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, and even the cast of Saturday Night Live. During this time Chris would meet his great love, Bruce Bahr.

Chris and Bruce immediately fell in love, and their romance would last more than 35 years. They were the perfect partnership. Bruce would work in the fashion industry and then go on to later handle all of Christian’s business affairs. The pair were able to work all over the world—they loved to travel—and secure work for the Royal Family, Tiffany’s, and many film and theatre productions. After they sold their Brooklyn Heights residence they moved to Connecticut until 1996 when they experienced a severe winter resulting in 16 snowstorms. The frigid weather would ultimately bring the pair back to Christian’s roots and they returned home to Columbia, SC.

Doorway at Morgan’s Cover

Their new home, affectionately called Morgan’s Cove, would become a jewel box of a showpiece. The magical space featured Christian’s art throughout: secret doors, trompe l'oeil art adorning every wall, a full studio, and even a magic parlor for Chris to present his beautiful magic to invited guests. Over the years, many a person passed through that home on tours or for private dinners.

Sadly, in 2011 Bruce passed away after a battle with leukemia. Of course, Christian was heavily impacted by such a gravitational loss. Rebuilding after Bruce’s loss would help foster new life in the house, which would eventually become the showplace for a production he helped create titled The Dark Cabaret, as well as an occasional business networking evening he called , The DaVinci Society.

Christian continued to work, and even when his health started to fade, his desire was to paint, to work, to create. He dreamed in his paintings, and he created fantastical worlds where the viewer danced with their eyes. Every piece he created invited play. To experience his work was to see imagination come to life. Ever one to impart a wink and a dirty joke,  Christian invited others to dream along with him to create a world that would thrive on creativity and joy. Not only did Bruce give him the tagline “A Brush With Deception,” Chris used his wand to create magic throughout his life, and every one of the lives he touched.

Joey Vasquez and Joseph Daniels, better known as the associates in the name, Christian Thee and Associates, co-created The Dark Cabaret with Thee which ran successfully in Columbia, SC for five years. They are honored to continue the legacy of Christian Thee.

REVIEW: Trustus Theatre's CABARET by Jane Turner Peterson

Come hear the music play!

Trustus Theatre’s production of the famous musical Cabaret grabs you from the beginning. The set is magical, with a perfect nod to the time period. It’s flashy and impressively transformative—big kudos to scenic designer Heather Hawfield and technical director Corey Langley for providing the perfect atmosphere. Director and choreographer Terrence Henderson has a huge hit on his hands. His direction and choreography are fluid and enchanting, and the dancing captures the bawdy spirit of the Kit Kat Club in1920s Berlin. Don’t go expecting the film version. This one is true to the original musical, and it’s fabulous.

Cabaret is based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. It was later adapted into a musical by Joe Masteroff. The story, masterfully narrated by Walter Graham (Master of Ceremonies), takes place in 1920s Berlin. It explores the difficult times the characters live in as Germany slowly bows to the Third Reich and its antisemitism. The use of multimedia to reinforce this issue and mirror it with today’s political climate was very effective and chilling.

Walter Graham as the Emcee

Then there are the love stories: Cliff, the young American writer, beautifully portrayed by Olan Domer, and Sally Bowles, the young British Kit Kat Club performer with a little “side hustle,” delightfully played by Elaine Werren.

Cabaret’s music is so iconic, and the vocals in this production did not disappoint. Walter Graham opens the show with a show-stopping version of “Willkommen,” giving the audience a taste of what is to come. Elaine Werren and the ensemble’s “Don’t Tell Mama” was powerful and fabulously choreographed. “Two Ladies,” sung by Werren and Domer, and “Money” were other favorites of the night, as was the best-known number, “Cabaret,” a rather sad rendition near the end of the show.

Robin Gottlieb and Hunter Boyle

The vocals in this production were amazing. It is impossible to pick a favorite. However, some of the best performances of the night came from long-time Trustus favorites Robin Gottlieb and Hunter Boyle, as the boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, a mild-mannered fruit seller who happens to be Jewish. Both couple’s relationships are deeply affected by the horrors of the German occupation and the rise of the Nazis. Their scenes were dynamic and heartfelt. Lauren Lawson, as the “ever-entertaining” tenant at the boarding house, was perfectly delightful, with powerful vocals and a great sense of comic timing. Trustus’ technical director, Corey Langley, gave us the pleasure of seeing his acting chops with a very strong performance as the Nazi sympathizer Ernst Ludwig.

The entire cast was mesmerizing, with extremely strong dance skills and splendidly blended vocals. The ensemble includes Véronique Chayer, Carly Alexis, Te’Jah Beaton, Katherine Brown, Scarlett Heaton, Taylor McCullough, John Ballard, Chandler Musgrove, Collins McBeth, Billy McNeil, Hurshel Tanner, and Jarron Guy. Each performer had a strong, distinctive character, helping to make the story even more riveting.

Cabaret runs through October 25. Tickets are available online at trustus.org or by phone at 803-254-9732.

Although the show is a little long—nearly three hours—the time flies by. Make plans today before tickets are gone. You won’t be disappointed!

REVIEW: Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County's SHOCK

By Beth DeHart

Imagine a vertical line. On the left are all the things we do regularly—things we have done countless times. On the right are the things we have never done. The line itself represents the choice to take an action for the first time. Crossing that line can be a big step. The funny thing is, once we cross it, it becomes easier to cross again—sometimes until we hardly think about it anymore.

The Arts Center of Kershaw County’s Black Box Theater, in partnership with the Southern Gothic Festival, presents the world premiere of Shock, a new Appalachian Gothic tale written by Jack Calvin Hannah and Tim Caggiano—a story of secrets and survival. It explores what people sometimes do to survive when the thing they fear becomes real—sometimes even when that thing lives in the house with them.

Shock is a story of agreements, alliances, and collusion, but surprisingly, not judgment. Its characters are human and multilayered, challenging our tendency to label a person or circumstance as simply “this” or “that.” Instead, the play reminds us that our choices in each moment can affect our lives in ways we may never anticipate, setting us on trajectories we never see coming. In the end, perhaps the message is simple: choose wisely.

AYDEN COBB

Sadie Wiskes

Two young actors serve as the co-leads in Shock: Ayden Cobb as Donald Lewis and Sadie Wiskes as Jannice. Both take on substantial roles that demand not only strong performances, but also the ability to navigate complex and difficult subject matter. Cobb, in addition to his excellent acting, delivers two beautifully choreographed dance sequences that introduce and conclude the story. These moments are genuinely mesmerizing.

Sadie Wiskes, Ayden Cobb, and Debra Haines Kiser

The cast also features Debra Haines Kiser as Aunt Sally, Arthur Slade as Horace, and William Small as Tommy - all of whom deliver strong performances. Another memorable performance comes from Co-Director Larry Hembree in his Curtain Speech. In true Larry fashion, his pre-show remarks are a show in themselves, setting a lighthearted contrast for the darkness to come.

Kudos as well to Co-Director Perry Simpson; authors Jack Calvin Hanna and Tim Caggiano; and Nigel Grant, who composed the original incidental music.

As presented, Shock is a study in extremes. Among its characters we see kindness and malevolence, clarity and confusion, sanity, and madness. Those juxtapositions extend into the production itself: a witty Curtain Speech followed by a deeply dark story; that dark story presented under very bright lights; and an all-white cast accompanied by an all-Black band.

