Around the Low Country
The Footlight Players 79th Season Is An Exciting Collection Of Brilliantly Written Productions
CHARLESTON, SC - July 26, 2010 - The Footlight Players 79th season may be the company’s best collection of productions to date. Ranging from rare compositions and state premiers to classic and all time favorites—Footlight Players 79th season will excite, enthrall and entertain patrons while emphasizing the talents and achievements of the community.
According to Executive Director, Jocelyn Jenkins, “We wanted The
Footlight Players 79th season to offer the community a variety of
productions. This season is an exciting collection of brilliantly
written productions that emphasize what The Footlight Players strives to
create—a preservation of the past with an emphasis on the future.”
Footlight Theatre, home to Footlight Players, is located at 20 Queen
Street in downtown Charleston and produces between eight and ten
productions per year marking the company as the most active community
theatre in the southeast.
Footlight Players 79th season kicks off on August 27th with the
production of Mark Twain’s long lost manuscript, Is He Dead? and
continues through May 2011 with the following lineup:
MainStage Series
Is He Dead? Written by Mark Twain, adapted for the stage by David Ives and directed by Greg Tavares.
Authored by Mark Twain in 1897, this play was discovered by Shelley
Fisher Fishkin and updated by David Ives. Jean-Francois Millet is a
brilliant but unrecognized artist who can't sell a painting to save his
life. With the help of his madcap bohemian friends, Jean decides to
stage his own demise to revive sales. However, in order to keep an eye
on his success, he re-emerges as his imaginary twin sister. Is He Dead?
is a hilarious piece that will have audiences laughing loudly enough to
wake the dead.
Performance dates for Is He Dead? are August 27–28; September 2–4;
9–11 at 8:00 p.m. and August 29th and September 12th at 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for students.
*Recommended age 17+
The Lion in Winter Written by James Goldman and directed by Evan Parry
Back stabbing, spying, and rampant infidelity—just a typical family
Christmas for the Plantagenets, England's royal family. This ingenious
drama pits King Henry II against his strong-willed wife Eleanor of
Aquitaine and their three heirs in the 12th-century struggle for love
and power. The winner of three Tony and seven Academy Awards, James
Goldman's historical comedy takes place in 1187, but is as timely as
today.
Performance dates for The Lion In Winter are October 1–2, 7–9, 14–16 at 8p.m. and October 10 & 17 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for students.
*Recommended age 15+
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin; book written by David Ives & Paul Blake and directed by Robert Ivey.
Direct from Broadway, the classic holiday movie White Christmas comes to
the stage at last in its South Carolina premier. This brand new musical
shines with classic Berlin hits like "Blue Skies," "How Deep is the
Ocean?" and, of course, the unforgettable title song, "White Christmas."
The story of two buddies putting on a show in a magical Vermont Inn and
finding their perfect mates in the process, White Christmas is full of
dancing, laughter and some of the greatest songs ever written. This
merry and bright theatrical experience is one that the whole family will
remember for years to come.
Performance dates for White Christmas are December 3–4, 9–11, 16–18 at 8 p.m. and December 5, 12 & 19 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $30 for adults, $27 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for Children 10 and under.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and directed by Henry Clay Middleton.
The intensely affecting drama chronicles how a financial windfall
touches the lives of an African-American family living in Chicago in the
late 1950's. A simple desire for a home of their own becomes the
touchstone of their integrity. This modern classic, remembered from the
film starring Sidney Poitier and most recently, Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs,
is an inspiring, moving and poignant tale that includes themes relevant
and as universal today as they were then.
Performance dates for Raisin in the Sun are January 28 & 29;
February 3–5; 10–12 at 8 p.m. and February 6 & 13 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for students, $10 for Children 10 and under.
Messiah on the Frigidaire by John Culbertson and directed by Don Brandenburg
The small town of Elroy, South Carolina is thrust into the evangelical
spotlight, when what seems to be the image of Jesus appears on a
refrigerator in a trailer park. The discovery sets into motion a frenzy
of conflict, communion and good old-fashioned commerce. When the
National Investigator turns the appearance into front-page headlines,
the trailer park becomes a Mecca for miracle seekers, soul searchers and
disciples with a decidedly political agenda. In an area where religion
is as much a part of life as grits and cotton fields, God surely moves
in mysterious ways.
Performance dates for Messiah on the Frigidaire are March 18 &19;
24–26 & 31; April 1& 2 at 8 p.m. and March 27 & April 3 at 3
p.m.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for students.
*Recommended for age 17+
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas music by Carol Hall; book by Larry L. King & Peter Masterson; directed by Robert Ivey.
Based on the true story of the Texas brothel known as the "Chicken
Ranch" this fun, tongue-in-cheek musical that features a country-western
score and brims with rousing chorus numbers and beautiful ballads.
Throw in a classy madam with a heart of gold, a hotheaded sheriff, an
evangelical television reporter (not to mention a championship football
team and a house full of beautiful women) for a down-home good time.
Performance dates for Best Little Whorehouse in Texas are May 6 & 7, 12–14,
19–21 at 8 p.m. and May 15 & 22 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $30 for adults, $27 for seniors, $20 for students.
*Recommended age 17+
Late Night Series
Tickets for our Late Night series are $10 on Thursdays and $15 for Friday and Saturday shows. All seating is General Admission.
The Weir by Conor McPherson and directed by Jo Ellen Aspinwall.
Set in a small tavern in rural Ireland, local men swap spooky stories in
an attempt to impress a young woman who recently moved into a nearby
“haunted” house. The tables are soon turned when she tells a tale of her
own and an innocent evening soon becomes a night of personal
revelation. Beautiful, devious and darkly magical, The Weir celebrates
old fashioned story telling and guarantees to serve up more than
chilling ghost stories about what goes bump in the night.
Performance dates for The Weir are October 28-30 & November 4-6, 2010 at 9 p.m.
Fat Pig by Neil LaBute and directed by Robbie Thomas.
How many insults can you hear before you have to stand up and defend the
woman you love? Tom faces just that question when he falls for Helen, a
bright, funny, sexy young woman who happens to be plus-sized—and then
some. Forced to explain his new relationship to his shallow (although
shockingly funny) friends, Tom finally comes to terms with his own
preconceptions of the importance of conventional good looks.
Performance dates for Fat Pig are February 24-26 & March 3-5, 2011 at 9:00 p.m.
For information on the 2010-11 schedule or to purchase tickets, contact
the Footlight Players box office at (843) 722.7521 or visit
www.FootLightPlayers.net <http://www.FootLightPlayers.net> and reserve your tickets online.
Footlight Players
