See the "Mean Girls" Contest Enters Final Days

Observer Contest

It's the final day of the contest to see "Mean Girls" live production at the Fox in Atlanta Saturday.

There are three ways to enter.

1. Suggest a local business who would most benefit from advertising in the Anderson Observer

2. Suggest a ghost story with origins in Anderson County not already told by the Observer. So far we have done ghosts tales at the Chiquola hotel, Sullivan Building at Anderson College, Cemetary Island, the wolfman of Anderson and Hunter's store in Pendleton.

3. Suggest a story about someone in Anderson who is/has done great work in the community without getting much attention.

Enter here: contests@andersonobserver.com

The winner will receive two tickets to the July 23, 2 p.m. show of "Mean Girls" at the Fox Theater in Atlanta and a parking pass for the event.

Deadline for entry is July 22 at 7 p.m. Winner will be announced and notified no later than 9 p.m. July 22.

Brooks Center Selects Crews as New Executive Director

Observer Reports

Dr. Janice Crews has been chosen as the new executive director of Clemson University’s Brooks Center for the performing arts.

Crews will assume her new role Aug. 1.

“Clemson University has a remarkable reputation in higher education and the Brooks Center has impressive programming which immediately caught my attention,” said Crews. As executive director, she will oversee all fundraising efforts and help decide the Brooks Center’s artistic programming of more than 25-30 performances per season. The center also provides hands-on experiences for undergraduate students in the Department of Performing Arts. 

A native of Athens, Georgia, and a current resident of Clarksville, Tennessee, Dr. Crews has served as the Director of the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA) at Austin Peay State University since 2017

An oboist and music educator by training, Crews began her career as a public-school music teacher before pursuing graduate studies in music performance and a career in arts administration. She has led education outreach programs with both the Atlanta Symphony and Charleston Symphony Orchestras, and has acted as a consultant for arts organizations throughout the Southeast. Crews has also performed as a professional oboist throughout the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, and holds a DMA in Oboe Performance from Louisiana State University (2010), as well as a Master’s in Music Performance (2006) and a Bachelor’s in Music Education (2002), both from the University of Georgia. 

Crews will relocate to the Clemson area this summer with her wife Chelsy, 6-year-old son Sullivan and their dog, Clover.

"Moon" Shines Bright Over Buffalo in CLT Production

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The Clemson Little Theatre at the Pendleton Playhouse opened a fire hose of fun with their most recent production: “Moon Over Buffalo.”

The cast takes a deep dive in the playful misdirection of this play, which features a pair of road-worn stage actors who, in 1953, fear they are at the final stages of the sunset of their careers as they tour with their own company in Buffalo, N.Y.

George (Paul Hyde) and Charlotte Hay (Paula Doolittle) who have somehow decided that their small, failing touring company should tackle both “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Private Lives” on the same stage on alternate days in Buffalo, when a unexpected phone call offers one last shot at the Hollywood dream that has eluded the aging couple.

Hyde shines as George, from the embedded play-within-a-play scenes where he berates his cast for lack of enthusiasm, to the last act’s drunken antics that fuel action and laughs. Doolitte as the stagey Charlotte whose ambition always seems to override common sense is also just right. Charlotte finds that moving between acting and real life a bit challenging at times, and Doolittle is spot on. These actors are long-time veterans of the local theatre scene, and it shows, as their strong timing sets the pace for the play.

George is a philanderer, who got his much young cast member, Eileen (Caitlyn Herrington), pregnant, while Charlotte and the couple’s lawyer Richard (Paul Cappola) are repeatedly ready to leave together to start a new life.  

As the couple watches their personal lives erode along with their careers, their daughter Rosalind (Raine Riley) drops in for an unexpected visit to introduce her local weatherman fiancé Howard (Andrew Bishop), who is in awe of the celebrity of George and Charlotte.  

Rosalind, a former actress torn between her love for her parents and the harsh reality of where the theatre life has taken them, has one of the most hilarious moments of the play as an actress left waiting, alone, on stage for George who is more than a little late. 

Rosalind generated sustained laughter as her desperation grew. When George finally takes the stage in the wrong costume and reciting dialog from another play, she delivers one of the funniest moments of the play as the chaos that follows unravels the rest of the story, which centered around a promised visit from legendary movie director Frank Capra, who just might have dream roles for George and Charlotte. 

As Howard, Bishop finds the right groove in a more slapstick, over-the-top, role, by taking a low-key approach as a kind of sleepy version of Ted Baxter.

Meanwhile Charlotte’s near-deaf mother Ethel (Lynn Campbell), the costume manager for the troupe, has little use for George. Campbell, another stage veteran, brings life to the alternately bored-angry Ethel, rising above the occasionally dated jokes with a fine subdued energy.