That last contrast is particularly poignant given our country’s complicated racial history. Within the context of this production, the band becomes a soothing balm against the darkness of the story. Applause to Delaney Dunn (bass), Kelcye Felder (percussion), Brianna Grant (vocals), Nigel Grant (guitar), and Jaston Hawes (piano). The band’s quiet, understated accompaniment provides welcome moments of relief from the heaviness onstage.

Even the stage crew gets its moments, donning plague doctor, and other masks during scene changes. Props to the stage and production support crew—Emily Deck Harrill, Jameson Gideon, Patrick Michael Kelly, River Lewis, Cam Mullikin, Kim Cooper, and Elizabeth Leverton—for helping bring this unusual production to life.

Shock runs October 2–10 at the Arts Center of Kershaw County. Tickets are available through the Center’s website. This is a fascinating way to kick off the autumn spooky season—and a production that may leave you thinking about the lines you have crossed, and the ones you have yet to cross.

REVIEW: Chapin Theatre Company's Holmes and Watson

Gerald McWilliams as Dr. John Watson (photo courtesy Glenn Farr)

This reviewer comes from a family of Sherlock-heads. My husband has an internal library of Arthur Conan Doyle-created facts, fictions, and solutions filed away somewhere in his soul and anytime the opportunity presents itself to him to visit that peculiar place, he is there. I knew he’d want to be part of the process of reviewing Chapin Theatre Company’s production of Jeffrey Hatcher’s Holmes and Watson on opening night.

His review? “I liked it!” He went on to say that it was a very nice night of community theatre, and this reviewer agrees.

It was nice to sit in Chapin Theatre Company’s cozy black-box theatre and enjoy the low-key production of a Sherlock Holmes spin-off tale set in 1894, three years after the infamous Reichenbach Falls incident recounted in Doyle’s The Final Solution. It was relaxed and casual and perfectly pleasant.

Directed by Glenn Farr, Holmes and Watson finds us at an asylum on an island off the coast of the UK where Holmes’ one-time consummate companion, Dr. John Watson, played exceptionally well by Gerald McWilliams, has been summoned. Watson is greeted by Dr. Evans, played by David Reed, and the multi-character player (Orderly/Moriarty/Inspector) which was performed last night by Nathan Dawson. Jami Steele Sprankle is there playing dual parts as the matron and the woman (big costume changes here – kudos – also, that was one excellent scream) and there are three potential and decidedly-undead Sherlocks played by Dennis Kacsure, Jeff Sigley, and Charles Zuber. Watson’s assignment is to discern who the real Sherlock is and take the audience along for the ride.

It was a fine ride and most people did not see the end coming!

While McWilliams demonstrates veteran-level chops on the stage, his fellow players are also quite good. As Dr. Evans, David Reed seems to have the lion’s share of lines—a daunting amount of memorization for several near-soliloquies delivered with very little flubs. Kacsur, Sigley, and Zuber, as the potential-Sherlocks, each hold their own well, with Zuber giving some of the best performances of the night without saying a word. There was very little movement on the stage—lots of standing in one place facing forward and saying lines in character. This reviewer would have enjoyed seeing a bit more action and interaction from the players. In such a dialogue-heavy play, interesting and engaging blocking can help draw the audience into the story. In its absence, one’s mind might wonder too much to things like the kind of shoes the characters are wearing. We quite liked those of Dr. Watson.

The set for the show was unusually minimalistic for a Victorian era staging, even for an off-shore asylum. The production relied primarily on back-wall projections of a train station, cell doors, etc. Having seen this type of projection employed at CTC before, they are a good choice for this cozy theatre space. The “live” depiction of Reichenbach Falls was very cool and seemed to please the audience a great deal.

A great mystery for this reviewer and guest was the horizontal black platform at the back of the stage which the actors had to step up to and down from repeatedly throughout the performance. We were not sure of its purpose and found the constant negotiation of the obstacle a bit distracting.

Costuming, by Sandy Steffen, was quite good, though the hair situation—both facial and other—was a little startling, particularly the wild wig worn by Dawson and the various degrees of muttonchops sported by several players. Steffen was not in charge of beard or hair effects.

All-in-all, Chapin Theatre Company’s Holmes and Watson accomplished what it set out to do—entertain and mystify. While not on the same excitement level as a Mary Poppins or a Godspell (and without a similar budget, I feel certain), it delivered a lovely little mystery via highly capable actors who seemed to love what they were doing. The energy from the joy and fun and commitment of these actors was palpable. Go see this show.

Holmes and Watson runs

September 25th through October 11th at

Chapin Theatre Company

830 Columbia Avenue, Chapin, SC

Tickets are available here or at chapintheatreorg

REVIEW: Paul Smith Reviews Mean Girls at Workshop Theatre for the Jasper Project

Here come the “Plastics.”

Mean Girls opened at Workshop Theatre this past Friday, transporting audiences back to the early 2000s high school experience when “Fetch” is never going to happen, and on Wednesdays we wear pink!

The original Mean Girls was an iconic 2004 American teen comedy film written by Tina Fey, which has remained a part of the millennial and Gen Z cultural zeitgeist by capturing the essence of what it felt like to be in what some see as one of the most defining periods of a person’s life … high school. The film went on to have several parodies and spinoffs in different forms of media, but none captured the heart and essence of Mean Girls until 2018, when Tina Fey adapted and debuted the musical production of Mean Girls on Broadway. An instant success, this musical doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it cleverly uses the medium of the stage to dazzle audiences with a variety of music genres and styles from classic golden age numbers to contemporary pop ballads. 

In the Workshop production, we follow Cady Heron (Rye Winecoff), the new girl in school. Cady has been homeschooled and lived in Africa for the majority of her life, so when she enters this new world of Northshore High, she has some social skills to catch up on. Damian Hubbard (Tres Taylor) and Janice Sarkisian (Grace Renda) take Cady under their wing and show her the school’s hierarchy in their natural habitat. You have the jocks, the mathletes, the band geeks, and the plastics—the popular girls. The titular “Mean Girls” are Gretchen Wieners (Zoey Land), whose “hair is so big because it's full of secrets;” Karen Smith (Sara Slaughter), the “dumbest girl you’ll ever meet;” and Regina George (Erin Niland), the recognized queen bee of the school. When Regina takes notice of the new girl, Cady is stuck between the power and social status of the plastics and the authenticity of her first friends at school.

 As a whole, this cast brings life to the world of mean girls through outstanding vocal performances and creative dance numbers. The clever use of everyday school items such as notebooks and lunch trays offers wonderfully choreographed numbers that connect to the world around the characters.

Winecoff brings a wonderful naivety to the role and consistently made the audience laugh with Cady’s homeschooled, uncharacteristically animalistic pickup lines. Renda finds a beautiful arc in her role as Janice, one that is filled with pain and shame, eventually triumphed by the idea that she would “Rather be Me”. Thomas Bozard (Aaron Samuels) plays the love interest and finds poignant moments to deliver powerful messages in a few words. Is more always better? Not if there is “less of you than there was before.” 

Niland demands the audience's attention every time she enters the space, showing the audience how the whole school “humps her leg, like a chihuahua.” Sara Slaughter’s witty timing provides comic relief in tense situations, and Land plays her character with a frantic disposition that perfectly complements the other two plastics. 

Tres Taylor was a standout for this reviewer. Truly a triple threat of a role, Taylor taps, triple pirouettes, belts out big, showy numbers, and still finds time to connect to each person in the audience. Taylor certainly steals the show. 

