Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Vanity's Mockingbird Ready to Fly

Early Tuesday Morning — The cast and crew of the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird opens Friday at the Vanity Theater (122 S. Washington Street, Crawfordsville, IN). Through the hard work of two dedicated producers, an incredible lighting designer, an overworked costumer, the theater's managing director, and our 27 actors, this first-time director could not be more proud of the play that makes its Montgomery County premier Friday night.

Rehearsals have improved with every passing night. Brent Harris's lighting design is taking shape, and his side kick, Henry Swift, are creating a stunning visual environment. Chris Amidon's costume picks take us back to 1935 and rural Alabama. With all of those pieces in place, the cast is breathing life into the words and our audiences will be the beneficiaries of ego-free collaboration among people who just two months ago barely knew one another, but today stand as a galvanized ensemble.

I applaud them all for embracing the play's central theme of walking around in another person's skin; seeing things from someone else's perspective.

I also wish to thank Steve Charles for attending our rehearsals to document our work in photographs. I'll share a stack of them here.

But if you're reading for the first time, as many of you are, please read beyond the photographs; back up and see just how far we've come.

Join us our wonderful journey and plan now to get your tickets through the Vanity Theater Box Office. Call 765-362-7077 at any time or drop by the box office from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays to purchase or reserve tickets. The box office opens one hour before curtain each night. But you ought to reserve your tickets TODAY. Opening night is nearly sold out and tickets are going fast for the first weekend's shows.

Performances are at 8 p.m. April 15-16 and April 21-23; there is a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, April 17 with a talk-back session immediately following the show (approximately 4:30).

Sammie Amidon as Scout and Heather Olin as Miss Maudie

Trey Rogers as Dill, Sammie Amidon as Scout, Conner Smith as Jem 

Damon Lincourt as Atticus Finch


Damon Lincourt and Sammie Amidon

Damon Lincourt as Atticus, Deb Reed as Calpurnia, Matt Mayberry as Heck Tate

Damon Lincourt as Atticus Finch

Stephen Morillo as Bob Ewell

Alli Aldrich as Mayella Ewell

DeVan Taylor as Tom Robinson

Damon Lincourt and Sammie Amidon
Sue Rubner as Mrs. Dubose

Art Lang as Mr. Gilmer and Stu Weliever as Judge Taylor

Niki Hutson as Jean Louise Finch

Bekah Kirts as Helen Robinson

Jill Rogers as Miss Stephanie

2 comments:

  1. Greetings from Lawrence, Kansas! Our town is currently in the middle of our annual month-long "Read Across Lawrence" in which many of us read the same book at the same time, and then participate in related community events such as book discussions, lectures, and movie screenings. Coincidentally, the book for this year is "To Kill a Mockingbird." Our community theater is also performing "Mockingbird" and I wish I could travel to C'ville and see yours as well! The best I will be able to do is to ask my son (Liam Smith, Wabash '13) to go see it for me. BREAK A LEG, everyone!!!

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  2. You've made my day, Sarah! Thanks for writing.

    We've got 10-12 Wabash people involved in this show, and several local granting agencies have enabled us to purchase tickets for students studying the book. Some of the Malcolm X Institute guys from Wabash will be attending next week. We're very excited!

    Hope you'll tell Liam to say hello after the show.

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