Editorial
Front Page - Friday, July 23, 2010
River City Roundabout
Bathe in the shade
Erica Tuggle
The Leap of Faith production of “110 in the Shade” will have the audience sweating over the fates of the crew of kooky townspeople they meet. From the headstrong words of Lizzie Currie, to the girlish giggle of Snookie, this show provides laughs and meaning about what it is to “be yourself.”
- Erica Tuggle
Leap of Faith Productions has done it again, and skillfully reassembled a Broadway play in a few short months. This time their production is the appropriate summer piece, “110 in the Shade.”
This tale takes place “a while ago, in the mid-West,” and involves a small town of people that are quirky, old fashioned and full of gossip. Their most popular talk about town seems to stride neck and neck between Sheriff File as a divorced man and Lizzie Curry as an aging woman who can’t seem to wrangle herself a man.
Throughout the story, the cast of eccentric characters drives the emotion of the play. Jimmy Curry is Lizzie’s good-naturedly farm-boy brother, who is flirting with danger in the form of his red cowboy hat wearing love interest, Snookie. Lizzie’s other brother Noah is cynical and jaded, and at some parts of the play, I wanted to stand up and shake my fist at him for being so ornery.
The drought these folks are facing is making things tense for the community when along comes Bill Starbuck, “the Rainmaker,” and he promises that with $100 (in advance) he will provide rain in 24 hours. The townsfolk heartily agree to this deal, with only the naysaying voices of Noah and Lizzie providing flak.
Needless to say, from here things get screwy. There are laughs and antics aplenty from Starbuck and Jimmy, and in-between this, Lizzie searches half-heartedly for someone to fulfill her simple dreams. Many themes, including self-love, forgiveness, happiness, and truth, are expounded throughout the show.
The cast did a wonderful job of bringing their characters to life. Nathaniel Garth plays the standoffish Sheriff that will be taught lessons by the Rainmaker Bill Starbuck, played by Terrance L. Wright. Jimmy Curry by Rudy Foster and Snookie by Samantha Greco bring the laughs as a pair of young lovers, whose actions produce a chuckle from those of us who have been in their shoes. Graduate student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in theatre, Adam Fulmer, performed magnificently as the character everyone loved to hate in Noah Curry. Last of all, Rebecca Clark, who is a music teacher at Nolan Elementary School, played the part of Lizzie Curry. She always wows in her performances with a stellar set of lungs to belt out any tune she encounters. Watching her grow as an actress has been a delight.
Needless to say, all these performers have great singing voices. That’s about the only category you can put them in together, because this troop is a diverse one. Students, a freelance book editor, a Realtor, a paralegal, and a deputy clerk in the Hamilton County Criminal Court are all on board. From the youngest participant, who’s entering third grade in the fall, to the retirees in the play, all are welcomed into the group and put on a fantastic, energy-filled production.
Blake Harris, a senior at UTC, a women’s study major, and a theatre minor, is the director of this play. He has also directed “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Schoolhouse Rock Live!” for Leap of Faith Productions. The first show I saw of his directing work was “The Rocky Horror Show,” for the Women’s Studies Department at UTC, where he also played a spot-on Frankenfurter. He will be directing [title of show], which opens Sept 10 at UTC.
Harris says, he proposed “110 in the Shade” as the summer production for several reasons, but mostly because of the beautiful music and strong storyline.
“I was intrigued by the journey of the character Lizzie Curry…We see a woman that begins to discover and take action against the strict gendered social roles that confine her, ultimately placing her in the position to choose what is best for her own life. It’s not all too often that we get to see such amazing and thought provoking work, especially in a musical,” he says.
He says that the difficulties and rewards of this show support one another in the sense that working through the difficulties was the most rewarding aspect.
“Watching the cast discover and understand the themes, and working with them to relay that to the audience, was an amazing experience,” Harris says.
The choices in casting of “110 in the Shade” was done as all Leap of Faith Productions have been done in their 16 years. Everyone who comes to rehearsal will participate in the play. For the winter play (this year’s will be the Manhattan Project’s “Alice in Wonderland”), the ages are restricted to middle and high school students.
“110 in the Shade” will run Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. until July 25 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. There is no charge for admission, but a love offering will be taken.
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