The adult characters in this production were wonderfully grounded, which contrasted with the all-or-nothing environment that high schoolers seem to think they are in. Evan Cook as Mr. Duvall did everything he could to keep the kids in line at school. Brittnie Cooper (Ms. Norbury) was a kind, caring teacher caught in the crossfire of the nasty cycle of high school drama and it was heartwarming to see her efforts in breaking the cycle, in spite of the very real threat to her livelihood. Perhaps not as grounded as the others, Jessica Roth plays Mrs. George, Regina’s mom. She may not be the best mother, but she’s cool with the kids, and you’ll find her dancing her own tune dressed as “Sexy Corn.”  

The ensemble not only filled in the world but also gave us endearing recurring characters in the story. Shout out to the mathletes headed by Alex Cato as Kevin Gnapoor. They made math cool again with rap verses and slant rhymes. The other teachers offered fine performances from Jack Bingham and Tyler Zangla, with a little healthy stereotype; they brought to life the teachers that we still talk about today from our own high school experiences. Lovely work from all the ensemble: Liam Amil, Aajay Pinder, Abby Gamble, Blythe Long, Carrissa Ferro, Christian Banks, Ethan Wilson, Jack Bingham, James Nolan, Jane Cato, Jordan Robinson, Katie Rooney, Kayla Welch, Kyran Burkett, Lily Stricklin, Meagan Hodges, Paxton Hartenstine, Phoebe Ferro, and Tyler Zangla!

Grace Renda, Rye Winecoff, Trey Taylor

 Congratulations to the creative team on a fine production. Music director Taylor Diveley prepared an ensemble for success, and through their powerful harmonies, it shows. Christy Shealy Mills, as choreographer, had a new trick up her sleeve with every new musical number. Andie Nicks had fun with costuming and brought life to each of the characters with their many costumes. Patrick Faulds, as the set and lighting designer, brought us into Northshore High and captured the feeling of this world very well. And director Marybeth Berry put together an experience that is truly magical. 

Thank you to the stage manager Hannah McCloy, the backstage crew Logan Jones and Karyssa Burkett, and the light and sound board operators Patrick Faulds and Dean McCaughan for being the foundation on which this show stands. 

This reviewer’s only real critique of the show is that I wanted more of it. The sound system that was used in this show did not do justice to the cast that performed it. Sometimes the more boisterous bass beats in dance numbers were not loud enough to fill the space and bring the audience into the moment. This is not a comment on the cast or creative team; however, it is a critiqué of the arts funding in our state. 

Mean Girls is a show worth seeing. Framed as a cautionary tale, this show tells its audience that it is bad to put others down for your own popularity and that other people do not define self-worth, but that each person is worthy of love, respect, and being seen. 

Mean Girls at Workshop Theatre is being shown at Cottingham Theatre on the campus of Columbia College from September 18th until October 3rd. There is the use of the d-slur and frequent provocative dancing and themes, so take that under advisement if you’re planning on going with kids. Ticketing information can be found at Workshop Theatre of South Carolina

From the Print Issue - Sharing the Spotlight: Collaboration vs. Competition in Midlands Theatre By Jane Turner Peterson

Jasper noticed that at least one other theatre writer in the area is engaging in a conversation Jane Turner Peterson started in the spring issue of Jasper Magazine about community and regional theatres and the problems of competition in booking shows. So we thought it might be helpful to reprint Jane’s original article from the magazine.

Jane is the theatre editor for Jasper Magazine, a member of the Jasper Project board of directors, and she just finished up serving as leader of the 2026 Play Right Project which midwifed D.K. Turner’s wonderful play, The Counting Table, onto the literary landscape.

How many local theatres can you name here in the Midlands? More importantly—how many have you actually visited or been involved with? Do you find yourself loyal to just one theatre, or do you venture out to Lexington, Chapin, or even Newberry to see or participate in or see work on other stages?

Right here in the Columbia area, we’re home to an impressive lineup: Town Theatre, Workshop Theatre, Trustus Theatre (with both its Mainstage and Side Door spaces), Chapin Theatre, Village Square Theatre, Soda City Theatre, Broad River Arts Center (BRAC), and The South Carolina Shakespeare Theatre, which performs on multiple outdoor stages. Add to that the University of South Carolina’s three venues—Longstreet Theatre, Drayton Hall, and the Benson Theatre black box—and you have a remarkable number of creative spaces for a community our size.

That doesn’t even include the region’s thriving youth programs, such as Columbia Children’s Theatre and Broadway Bound, or the classes and performance opportunities offered by nearly every community theatre. Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College also hosts a wide range of professional productions while providing space for local companies with larger-scale needs.

And with these spaces comes something even more valuable: people. The Midlands boasts a deep well of talented actors, directors, musicians, designers, and volunteers who care deeply about the work. It’s a vibrant, passionate theatre community—and we’re lucky to have it.

But that talent pool, as strong as it is, isn’t endless. And lately, there’s been a growing concern that we may be stretching it thin—not because of a lack of passion, but because of how we’re operating within our own ecosystem.

“Because at its core, theatre is about connection.”

In recent seasons, there’s been a noticeable trend: multiple theatres producing the same—or very similar—shows within a short window of time. It’s easy to understand why. Everyone wants to bring in audiences. Everyone wants a successful run. Familiar titles and newer, buzzworthy shows feel like a safer bet when the goal is getting “butts in the seats.”

But it raises an important question: are we truly serving our audiences—and ourselves—when we program this way? Are we building something sustainable, or are we unintentionally competing for the same limited resources?

Curious about whether this was unique to Columbia, I turned to a national Facebook group, Community Theatre Resource Group, and posed the question. The response was immediate and overwhelming. Dozens of theatre-makers from across the country chimed in, and the consensus was clear: this isn’t just a Midlands issue. It’s happening everywhere.

Stories poured in of overlapping productions—sometimes in the same city, sometimes within just a few miles. Popular titles like Kinky Boots, The Play That Goes Wrong, Frozen, and Come From Away appear multiple times in the same season, often drawing from the same pool of actors and audiences.

Many pointed to a shift in how production rights are managed. In years past, licensing companies maintained tighter control, limiting how close in proximity or timing the same show could be produced. Today, with fewer companies controlling more titles, those restrictions have loosened significantly. The result? A kind of theatrical free-for-all.

To be clear, no one is doing anything “wrong.” The desire to produce exciting, recognizable work is natural—and necessary. But without communication, we may be unintentionally undercutting one another.

And yet, within those same national conversations, there were glimpses of a different approach. Some communities have found ways to collaborate rather than compete—sharing calendars, coordinating seasons, even creating joint awards programs that celebrate the entire theatre ecosystem. In those places, success isn’t measured by one theatre’s box office, but by the health of the community as a whole.

That’s the model worth striving for.

Because at its core, theatre is about connection. It turns first-time attendees into lifelong supporters. It builds relationships. It creates community. An audience member today might be a volunteer tomorrow, a donor next season, or even a performer down the line, especially in a community theatre setting. Every production is an opportunity to grow that circle.

“The goal isn’t uniformity—it’s balance.”

When we think of ourselves as competitors, we risk shrinking that opportunity. But when we think of ourselves as collaborators—as part of a shared mission to keep theatre alive and thriving in the Midlands—we expand it.

