About Last Night - A Magical Evening of New Theatre & Unique Visual Art with Chad Henderson & Nate Puza

L to R: Jon Tuttle - PRS director, Chad Henderson - playwright, Marybeth Gorman Craig - director, Kayla Machado - very pregnant actor, Libby Campbell - actor & Jasper Project board member, G. Scott Wild - actor

Last night was a wonderful night for the Jasper Project as we were privileged to celebrate two artists from two different disciplines at Harbison Theatre for a double dose of Jasper goodness. We opened the evening with a reception for our featured visual artist in the Harbison Theatre Gallery, Nate Puza and ended it with the premier staged reading performance of the 2024 Play Right Series winning play, Let It Grow by Chad Henderson.

Visual Artist Nate Puza offers and artist talk at the opening reception for hi exhibition at the Jasper Project’s Harbison Theatre Gallery

Nate Puza is a South Carolina based artist, designer, and illustrator with over a decade of experience working with some of the biggest bands and brands in the world including Jason Isbell, the Avett Brothers, Chris Stapleton, Phish, and more. Internationally known for his meticulous attention to detail and high level of craftmanship, Puza created the new design for the Columbia, SC flag. When not creating art for your favorite band Nate can be found playing music with friends, being outside, wrenching on his motorcycle, mowing the lawn, or drinking a beer on the back porch.

Chad Henderson is a professional theatre artist from South Carolina. He is known for directing contemporary plays, musicals and original works that mix music, movement, imagination and invention to create unforgettable works for the stage. Henderson served as the Artistic Director of Trustus Theatre (2015-2021) in Columbia, SC, and is the current Marketing Director for the South Carolina Philharmonic, where he most recently produced Home for the Holidays at Koger Center for the Arts. Selected Trustus Theatre credits include: The Brother/Sister Plays, Green Day’s American Idiot, Evil Dead, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Last 5 Years, Assassins, The Great Gatsby, Next to Normal, and The Restoration’s Constance - an original musical for which Henderson also authored the book.

Libby Campbell and David Britt on the stage for Let It Grow!

L to R: Libby Campbell, David Britt, G. Scott Wild, Kayla Machado

Jasper expresses our sincerest appreciation to Kristin Cobb, executive director of Harbison Theatre at MTC and her team for welcoming us into their home and supporting our mission. Check out all the exciting performances coming up at Harbison theatre here and support this state-of-the-art performance space the way they support the SC Midlands performing artists!

Kristin Cobb, executive director - Harbison Theatre at MTC welcomes the crowd.

SEPTEMBER 14th -- A Double Dose of Jasper

Mark your calendars for the evening of Saturday, September 14th, after the LSU/Carolina game, to come out to Harbison Theatre for a double dose of Columbia Arts. Help Jasper welcome renown graphic artist Nate Puza to the walls of our Harbison Gallery with a free drop-in opening reception starting at 6 pm. Enjoy meeting Nate and hearing about his art, sip a little something, have a little snack, and chat with friends until 7:30 when the curtain rises on more new art coming out of Columbia, SC!

Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson, winner of the Jasper Project’s 2024 Play Right Project series, will premiere as a staged reading  and offer us the right to say I saw it first when it inevitably moves on to other stages near and far. Directed by Marybeth Gorman Craig, and starring Libby Campbell-Turner, G. Scott Wild, Kayla Machado, and David Britt, Let It Grow is a sweet and poignant comedy that looks at the expectations we share about family-like relationships, what happens when players outside of those relationships insert themselves, and PLANTS! The Play Right Series is administered by SC playwright Jon Tuttle and is in its fourth cycle of midwifing new theatre art onto the stage exclusively from South Carolina playwrights.

Previous Play Right Series winning plays include Sharks and Other Lovers by Randall David Cook, Moon Swallower by Colby Quick, and Therapy by Lonetta Thompson. Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy will be fully produced by the NiA Company August 29, 30, 31st at the Trustus Theatre Side Door Theatre and Jasper strongly encourages you to come out and support this new art, too! Tickets for Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy are here.

