2003 PRODUCTIONS

The Blue Ridge Community Theater presented the following productions to very responsive audiences in 2003:  Della's Diner: Blue Plate Special; Dearly Departed; Bus Stop and Smoke on the Mountain.

We hope you were able to enjoy each of them!

Smoke on the Mountain

This musical play introduces the traveling/singing Sanders family.  Back home, they perform their traditional and bluegrass gospel songs for the members their Church.   The Pastor welcomes the family to the church, where their individual stories and beliefs are shared during the service. The audience participates as the church congregation.

Bus Stop--by William Inge

A raging snowstorm in March 1955 has stranded the passengers on a bus in a bus stop diner in a small Kansas town thirty miles west of Kansas City.  

Cast

Cherie - Lisa Lacy-Avery
Bo Decker - Tim Stanley
Elma - Sarah Alexander
Dr. Gerald Lyman - Michael Pruitt
Grace - Susan Wyman
Virgil - Jason Smith
Sheriff Will Masters - Dick Kelly
Carl - John Marsh

Behind The Scenes

Dan Pruitt - Director
Sonia Smith - Assistant Director
Michael Lacy - Producer
Betty Radcliffe - Stage Manager
Steve Martin - Set Design
William Marsh,Bill Jefferson, 
Nancy Johnson, Anna Carl,
Al Yeomans and Cindy Trimble - Set Construction
Elizabeth Hunt - Box Office Manager
Ann Kinnebrew & Aggie Downs - Costumes
Wanda Jefferson - Props
Linda Clabaugh, Ken Williams, Richard Scott 
and Chad Avery - Lights and Sound
Susanne Lee - Publicity
John Fritchie - Playbill Design
Patricia & Joe Webb - Playbill Ad Sales
Helen McMahon - Volunteer Coordination

Dearly Departed--by David Bottrell & Jessie Jones

The members of a Southern family named the Turpins are the central characters in this hilariously funny play . The kin of "Daddy Bud" Turpin--patriarch of the family--can't seem to come to grips with his passing, but they have got to plan his funeral. 

                                               The Characters

Bud Turpin – (an elderly man) Louis Schubert/Bill Alexander
Raynelle – (his wife) Betty Ratcliffe
Ray-Bud – (their son) Shannon Guinn
Lucille – (Ray-Bud’s wife) Sarah Alexander
Junior – (their other son) Louis Schubert/Bill Alexander
Suzanne – (his wife) Shannon Fleeman
Marguerite – (Bud’s sister) Sonia Smith
Royce – (her son) Mike Lacy
Delightful – (Bud and Raynelle’s only daughter) Ashley Messer
Reverend Hooker-Rod Chamberlain
Veda – (an elderly woman) Elizabeth Hunt
Norval – (her husband) Rod Chamberlain
Nadine – (a young woman) Ashley Messer
Clyde – (a friend) Rod Chamberlain
Juanita – (a cousin by marriage) Nancy Kmet
Merline - (wife of Cecil Depew, Funeral Director) Sandy Schubert 
THE JOY OF LIFE SINGERS - Mike Lacy, Betty Ratcliffe, Sonia Smith

Crew

Mike Pruitt - Director
Mike Fleeman - Stage Manager
Meyer Birnbaum - Producer

Lighting/Sound

Ken Williams
Pam Lindsey
Sandy Schubert

Della's Diner:  Blue Plate Special--Tom Edwards, book; Harris Wheeler, music; Mary L. Fisher, lyrics.

Mountain Life/Photographer: Margie K. Carroll

Blue Ridge Community Theater presented our first all-singing, all dancing country & western musical soap opera, Della's Diner: Blue Plate Special.  Blue Ridge Community Theater introduced to the uninitiated the seven characters of Della's Diner.  First, there is Della herself, the long-suffering owner of the diner whose murky past in a certain mid-Western city up north is so painful that she can't bring herself to utter its name; her daughter Ramona has followed in Della's longtime friend Connie Sue Day's footsteps and has become a country music star, just returning from her first appearance on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Meanwhile, Connie Sue-formerly Wanetta Sharon James and eventual owner of Connie Sue's Cut 'n Curl, Beauty on a Budget-has been in prison for having taken everyone at the diner prisoner to get publicity for her waning musical career. And Ricky Jim, who is Della's grandchild Joey's father and Ramona's first husband, is now married to Della, having recovered miraculously from the time the helicopter driven by Ronnie Frank Flaugher, Ramona's present husband, landed on Ricky Jim's service station. Finally, a mysterious stranger, Larry Finney appears, a stranger that seems to know everything about every... Well, you get the picture. Great country music, great dancing, great fun. 

Cast:

Front row L-R: Steffen Smith, Shannon Fleeman, Lisa Lacy, Pam Lindsey, Tom Edwards 
Back row L-R:  Michael Fleeman, Jason Smith - Photographer: Louis Schubert

Della Juracko - Pam Lindsey
Ricky Jim Robinson - Mike Fleeman
Connie Sue Day - Shannon Fleeman
Ramona Juracko - Lisa Lacy
Ronnie Frank Flaugher - Jason Smith
Preacher Larry Finney - Steffen Smith

Preacher Larry's Snakebit Band:

Photographer: Jackie Smith - Pictured Left to Right: