2002 PRODUCTIONS

The Blue Ridge Community Theater presented our Act 3 Productions - Gallery Tour Performances to very responsive audiences in 2002:   Agnes of God; A Night In The Theater; A behind-the-scenes musical rehearsal of The Reach of Song and The Far Blue Mountains; Misery and Lettice and Lovage. 

We hope you were able to enjoy each of them.

The fifth and final Act 3 performance presented by Gateway Mountain Players was John Pielman's "Agnes of God". This play is a powerful drama, an intense psychological study, and an intriguing mystery. It forces three women to face painful life realities, as well as re-examine the meaning of faith and the commitment of love.

CAST:
Mother Superior - Elizabeth Hunt
Dr. Livingston - Lisa Lacy
Agnes - Ashley Suhar

DIRECTOR:
Barbara Cary

STAGE MANAGER:
Helen McMahon

LIGHTING/SOUND:
Louis Schubert

For our fourth  Act 3 performance, Gateway Mountain Players  presented Lawrence Casler's "A Night In The Theater", directed by Sonia Smith.  

Two couples, who are close friends, are at the theater to see 'Hamlet', their weekly dose of culture.  Walter with his love of the arts encourages the group (his wife Donna, her best friend Margaret and Margaret's husband, Stanley) to attend at least one cultural event per week.  

As the play unfolds, we see some of the most obnoxious behavior and hilarious chatter ever to drown out the performance.  The undertones of their shared evening build,  and we learn secrets about the couples and watch as relationships unravel. 

This production was dedicated in Memory of Delores "Dee" Luckett, founding member of the board of directors of Gateway Mountain Players.

CAST:
Walter - Rex Smith
Donna - Linda K. Davis
Margaret - Betty Ratcliffe
Stanley - Michael Lacy
On-Stage Audience - Elizabeth Hunt, Dee Noegel, Helen McMahon, Anthony Jones

DIRECTOR:
Sonia Smith

ASST. DIRECTOR/PRODUCER:
Michael Lacy

LIGHTING/SOUND:
Pam and Craig Lindsey

For our third Act 3 performance,  on June 1st  Gateway Mountain Players  hosted a "behind the scenes" music rehearsal of  "The Reach of Song" and  "The Far Blue Mountains", presented by the Southern Appalachian Stages.   The Executive Director is Phil Albert and the Artistic Director is Sharon Albert. 

Southern Appalachian Stages will present "The Reach of Song" and "The Far Blue Mountains" June 21-August 16 at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia.  

The second of the Act 3 performances by the Gateway Mountain Players was "Misery", a  Steven King thriller, presented on May 4th and May 11th.

Paul Sheldon, author of the best-selling series of romance novels "Misery", doesn't remember the blizzard that caused his car to go spinning off the road. Neither does he remember being rescued and nursed back from unconsciousness. Paul Sheldon awakes to excruciating pain from a dislocated pelvis, a crushed knee and two shattered legs. He is greeted by Annie Wilkes, who introduces herself as a nurse and his "Number One Fan". 

But when Annie learns that Paul has killed off Misery Chastain in his most recent novel, she becomes driven--using any force necessary--to have Misery brought back to life. Wheelchair bound, held prisoner in a locked room, provided with a typewriter and a ream of paper, Paul doesn't have much choice. He must literally write for his life. However, writers have their weapons . . . 

CAST:
Annie Wilkes - Shannon Fleeman
Paul Sheldon - Steffen Smith

DIRECTOR:
Mike Fleeman

LIGHTING/SOUND:
Louis & Sandy Schubert

PRODUCER:
Patricia Webb

                                         Lettice & Lovage   

The first of the Act 3 performances by the Gateway Mountain Players was "Lettice and Lovage", presented  on April 6. The presentation of this Peter Shaffer comedy was a staged reading using minimal props and costuming.

Lettice Duffet, an enthusiast of history and theatre, lectures as a tourist guide at Fustian House - one of the least stately, least interesting of Britain's stately homes. Lettice begins to romanticize the story of its historical past; and as time progresses, her lecture grows in theatricality and romance, as it strays further and further from the truth.

Soon, this becomes of grave concern to Lotte Schoen, an inspector from the Preservation Trust, who is not at all impressed or entertained by Lettice's uninhibited "history lessons". Lettice is dismissed from her position; but gradually, Lotte becomes fascinated by Lettice's unusual past and her romantic world-view, her refusal to accept the mediocre and the second rate. Eventually, the two women become bosom buddies, and forge an alliance to awaken their fellow citizens from the dreariness of their lives.

CAST:
Lettice Duffet - Sonia Smith
Lotte Schoen - Barbara Cary
Stage Manager, Barthold the Lawyer, Secretary, Felina-Queen of Sorrows - Mike Lacy

DIRECTOR:
Dan Pruitt

LIGHTING/SOUND:
Louis & Sandy Schubert

PRODUCERS:
Mike & Shannon Fleeman