Actors already understand this. They move fluidly between companies, following roles that excite them and working with artists who inspire them. Loyalty isn’t tied to a single stage—it’s tied to the work itself. And from an audience perspective, there’s something refreshing about seeing new faces in new spaces, discovering different interpretations, and experiencing the breadth of talent our community has to offer.

Still, there are practical realities to consider. Casting is challenging, especially when multiple productions are drawing from the same pool at the same time. Directors know how difficult it can be to find a full cast of “triple threats”—performers who can sing, dance, and act at a high level. When several theatres are producing similar shows simultaneously, that challenge only intensifies.

Audiences, too, are affected. With overlapping productions, they’re forced to choose—sometimes missing out on shows they might otherwise have attended. And as actors move between theatres, their friends and families follow, creating a ripple effect that spreads audiences across venues. While that can introduce people to new theatres, it can also dilute attendance when too many similar offerings compete at once.

“… when one theatre succeeds, it doesn’t take away from the others—it adds to the cultural fabric of the entire region.”

So what’s the solution?

It doesn’t require a major overhaul—just a shift in mindset. Communication is a powerful first step. Imagine if theatre leaders, board members, and directors gathered once a year—virtually or in person, to share season plans, compare calendars, and look for opportunities to complement rather than compete.

From there, collaboration could grow naturally. Costumes, props, and even set pieces could be shared or rented between companies. Knowledge and resources could flow more freely. And programming could become more intentional, offering audiences a wider variety of experiences across the region.

The goal isn’t uniformity—it’s balance.

The Midlands has everything it needs to be an extraordinary theatre community. The talent is here. The passion is here. The audiences are here. What’s left is the willingness to work together in a way that strengthens the whole.

Because when one theatre succeeds, it doesn’t take away from the others—it adds to the cultural fabric of the entire region.

And that’s something worth building, together.

REVIEW: Jon Tuttle Reviews Dear Evan Hansen at Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County

“So Big/So Small”: Evan Hansen Takes Camden

Kyle Mayson with Dominic Coletti

The Arts Center of Kershaw County describes its production of Dear Evan Hansen as “a remarkable musical about loneliness, belonging, and our very human longing to be seen and understood,” and all of that’s true, but let’s say it’s about much less.

Let us say, oddly, that this is a show about only its production elements—the scene design, the lighting and sound and so on—and presents, therefore, as a hyper-techno-cyberscape in which people exist only as extensions of their gadgetry. The set is spare, cold, consisting primarily of television monitors on which are displayed representations of a remote dimension: a suburb, a lawn, a bedroom, a school, a toaster, a coffee maker. On the proscenium curtains and flat black surfaces appear The Matrix-like, computer-code-looking social media posts while, between beats, electronic beeps and bloops remind us that our lives are now virtual. At times, a laser-like grid appears, graphing the world like a brutalist wall of windows through which we all desperately wave or, on one particularly stirring occasion, fixing a crosshairs on the broken heart of our distraught, eponymous protagonist.

Upstage, on a riser, with no attempt to disguise it, is the band, consisting of eight fine musicians (Katie Miller, Patty Boggs, Cully Salehi, Kathryn O’Shields, Dottie Hanlin, Nigel Grant, Kevin McKinney, and Christopher Cockrell who, pro that he is, conducts from the keyboard.)  No attempt is made to create a mise-en-scène that is what we’d call realistic. Rather, this production channels Brecht in that it constantly shows us that we are always being shown something—that these characters are not people but figments, and that by extension we are all just ghosts in a machine. To sum up: this medium is the message. It’s all stunning and disturbing.

Even before the lights come down, fans of director Chad Henderson (who is also the Arts Center’s Executive Director) will immediately recognize his virtuosity. Since his days helming Columbia’s Trustus Theatre, he has solidified a reputation for pushing the limits of the theatrically possible. Here, he is aided ably by lighting designer Sebastian Liafsha, sound engineer Cam Mullikan, media designer Chris Harre, and other members of his crew. He also masterfully choreographs a cast of veterans and newcomers from around the midlands who provide the play with what it desperately needs: a soul.

On which note, let us now say, incorrectly, that this production of Dear Evan Hansen is only about parenting, particularly the agony endured by Larry and Cynthia Murphy, who have recently lost their teenage son Connor. Dad’s coping mechanism is a refusal to feel anything, while Mom’s consists of the nearest available trends—Pilates, eastern mysticism, farm-to-table organics. As played by Kevin Bush, who commands every stage he sets foot on, and Jennifer Erickson, for whom this role is a debut, Larry and Cynthia break our hearts by trying to steel their own. So poignant as to leave bruises is their attempt to replace their lost son with our distraught, eponymous protagonist.

Meanwhile, our protagonist’s mother Heidi (played here by Brittany Hammock, of whom this reviewer can never speak highly enough) is a study in maternal resilience, having been abandoned by her husband and left to juggle jobs and coursework and housework with the needs of her damaged son. Her song “So Big/So Small,” in which she swears never to abandon him, is just as heart-rending as Larry’s serenade to late son’s baseball glove. To sum up: if this production of Dear Evan Hansen were about nothing else, it would be about the futility of trying to raise healthy children in a world that isolates them in their rooms and reduces them to beeps and bloops and tweets and likes.

Kevin Bush

Kyle Mayson with Brittany Hammock

If that’s all there was—if Dear Evan Hansen were about only its production values and parenting—it would never have moved to Broadway and won six Tony Awards, including best musical, best score and best book for its creators Benj Pasik, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson. Nor would the Washington Post have called it “One of the most remarkable shows in musical theatre history.”  It would be unspeakably bleak.

It is not. It’s actually quite charming at times even hilarious as it confronts what Henderson calls “our fundamental need for real human connection. It explores that need through the lens of social media and online communication, revealing how these tools can sometimes become an unhealthy substitute for genuine relationships.”  Henderson licensed the play for his September slot to “start the season off with a bang” and to give his audience the opportunity not just to witness good theatre, but to “participate in it. There’s something especially powerful about experiencing this story live: in a play about the challenges of connecting with one another, the audience, the cast, and musicians are all sharing the same human experience together in the same room.”

That room, as the play begins, is the bedroom of its distraught, eponymous protagonist, a high schooler hobbled by awkwardness, hopelessness, and friendlessness. He, Evan, is discovered writing letters to himself—an exercise recommended by this therapist to buoy his drowning spirits. From the very top, then, Dear Evan Hansen announces itself as a play about a boy trying to befriend himself. As it goes, it becomes a valentine for anyone who has ever felt the same, which, judging from the ovation it received on opening night in Wood Auditorium, is everyone.

The inciting incident is, figuratively and perhaps literally, a bang: the death, by his own hand, of the aforementioned Connor, whom we get to know only briefly as a callow jerk. But then, as the play continues, we reinterpret him as an outcast who, in a world full of fashionable influencers, never stood a chance. As played by Dominic Coletti, for whom this is also a debut, and a fine one at that, Connor is not callow but so embittered by isolation that he must mete out his revenge on himself.

The rest of the first act traces the machinery of myth-making—the resurrection of Connor as a saintly but misunderstood martyr. It is Evan who, inadvertently and reluctantly, spearheads this Connor Project, as it is called. Abetted by fellow cultists Jared Klineman (Sam Siceloff) and Alana Beck (Jayda Bracey), Evan spins himself in a web of deceit woven partly from his own good intentions and partly from our culture’s hypocritical insistence on lionizing its casualties. Their collective desire for visibility drives them to such absurd extremes as an online fund-raising scheme to purchase an orchard.

The orchard is crucial but hard to explain. It is, let us say, a real place, but extinct now, defunct. It is therefore the old world, the organic, Edenic world, where grew the very apple of knowledge which destroyed it. The orchard is a brilliant device that reminds us of all we’ve lost, which is our innocence, our minds, and our way.

In the second act, Evan’s rise to social prominence not only necessitates his fall but quite wonderfully complements it. Sure, he manages to score a beautiful girlfriend, but she is Zoe, Connor’s own sister, who would be devastated if his subterfuge were revealed. Tension becomes panic. No wonder, then, that Evan eventually appears in a bland hoodie very much like the one worn by Connor: they are melding. Evan is about to lose his grip—or let go.

One of the most wonderful ironies in the play is that, for a boy trying desperately to like himself, he has an audience full of fans who adore him. This is owing to actor Kyle Mayson, who embodies Evan magnificently. Mayson is, according to his bio, a theatre veteran of eight years. In that time, he has clearly mastered timing, posture, pitch, timbre, gesture—everything necessary to inhabit a goofy, endearing, lost soul without appearing merely to imitate one. To sum up: Mayson is a revelation and well worth the price of admission.

Zoe, his romantic counterpart, is played by Bella Coletti Pender. You’d think that all this young talent might render this production sometimes clunky and amateurish. You would be mistaken. Guided, presumably, by Henderson’s high standards, Pender and the other actors engage us as recognizable, realistic characters trapped in a synthetic world.

Are there problems? Sure. Not all the actors hit all their consonants. Sometimes, volume levels between those playing and those singing are in conflict. And, as for the writing, more jaded viewers might object to the play’s reliance on such platitudes as “everybody matters.” 

What is equally true, however, and what Evan Hansen is really about, is that everybody fabulates. It’s a theme that runs through plays as disparate as The Iceman Cometh, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and The Playboy of the Western World: our identities are built on lies. How else could we survive?

Dear Evan Hansen runs at the Arts Center of Kershaw County on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (and one Sunday) through September 26. Admission is $30 and up.

Tissues are encouraged.

Tickets available here.

Jon Tuttle is author of The Trustus Collection (2019) and editor of South Carolina Onstage (2024).

Photography by Perry McLeod.

Important Reminder: Sunday Sept. 6th is the Last Call for The Counting Table Post-Performance Dinner - DINNER TICKETS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR

The Jasper Project Presents the Premiere Staged Reading of the Winner of the 2026 Jasper Play Right Project, The Counting Table by DK Turner, September 13 at 4 p.m. at the Columbia Music Festival Association.

This year, guests can break bread with the cast and crew following the play with a special meal inspired by The Counting Table ($25 for dinner + a ticket).

A LIMITED NUMBER of dinner tickets are still available but they MUST be purchased by midnight September 6th.

Advance tickets to the performance only ($10) will be available until September 12th.

Tickets to the performance only on the day of the show will be available at the increased price of $15.

Space is limited and this event is expected to sell out soon.

DINNER TICKETS WILL NOT BE SOLD AT THE DOOR. RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 6TH!

REVIEW: Town Theatre's Come From Away by Paul Smith

Opening last Friday at Town Theatre, Come From Away takes the audience into a swirling storm of emotion, moments of heartbreak and triumph as we are transported back to the events of September 11th, 2001, and invited into the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, where, for a short period of time the world is turned upside down.

A period piece, Come From Away is a musical set during the week of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. This true story follows Operation Yellow Ribbon, a Coordinated effort by Transport Canada to divert all international flights into various Canadian airports after the US closed its airspace. The little slice of this story that we are privy to takes place in Gander, an island in the Newfoundland Province whose population of 9,000 quickly doubled when 38 aircraft landed in their airport.

The audience sees the stories of the townsfolk who are working as hard as they can to accommodate 7,000 people from around the world as they learn to communicate with each other and make space for people with very different diets and religious beliefs.

The other side is the story of the people on the planes. The audience sees little snippets of people's lives who were drastically changed in the wake of 9/11. There is love, loss, and almost everything in between. For approximately 5 days Gander became one of the most multicultural places in the world.

The Cast of Town Theatre’s Come From Away does an amazing job of telling this story, and their success starts with the foundation of any good theatrical show, the ensemble which, in this case, has admirable structure and chemistry. This musical goes at a lightning-fast pace, punctuated by the actors putting on and removing their jackets to swap characters in record speed. The actors are always supporting the scene, allowing each moment to have weight and depth. There are many different dialects and accents in this musical and although there were a few questionably delivered lines, the cast does a fine job with their accent work.

As I sat down in my seat in the theatre I was handed a CAE Passport Booklet with some interesting items inside: A leaflet about Columbia Metropolitan Airport, a coupon for parking at the airport, and a little blank notebook. Town Theatre’s performance of Come From Away was sponsored by CAE and this was their novel idea of creating an immersive element for the production. It was nice to have something physical to hold onto. At first, I just felt like I had a ticket to board this journey to Gander with everyone else in the audience. However, upon reflection, I feel like this was a missed opportunity to personalize the passports with the names of the passengers on the aircrafts or something more specific to the show itself. As it is right now the packet feels a more like the free stress ball you often receive at the start of a business seminar.

Come From Away features some outstanding performances from Megan Anderson (Diane) and Jeremy Hansard (Nick) whose characters find love in an unexpected place; Raymond Elling (Claude), who plays a convincing mayor whose presence commands the space; Emily Banks (Bonnie) who tells the story of taking care of all the animals on the planes, finding beautiful highs and lows within her character; and Rebecca Seezen (Beverley), who tells the true story of the first female pilot for American Airlines, Beverley Bass. I was impressed by Michael Seezen(Oz), whose characterizations and specificity found the audiences drawn in every time he was out on stage.

Every actor in this show has moments where they shine, including Brianna Grant, Inaara Jadavji, Jennifer Kraus, Paul Lindley, Jacob Kirby, and Jerimy Woodall.

The Cast is supported by an excellent live band consisting of Gage Banks, James Ibson, Linnea Hahn, Mary Lee Taylor, Kinosian, Bert Ligon, Kris Phelps, and Gloria Wright. In a musical where the pace never slows, the band never missed a beat.

The set design by Jeremy Hansard and Shannon Scruggs was purposefully very bare and used rolling chairs and tables to create different settings and set pieces. At the back of the stage were piles of luggage which, thanks to Gina Jarvin, cleverly conceals props which could be accessed at a moment's notice.

Dell Goodrich served as costume designer. It feels odd to call a musical set in 2001 a period piece but the clothing was carefully considered and crafted to bring the audience back 25 years to the start of the 21st century.

No production could work without the crew and this musical runs smoothly thanks to the efforts of the stage manager Chelsey Art, Assistant Stage Manager Reid Moser, and crew members Mat Eberhardt, Nae Houghton, and Troy King.

The Music Director Lou Boeschen also did a fine job making sure the music had its breakout moments but also underscoring the scenes when it needed to. A lot of the dialogue is spoken over the ensemble singing and it is done in a way that is audible to the audience and accentuates the tone and feeling of the piece.

Shannon Willis Scruggs directed this production of Come From Away. Through her vision, the cast and crew of this show told a story of selflessness, unity, and the resilience of the human spirit.

I strongly recommend seeing Come From Away! In a world constantly being divided by foreign policy and big political forces bashing heads against heads, this story shows us that when an emergency knocks us off course, we find that human connection is stronger than any tragedy.

Come From Away is running from Aug 28th to Sept 13th. Ticketing Information can be found on https://towntheatre.com/.

Come from Away is a 2013 musical, with book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein..

REVIEW: Lemonade: A Fresh Pressed Musical at Trustus Theatre

After the applause and the final bows Saturday night for Trustus Theatre’s World Premiere of Lemonade: A Fresh Pressed Musical (Jesse Corbin – playwright, composer, lyricist) my friend who attended the play with me looked at me and said, “What did we just see?”

To be candid, I’m still trying to figure that out, but here are some of the pieces of the puzzle we’re working with.

We saw a beautiful set, far more complex than we typically see for a late summer Trustus production; the unofficial time when the theatre typically stages its biennial Playwrights’ Festival for new works. Kudos to USC-based theatrical designer Jim Hunter for this lovely work. (Note: the Trustus website explains that the next Playwrights’ Festival returns in 2027.)

We heard an elaborate and highly professional score, stunningly executed and punctuated with tight harmonies and exceptional vocals.

We witnessed the well-done work of a roster of some of Columbia’s best behind-the-scenes artists including Chris Harre, Marc Hurst, and Colleen Kelly.

We read from a playbill that listed an assortment of additional SC-based theatre artists mixed into a large pot of non-local Equity actors, all of  whose performances were almost flawless.

But it’s the final two puzzle pieces that still leave me scratching my head and trying to figure out what we saw. For one thing, we saw fine actors working from a script that, surprisingly, seemed to have been written for an audience of adolescents sometime during Reagan’s 1980s. I sincerely hate to use such harsh words to describe any piece of art, but the ones that come most easily to mind are vapid and platitudinous. As for the second confounding puzzle piece, we witnessed the results of apparent advice from director Marlo Hunter that must have asked those fine actors to lean into the awkwardness of the early teenage years with as much geekiness as they could muster.

The quality was there but the framework upon which all these fine attributes were draped was so far removed from the typical Trustus faire of incisive, cutting-edge, and thought-provoking performances that, scene after scene, it felt more and more off-balance and out-of-place.

Here’s why.

The story of Lemonade: A Fresh Pressed Musical is simple. Very simple. Two friends fresh out of the 8th grade plan to continue their tradition of running a summer lemonade stand but, this year, they are also competing for the award of being the best of the area’s summer youth businesses. These are the Good Guys.

Their nemesis is a Mean Girl who cheats, generally plays dirty, and who has forcefully recruited two newbies to her team selling “homemade” cookies and giving away free milk. They are the Bad Guys.

After a few minor confrontations, the Good Guys start to play dirty, too, just like the Bad Guys, but ultimately they give in to their collective moral compass and suggest a compromise with the Bad Guys, who immediately agree to work together. And then the play is over.

Well, there are actually a couple of undeveloped, nonessential subplots that, further developed, could lead to a more interesting and challenging play.

In the first, the Mean Girl has two rich dads (hello 21st century) who we never see and know little about except that they can afford a “priceless Baccarat” platter because they got rich off of milk money and, big reveal, they are getting a divorce.

The second subplot involves the lead character’s dead dad and his widowed mom who has recently re-entered the dating scene. We do see and hear from this parent, but always in relation to her role as the parent. We know little about her life or desires or the nebulous Mike with whom she occasionally goes out.

That’s it.

Throughout the play, my friend and I waited patiently for the added conflict, the complexity, the twist, the deeper metaphor that would make this story more compelling. Unfortunately, it did not come.

What did come our way was a stellar cast (kudos to USC grad Taylor McCullough who returns to the Trustus stage after a successful run in Urinetown: The Musical), many of whom surely must have been directed to take the gawkiness of being an 8th-grader (or the parent of an 8th-grader) and turn it up a notch, or two, or three. Think Andy Samberg portraying a 13-year-old in an SNL sketch that is supposed to make us laugh at the character. It was odd, a little off-putting, and staggeringly out of place on the Thigpen Main Stage, and I couldn’t help but wonder how founders Jim and Kay Thigpen would have responded to this play. (Happily, Trustus opens their season with the always-spicy Cabaret in September, followed by such titillating titles as The Niceties and Dear Evan Hansen later in the year.)

Sadly, Lemonade just didn’t work for this reviewer despite the best and successful efforts of the cast and crew.

Still, as always, congratulations to Trustus Theatre for facilitating and producing new work. This doesn’t happen enough, especially not in SC. Clearly, a lot of financial and physical energy went into bringing Lemonade: A Fresh Pressed Musical to the stage. But having been beaten over the head throughout the evening with the banality of the singular old adage, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” a saying that many if not most of us respond to with annoyance, the script and its message fell on battered eyes and ears. The problem with the repetitive application of this exhausted metaphor in Lemonade: A Fresh Pressed Musical is that while there was little added sugar in the mixture, there was more than enough saccharine to go around.

See Lemonade: A Fresh Pressed Musical at Trustus Theatre through August 30th For tickets visit the Trustus website at TRUSTUS.ORG.

More About the Cast of The Counting Table by DK Turner (& ticket info, too!)

Tashera Pravato

Tashera Pravato is a Columbia-based actor and designer with a love for bold storytelling and theater that creates connection. A company member at Trustus Theatre, she recently made her assistant directing debut with Clyde's and has appeared in People, Places & Things, Down in the Holler, and Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play. Her work also includes costume design for Blues for an Alabama Sky and producing the short film It Takes a Village. A U.S. Army veteran, Tashera is passionate about stories that make space for voices, experiences, and joy too often pushed to the margins. She is proud to support new work through Jasper's Play Right Project and Columbia's vibrant arts community. Offstage, she's mom to two brilliant daughters who remind her why stories matter. 

Bonita Peeples

Bonita Peeples had the great fortune of sharing the stage earlier this year with our esteemed playwright in The Nia Co./Columbia Children's Theatre collaboration of Wiley and the Hairy Man.  In 2019, they also worked together on Harlem South: A View Through The Lens (Live at the CMA), a jazz and theatrical celebration of photographer, Richard Smauel Roberts.

Over the years, Bonita has been an actor of stage and screen, singer, forensic actor, teaching artist, and adjudicator for the Richland One Visual and Performing Arts Dept.  However, her greatest role is that of Momma to Bryce and Braylen. 

The Counting Table

A Play by DK Turner

Premiere Staged Reading

Sunday September 13th at 4 pm

Columbia Music Festival Association

914 Pulaski Street

Reserve your seat now!

In this sixth installment of the Jasper Play Right Project, 2026’s winning playwright D. K. Turner invites the reader and the viewer into one of the most intimate settings in the life of a family—the dinner table. But like most tables sitting in kitchens throughout the American South, this table serves many functions, one of which is a place to reconcile expectations and interpretations of the past and the future. The Counting Table is the story of how one extended Carolina family comes to terms with the legacy of both responsibilities and worldly possessions. Pull up a chair to Mama Rut’s table. The cornbread is cooling and the rice is starting to steam.

Read about cast members Marilyn Matheus, Samuel McWhite, and Michael Mykkel in an earlier post.

REVIEW: Chapin Theatre Company's MARY POPPINS at Harbison Theatre

“From props to costumes and everything in between, this production represents not only a labor of love but a look at the growth of CTC from a small community theatre to one that wants to be, and should be, taken seriously.” —Jasper Online

When this writer found reviewing Chapin Theatre Company’s ambitious musical, Mary Poppins, on my calendar for last night’s opening performance at Harbison Theatre, I consulted an expert on all things whimsical, uplifting, and fun, and brought along said expert with me to check out the performance. In the photo above, please see my 6-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter Sara James, hugging her program as she waits for the show to get underway.

During the 15-minute intermission between the first and second acts, I asked my expert consultant what she thought so far and she responded that she gave it 4-and-a-half stars out of 5 and deemed it, just like the titular character Mary Poppins “practically perfect in every way.”

I would have to agree.

For starters, let’s give Chapin Theatre Company as many stars as possible for taking on such a challenging production in Mary Poppins – The Broadway Musical. The cast is huge, the vocal and physical requirements of the actors are demanding, the set is large and cumbersome, the costuming complex. And while this performance only slightly fell short on precious few of these challenges, it clearly was not for lack of effort.

This reviewer is not telling the noble team of volunteers devoted to creating and then manipulating the moveable set pieces anything they don’t already know when I write that the set for Mary Poppins is a bear! Heavy, somewhat awkward in places, and portable thanks to casters rather than the magically silent gliders that a Broadway set would have, we were impressed by the army of stagehands who stepped up to make the difficult scene transitions happen. It clearly wasn’t easy on opening night but, with repetition, we feel certain the process will become more comfortable. From props to costumes and everything in between, this production represents not only a labor of love but a look at the growth of CTC from a small community theatre to one that wants to be, and should be, taken seriously.

Evidence of this growth was on full view last night by virtue of an exceptionally strong cast of leading actors, well equipped with the needed chops to hit the high notes in all the right places. In the role of Mary Poppins, Celeste Mills simply nailed it. Her vocals were spot-on and her demeanor captured the anything-but-smug self-confidence the character is known for. Similarly, Gavin Slusher, in the role of Bert, was a delight, also delivering a performance nearing professional. Kudos to director Jami Steele Sprankle for work well done in bringing these characters to their fullest potential in this performance.

As George Banks, Jasper’s old friend Frank Thompson called on his years of stage experience and considerable vocal talents to also give a confident and nuanced performance. (Thompson once served as the theatre editor for Jasper Magazine.) Playing opposite Thompson as Winnifred Banks was Lisa Akly, who also delivered an excellent vocal performance, lacking just a bit of the dynamism expected from this character.

Accolades for standout performances should also be given to Ella Riley as Mrs. Brill, Christyne McClellan, who does double duty as the beautifully-voiced  Bird Woman and the show’s music director, and Tiyon Ritter in the small but important role of John Northbrook. The roles of Jane and Michael Banks were double cast with Grace Bender and Libby Todd sharing the role of Jane, and Perry Dawson and Chase Duplaga that of Michael. We would like to be able to comment on these specific performances by actor’s name, but we may have missed an announcement of whose performance we were enjoying. Suffice it to say that the children we saw held their own quite well. The dueling aria performance between Lisa Baker in the role of George Banks’s old nanny, Miss Andrew, and Mary Poppins (Mills) was by far one of the highlights of the evening.

Another highlight for us was the full-cast rendition of Chimney Sweep Bert’s theme song, “Step in Time” delivered with power, grand enthusiasm, and (practically perfectly) tap shoes! The high energy number was engaging and exciting, making good use of Meredith Boehme’s choreographic skills. In fact, this reviewer would have liked to have seen more movement like this throughout the course of the play, finding the times when the cast seemed to stand sqquarely in a line to sing or speak, typically during scene changes, far less engaging. We also very much enjoyed the flights of fancy (see the play) experienced by Poppins (Mills) and, particularly Bert (Slusher), who took aerial dance to new heights for host Harbison Theatre.

Having prepped for this performance by watching both the 1964 film Mary Poppins and the 2018 Mary Poppins Returns, my co-reviewer and I agreed that the performance was a success, with her one exception: the songs do not appear in the same order as those in the film do and the storyline is slightly different. Not better or worse, just not the same. As the well-designed program tells us, this musical is based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Disney film. Original music and lyrics are by Richard and Robert Sherman, with the book by Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes (2004) and new music by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Cameron Mackintosh was a co-creator. For my part, I found the diverging storyline to be meaningful and lovely. Where the original films ask the viewer to assess the relationship between a father and his children, the contemporary story looks more closely at how damaging the absence of a close relationship with one’s parent can be by examining George Banks’ (Thompson’s) upbringing by the iron-fisted Miss Andrew. Similarly, this iteration shows us the unhealthy results of traditional gender roles in the home by looking deeper at a socially-constructed weakness in George and Winnifred’s (Akly’s) marriage.

That said, we both enjoyed the performance immensely and felt pride in Chapin Theatre Company which is, literally, our local theatre, and we highly recommend readers book their tickets now lest they miss the opportunity to see this watershed moment in a theatre company’s growth and history.

Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical runs through July 26th with shows on some days at 3 pm and on others at 7:30. Check the website for tickets and times. 

Announcing the Cast of DK Turner's 2026 JASPER Play Right Project Winning Play, THE COUNTING TABLE!

MARILYN MATHEUS

Jasper is excited to announce the CAST of DK Turner’s 2026 Jasper Play Right Project Winning Play,

The Counting Table.

MARILYN MATTHEUS as MAMA RUT

BONITA PEEPLES as NADINE

SAMUEL MCWHITE as CURTIS

TASHERA PROVATO as NIA

MICHAEL "MYKKEL" WRIGHT as JEROME

Directed by Jocelyn Sanders

Mark your calendars for Sunday September 13th at CMFA for the Premiere Staged Reading of DK Turner’s The Counting Table, followed by a family style meal inspired by the dinner featured in Turner’s play.

Or join us this Sunday and everyother Sunday for 4 sessions as a Community Producer for exciting conversations & insights, lovely drinks & snacks, YOUR NAME in the playbill and the PUBLISHED book, reserved seating at the premiere, free post-performance dinner, and so much more!

DK Turner - Playwright, The Counting Table

REVIEW: Trustus Theatre's URINETOWN - THE MUSICAL

by Beth DeHart

If Saturday Night Live’s effete city correspondent Stefon Meyers reviewed Trustus Theatre’s production of Urinetown: The Musical, which opened last weekend, he might say something like, “This show has everything! A flawless live band, cartoon-level physical comedy, eye-rolling puns, an adorable unparented little girl, a strangely parented big girl, and a set that is both dirty and clean at the same time… You don’t want to miss it!”

And he’d be right!

Urinetown: The Musical – a name that is already intriguing – is a Tony award winning musical written by Greg Kotis with music by Mark Hollman. It debuted on Broadway in 2001 and is set in a dystopian fictional town severely impacted by a 20-year draught. The antagonist is the for-profit business, “Urine Good Company,” whose tagline is, “We care where you go.”  The primary conflict of the story is that in response to the oppressive draught conditions, “Urine Good Company” established public restrooms which require payment – tariffs – for community members to use the amenities. The story is a cautionary Eat-the-Rich revolutionary tale about overuse of critical resources like water. But for the punsters out there, the puns alone are a good enough reason to see the show.