 

NATE PUZA OPENING RECEPTION

6 PM – FREE

 

LET IT GROW by Chad Henderson

7:30 pm -TICKETS

 

And while we have you, check out Harbison Theatre’s exciting calendar of events for 2024 – 2025 including Ensemble Eclectica on August 24th, South Carolina’s own singer-songwriter Cody Webb on September 6th, and The Box Masters featuring Billy Bob Thornton with opening act The Capital City Playboys, Friday October 18th!

Announcing Harbison Theatre's 2024-2025 Season of Performances & Tickets for Jasper's 2024 Winning Play Right Series Premier Staged Reading -- Chad Henderson's LET IT GROW -- are Available now

Support new South Carolina theatrical art by purchasing your tickets to Chad Henderson’s 2024 Play Right Series winning play LET IT GROW, September 14th at Harbison Theatre today!

As a double bonus, you’re also invited to the opening reception for Nate Puza, Jasper’s featured artist in the Harbison Theatre Gallery on the same evening at 6:30 pm, prior to the staged reading of LET IT GROW at 7:30 pm. Nate Puza will also be featured as the cover artist for the fall 2024 issue of Jasper Magazine, releasing on Sunday September 22nd with a free party at One Columbia for Arts & Culture’s 1013 Duke Avenue Co-op Space.

And while you’re at the Harbison Theatre website, check out all the other exciting performances Kristin Cobb and her Harbison Team have in store for 2024-2025. Among the shows we’re most excited about are:



Billy Bob Thornton & The Box Masters

with Columbia’s own Capital City Playboys

October 18th




Mother’s Finest

March 1st, 2025



Tickets to all events are available at Harbison Theatre.

Click Here for Tickets to LET IT GROW

Announcing the Cast & Crew of Chad Henderson's Let It Grow -- Jasper's 2024 Play Right Series Winning Play

SAVE THE DATE

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

The Jasper Project is delighted to announce the cast for the premier staged reading of our 2024 Play Right Series winning play, Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson.

The performance will take place on Saturday, September 14th at 7:30 at Harbison Theatre. The evening will also feature the launch of the book, Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson, the 4th original play for the Play Right Series, and the third manuscript we’ve published and registered with the US Library of Congress. (It’s important to Jasper that we preserve for posterity as much of the art coming out of South Carolina as possible. )

Now, onto our cast.

LIBBY CAMPBELL-TURNER

We couldn’t be more excited to announce that Libby Campbell-Turner will lead the performance in the role of gardening talk show creator and host, Mary Lily.

Libby Campbell-Turner has worked in theatre (regional, professional, and community) for a number of years. She is currently a litigation paralegal with a law firm here in Columbia. (She was forced to seek out "normal" employment once she aged out of ingenue and district attorney roles.) She has also worked in television and film. In fact, she just received a royalty check for her work in Robbie Benson's  1990 rom-com film, Modern Love, and says “That 3 cents will go a long way toward paying off my credit card debt.” (Libby also loves shoes.) Libby works with the Jasper Project as its Theatre Editor for Jasper Magazine and is a member of our board of directors. She was most recently seen on stage in Death of a Salesman.

G. SCOTT WILD

G. Scott Wild will be playing the part of Christophe, a celebrated author, and a new panelist on Let It Grow.

A graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of acting, Scott has been around the Columbia theatre scene for many years now. He was last seen on stage in the Trustus production of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winning Fairview. 

DAVID BRITT

David Britt will be playing the part of Jeb, a long-time panelist on the show.

Britt is in his18th year in the UofSC Dept. of Theatre and Dance. Directing credits at UofSC include Spinning into Butter, Proof, Becky Shaw, A Piece of My Heart and Of Mice and Men. At Workshop Theatre here in Columbia he has directed Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound and Jake’s Women. He also performed in Workshop's production of Barefoot in the Park… see a pattern? David appeared on stage at Theatre South Carolina in Measure for Measure, A View from the Bridge, Bus Stop, Dancing at Lughnasa, Legend of Georgia McBride and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He is from Raleigh, NC, where he appeared in more than 30 roles. He has trained at the New Actors Workshop in New York City and at the world-renowned Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA, and also completed the Second City Comedy Improvisation Boot Camp. David is a member of SAG/AFTRA. 

KAYLA CAHILL MACHADO

Kayla Cahill Machado will be playing the part of Charlotte, a panelist and co-producer of Let It Grow.

Machado is a Jersey-born writer and actor who lives in Columbia with her husband, Daniel; two-year-old son, Ben; and soon-to-be daughter, Harriet (and cat, Tate). She is a part of the Trustus Theatre company as well as The Mothers, most recently directing the group’s spring sketch comedy show. Acting credits include The Thanksgiving Play (Logan), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Rachel), Silence! The Musical (Clarice), Rock of Ages (Regina), The Rocky Horror Show (Columbia), Godspell (Ana Maria), and The House of Blue Leaves (Corinna). She is excited for this chance to bring new work to life. 

MARYBETH GORMAN CRAIG

And Marybeth Gorman Craig will be captaining the ship as the director.

Marybeth Gorman Craig is an actor, director, intimacy choreographer, and text/dialect coach currently on faculty at the University of South Carolina in the Department of Theatre and Dance. A member of Actors' Equity Association, Marybeth has performed on local stages such as Trustus Theatre and UofSC, as well as at theatres across the country such as Arden Theatre Company, Walnut Street Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Hippodrome, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Lantern Theatre, Theatre Horizon, and 11th Hour. She is an advocate for consent and inclusion through her work as intimacy coordinator/director in professional and educational film and theatre projects, most recently this summer with Local Cinema Studios and the Texas Shakespeare Festival. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of South Carolina, and Bachelor of Arts from Temple University. Marybeth is thrilled to be a part of Jasper's Play Right project and is grateful to Jasper for all they do to support the arts in our community.

It’s not too late to support this new and original theatrical art by becoming a Play Right Series Community Producer or Sponsor. All the info you need is here!

Mark your calendars for Saturday September 14th at Harbison Theatre for the premier staged reading of Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson. Tickets will be available via Harbison Theatre and should be on sale soon!

YOU can help produce the Staged Reading of Chad Henderson's New Play LET IT GROW!

 
 

Are you the kind of person who always wants to know more about the art you experience?

  • Why did the playwright make their characters the way they did?

  • What was the director trying to accomplish by having an actor move across stage, turn their back to the audience, or break into dance?

  • How did an actor make me feel the way they did simply by turning their head?

If you have a passion for knowing more, understanding process, inspiration, and impetus, and seeing how a virgin play goes from page to stage, you are a good candidate for becoming a Jasper Project Play Right Series Community Producer.

As a Play Right Series Community Producer you will be a part of an elite team of art supporters who invest a modest amount of money in the production of our 2024 Play Right Series winning play — Chad Henderson’s LET IT GROW — to the staged reading phase of development.

If you are interested in becoming a community producer or sponsor email playrightseries@jasperproject.org



How does this work?

On select Sunday afternoons this summer you are invited to join with the cast, crew, and fellow Community Producers of Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson for an enlightening and entertaining session that pulls back the curtains of theatre development and illuminates how a stageplay goes from page to stage. Your first session (July 21st) will offer you a private viewing of the first step in a play production, the Table Reading – the first time the cast of Let It Grow will read their parts together.

Subsequent sessions will focus on essential ingredients in the production of a successful staged reading, such as the stage manager’s job; props, lighting, blocking, and sound; unique insights from the director; how the actors prepare for their parts; playwright perceptions from this year and past projects; and an invitation to the dress rehearsal. In addition to your invitation to gather with the cast and crew every Sunday in July, each session will also feature exciting snacks and beverages. And many more surprises each week!

Finally, you’ll take your reserved, best-in-the-house seats to a ticketed staged reading of Chad Henderson’s Let It Grow on Saturday September 14th at Harbison Theatre.

But there’s more.

Your name will be included as a Community Producer on programs, posters, press releases, and other promotional materials as well as in the perfect bound book, Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, published by Muddy Ford Press and registered with the Library of Congress, and you will take home your own copies of Let It Grow as a souvenir of your experience.

What is expected of Community Producers?

We hope you can make it to every exciting Sunday afternoon meeting, but we understand if you have to miss some. Each session will last from 90 – 120 minutes.

The financial commitment for a Community Producer is a minimum of $250 per person, but other sponsorships are also available and appreciated.

Our hope is that you will be so enlightened and inspired by this experience that you will become a diplomat of live theatre, fresh playwrights, and the Jasper Project and encourage your friends and colleagues to participate in live theatre themselves!




Play Right Series Levels of Engagement

Community Producer

$250.00

Invitation to attend all four PRS CP sessions on Sunday afternoons, July 21, August 4, August 18, and September 2024; reserved seats for you and up to 2 additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14th at Harbison Theatre; your name in the published (by Muddy Ford Press) version of the play, as well as in the program, and all promotional materials; a copy of the book, and a Jasper Project gift bag valued at more than $100

Actor Sponsor

$500.00

This level sponsors one actor and supports the Play Right Series. Your generosity will be recorded with distinction above that of  Community Producers in the published play as well as in all other promotional materials and you will receive all the benefits of 2024’s roster of Community Producers, two copies of Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, and an invitation for you and up to 4 additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14, 2024

Playright Sponsor

$1,000.00

This level sponsors the funding of the playwright and supports the Play Right Series. Your generosity will be recorded with distinction above that of Actor Sponsors in the published play as well as in all other promotional materials and you will receive all the benefits of 2024’s roster of Community Producers, six copies of Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, and an invitation for you and up to six additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14, 2024

Director Sponsor

$2,500.00

This level sponsors the director and supports the Play Right Series. Your generosity will be recorded with distinction above that of the Playwright Sponsor in the published play as well as in all other promotional materials and you will receive all the benefits of 2024’s roster of Community Producers, eight copies of Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, and an invitation for you and up to eight additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14, 2024

If you are interested in becoming a community producer or sponsor email playrightseries@jasperproject.org



2023 - 2024 Community Producer & Sponsor

Schedule of Events

 

Sunday July 21 – Introductions & Table Reading of Let It Grow

Join the Jasper Project and your cadre of Community Producers and Sponsors for our introductory session and the opportunity to be the first audience members ever to witness the Table Reading of Let It Grow. Snacks and adult beverages will be served at this and all sessions!

Sunday August 4 – The Art of Theatre Interactive Experience

Join Play Right Series director, Jon Tuttle for an informative opportunity to participate in and learn more about the playwrighting and rehearsal process. Also, drinks and snacks!

Sunday August 18 – Sneak Peek at Rehearsal of Let It Grow!

Join Jon and all your fellow Community Producers and Sponsors as we become flies on the wall at an early rehearsal of Let It Grow. We love this opportunity because it offers attendees an insiders’ glimpse of the evolution of a play. You’ll also be able to ask questions of the actors and director about their unique and individual growth as artists. And, of course, drinks and snacks!

Sunday September 8 – Cast & Community Producer Informal Dinner Party

New this year! After meeting with our Play Right Series Committee and Chad Henderson, our winning playwright, we surmised that one of the best possible ways to learn about the creative process is by gathering around a table for a meal and experiencing the kind of discourse only a dinner party can provide. It won’t be fancy, but we promise it will be an evening you won’t forget!

Saturday September 14 – Staged Reading of Let It Grow at Harbison Theatre at 7:30 pm

Take your reserved seat for this premier performance, enjoy the Stage Reading and Panel Presentation featuring previous Jasper Project Play Right Series winning playwrights, then join us all for a casual after party (cash bar) at the British Bulldog Pub.

And please join us before the staged reading at 6:30 for the opening reception of award-winning artist Nate Puza’s visual art exhibition at the Jasper Gallery Space at Harbison Theatre. Puza is a South Carolina based artist, designer, and illustrator with over a decade of experience working with some of the biggest bands and brands in the world, including Jason Isbell, the Avett Brothers, Chris Stapleton, Phish, and more. Internationally known for his meticulous attention to detail and high level of craftmanship, Puza created the new design for the Columbia, SC flag. When not creating art for your favorite band, Nate can be found playing music with friends, being outside, wrenching on his motorcycle, mowing the lawn, or drinking a beer on the back porch.