As Eileen, Herrington finds the sweet spot as the clueless, crying ingénue who baffled George, infuriates Charlotte, and ultimately wins over Howard. Her weeping is a track which sends the male characters into chaos.

Paul Coppola is just right as the confused/lovestruck Richard who keeps Charlotte packing and unpacking to leave with him, much to the hysteric distress of George, to whom “Moon Over Buffalo” ultimately belongs.

Hyde’s George is asked to do just about everything but sing and dance, and he moves easily between dramatic, pompous confusion, scene stealing madness as Cyrano, to a Foster Brooks-like stumbling drunken rants and stumbles. 

I am uncertain how Will Nash Broyles pulled off the direction of this play, which is a series of fast-moving changes in action and storyline, but whatever he did it worked.

The final scene, which leaves open the hope of something better for George and Charlotte while conceding the possibility is probably another long shot, leaves the audience with a little hope for this crew of theatre misfits and their family. Perhaps they wished on the moon and found in each other what they really wanted. 

The Pendleton Playhouse remains one of the most comfortable venues for those attending local theatre productions, with excellent viewing angles throughout the theatre. “Moon Over Buffalo” ended Sunday, but their season is just beginning. For more information on future productions, visit here.

Market Theatre "Spelling Bee" is F-U-N

Paul Hyde/Anderson Observer

Everyone wins in The Market Theatre’s high-spirited production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

It’s a winning cast, winning production and winning experience for the audience.Please: Escobar Photography

Drew Whitley’s staging of “Spelling Bee,” a musical about the tribulations of awkward adolescence, is brimful of boisterous energy.

Jared Fricks is responsible for the tight music direction. 

And where else can you learn how to spell such dandy words as “capybara,” “acouchi,” “phylactery” and, of course, “vug.” (You never know when those might come in handy.)

The show, running only through Monday, is set in a school gymnasium where six middle-schoolers, along with a few people selected from the audience, compete in a spelling bee. They’re all desperate to win, but the show is really about young brainiac oddballs struggling with all the geeky emotional melodramas of the early teen years.

Among those youthful challenges: self-doubt, speech impediments, parental neglect and the enormous pressure to win.

Whitley’s direction and Mary Haley Thompson’s peppy choreography make this “Spelling Bee” a rambunctious affair. The musical, with music and lyrics by William Finn, offers a glimpse of the frantic energy that seethes underneath the organized proceedings of a spelling bee.

No surprise, then, that one of the big numbers is called “Pandemonium.”

All of the actors enthusiastically inhabit their roles. This is an ensemble show, but each actor gets a moment to shine.

DeAnna Gregory does a fine job as the lisping Logainne, who has to deal not only with a speech impediment but two bickering dads (or “dadths,” as she says). Gregory has one of the show’s funniest moments as she makes a plea (apparently off-script) for freeing Britney Spears from her conservatorship. 

Isha Pattanaik is poignant as the unloved Olive, whose parents are far away, physically or emotionally.

Christina Boothe nicely conveys the woes of the relentless overachiever Marcy.

Jonathan “Thor” Raines plays Leaf with the right amount of self-doubt, which Leaf tries to cover by being loud.

Matthew Quattlebaum is engaging as William, who spells with his “magic foot.” 

Noah Taylor is sympathetic as Chip, with his unfortunate attack of raging hormones. Taylor, the Market Theatre’s executive artistic director, is returning to the stage after a 10-year break.  

There are three adult characters in the show as well. DeBryant Johnson plays Mitch, a man helping at the spelling bee as a part of his court-ordered community service. Johnson is the show’s secret weapon, unleashing a soaring voice in “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor.”

Paige Whitman (as Rona) and Mark Cawood (as Vice Principal Panch) offer fine contributions as the adults trying to maintain order at the spelling bee.

One quibble: At Friday night’s performance, some of the words, particularly in the songs, were unclear. It’s uncertain whether that was a problem of diction, amplification or the venue. 

Theatergoers should note: The show contains some adult content, earning it a PG-13 rating.

For tickets to “Spelling Bee,” call 864-729-2999 or visit the website markettheatre.org.

Paul Hyde, a longtime Upstate journalist and English professor, writes about the arts for the Anderson Observer.

Mill Town Players The Red Velvet Cake War Starts Sept. 17

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The Mill Town Players kick off their new season Sept. 17 with the Southern-fried comedy "The Red Velvet Cake War."

In the play, three Verdeen cousins—Gaynelle, Peaches, and Jimmie Wyvette throw a family reunion in the middle of a tornado that leads to a series of mishaps and gossip in the small town of Sweetgum (just down the road from Fayro) and the eyes of Texas are upon them, as their self-righteous Aunt LaMerle is quick to point out. 

Will Ragland, director of the play and founder of the Mill Town Players said he has been waiting for two years to put this production on stage and promises an all-star line up of local talent. For tickets visit here.