The play is directed by Dewey Scott-Wiley whose fingerprint is notable throughout – slow motion moments, consistent meaningful business, believable and entertaining characterizations – all bring this satirical story to life. The audience is engaged throughout by the visual, musical, and physical presentation of the creative script. Kudos also to Sheldon Paschal for her additions to the show as Assistant Director.

The cast features 21 actors who use the space of the set quite effectively - a credit to Ashley Jensen, Scenic Designer, who establishes both horizontal and vertical interest on the stage. The set is not fussy; it’s built to depict the desperation of the moment and to make scene changes happen as efficiently as possible. Kudos to Marc Hurst for lighting design that supports this minimalist set. Hurst’s Lighting, alongside Sound Design by Jacob Olano with Sound Engineer Matt Pound, were all excellent. “The Band,” conducted by Ayush Joshi, is hidden in the rafters, allowing tiny glimpses of movement which is fun for the audience.

Cast members Jonathan Monk, Kevin Bush, Lauren Roberts, and Dayna Arnett made the audience look particularly forward to their characters’ distinct moments in the spotlight. A younger cast member who also carried the story along beautifully was Te’Jah Beaton as Little Sally.

Several Urinetown team members are currently in the process of studying various theater-related skills, including acting, musical theater, stage management, and theater technology and design. The energy these cast and crew members bring to the production is notable. Olan Domer as Bobby Strong and River Dively as Hope Cladwell also add believability and heart to the performance. In the dance department, Daniel Mason, in the role of Hot Blades Harry, is a stand-out!

A couple of elements that detracted a bit from the otherwise excellent quality of the show included some questionable casting choices and dance performances. Some of the older character roles are played by much younger actors, which requires the audience to work much harder to suspend their disbelief and fully engage in the show. While most of the performances remain completely believable throughout, a few were, sadly, unconvincing.

Overall, Trustus Theatre’s production of Urinetown is well worth the price of the ticket. The production is yet another example of the excellent quality of local theater available in Columbia, SC.

Grab your tickets and empty your bladders… You’ll be happy about both!

~~~

(One recommendation: It could be argued that an opportunity was missed by not charging audience members a fee to “pay to pee.” Not only would this have reinforced the message of the play, it also could have served as a real-time fundraiser for Food Not Bombs, the non-profit being supported by the show.) 

Urinetown: The Musical runs June 19 - July 19, 2026. Tickets are available at Trustus.org or the number on the poster above.

Jocelyn Sanders is the Jasper Play Right Project Director for DK Turner's Winning Play - The Counting Table! Become a Community Producer TODAY

Jasper Welcomes the Esteemed Jocelyn Sanders to the 2026 Play Right Project!

Jocelyn Sanders has been involved in the theatre for most of her life after graduating from Columbia College where she majored in theatre. While employed with Lander College, Jocelyn connected herself with the Abbeville Opera House as an actor and lighting designer. At Lander College, she performed in several productions with the Lander College Players. Jocelyn moved to Henniker, New Hampshire, accepting the position of Director of Educational Media at New England College. There she performed with the NEC Players in several productions, the most memorable as Mother Superior in THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES. Jocelyn also did lighting design with the Concord Playhouse.  

Upon her return home, she connected herself with Trustus Theatre where she was a company member, Box Office Manager, actor and eventually directing at Trustus. Some of her most memorable productions while at Trustus were, THE NO PLAY, THE COLORED MUSEUM, HAVING OUR SAY and CROWNS.  

Jocelyn was invited to direct A LESSON BEFORE DYING at Workshop Theatre. Jocelyn has directed over twenty productions since then and she is also Vice President of the Board of Trustees. Some of her most memorable productions at Workshop are, CAROLINE OR CHANGE, WILD PARTY by Andrew Lippa, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE COLOR PURPLE (twice), and KINKY BOOTS. In 2023, Jocelyn was inducted into the South Carolina Theatre Association's Hall of Fame.

She is honored to have been asked by the Jasper Play Right Project to direct the reading of this wonderful play, The Counting Table, by DK Turner.

Become a Community Producer and Be a Part of this Exciting Project by Clicking here!

REVIEW: Spoleto Festival USA Presents The Old Maid and the Thief by Gian Carlo Menotti

By Cindi Boiter

What a surprise and delight it was on Memorial Day to settle into the pews of Charleston’s historic Dock Street Theatre for the comic opera, The Old Maid and the Thief, and see Columbia’s own Patti O’Furniture addressing the audience in the role of the emcee! Maybe it was seeing  a beloved South Carolina icon on the stage, maybe it was the intimacy and familiarity of the theatre, or maybe it was a combination of both along with the humor and easily read superscripts, but for this reviewer, The Old Maid and the Thief offered up the coziest opera production I have ever experienced.

A one-act radio opera written by Pulitzer Prize winning composer and Spoleto Festival USA founder Gian Carlo Menotti when he was just 28 years old, The Old Maid and the Thief was first performed for NBC Radio by the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1939 and adapted for the stage in 1941. Rife with stereotypical characterizations, one has to temporarily suspend one’s sense of social consciousness to thoroughly enjoy the performance and, luckily, this isn’t difficult to do at all. The characters in this production are as comical as they are talented, performing downstage on and off of a raised platform in front of members of the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, directed by Timothy Myers. The presence of drag maven Patti O’Furniture cross dressing in an exquisitely tailored brown steampunk suit also reminds the audience that even though the characters are dated and the action is set more than eighty years ago, this is still 2026, even in South Carolina.

There are four main characters in the opera in addition to Patti: Miss Todd, an unmarried woman, played by mezzo-soprano Katharine Goeldner; Bob, the thief played by baritone Efrain Solis; Laetitia, Miss Todd’s maid played by soprano Rachel Blaustein; and Miss Pinkerton, Miss Todd’s also unmarried neighbor, played by mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams. While this reviewer does not have the credentials to authoritatively review opera, I can report that the vocals were beautiful  to my relatively untrained ears and the two arias performed by Blaustein and Solis gave me chills.

As an unexpected treat for this production, the role of the Foley Operator is elevated as the technician resides in a glass booth downstage left providing the audience visual access to the sound effects required for live radio performances. Two supernumeraries keep the action flowing onstage with hilarious choreography and prop placement meant to cleverly mimic certain actions, like the passage of scenery as characters walk down the street or pile into an automobile together. As the emcee, Patti O’Furniture announces a brief preamble to each of the fourteen brief scenes, proving that in addition to being an excellent public speaker, she is completely at home on the stage whether she is dressing her fellow performers from an ill-placed clothes rack downstage right or joining in the choreography with the rest of the cast. (Note: The position of the clothes rack blocking  the musicians and many of Patti’s entertaining antics is my only complaint about this performance.)  

Expertly directed by Daisy Evans with set and costume design by Walt Spangler and lighting by Jacob Wiltshire, The Old Lady and the Thief will be performed once more during the 2026 festival, on Friday evening, May 29th at 5:30 pm. If you’re not sure whether you enjoy opera or not, or even if you think you don’t but you know you enjoy a performance featuring hilarious physicality combined with impressively executed vocals and a unique narrative delivery, this is a performance for you. Or if you, like this reviewer, get a kick out of witnessing a beloved member of South Carolina’s arts community take on a new challenge and absolutely crush it, The Old Maid and the Thief is not to be missed.

For Tickets to This and Other Spoleto Festival USA Performances visit SpoletoUSA.org

Cindi Boiter is the founder & executive director emerita of the Jasper Project and the editor of Jasper Magazine