By Dean Poling
Hard to believe, but it is upon us again and soon.
Peach State Summer Theatre.
Even more difficult to believe? This will be PSST!’s fifth season.
In 2005, Valdosta State University Theatre brought its annual summer-theatre program from 15 years at Jekyll Island home to Valdosta and the VSU Fine Arts Building’s Sawyer Theatre.
Since Peach State’s first year, the program has grown. The General Assembly designated PSST! as the state of Georgia’s official musical theatre.
That first year set the tone. Peach State’s and VSU Theatre’s Duke Guthrie and Jacque Wheeler travel the region auditioning professional performers for PSST!’s shows. Throughout each summer, Peach State presents three shows in rotating repertory.
This season’s shows are “The Producers,” “Big River,” and “Once On This Island,” say H. Duke Guthrie, Peach State managing director, and Jacque Wheeler, Peach State artistic director.
The 2009 season starts June 5 with the opening of “Big River” followed by the June 19 opening of “Once On This Island” and the June 26 opening of “The Producers.” There are more than a dozen performances of each show, running through July 19.
THE PRODUCERS:
OK, originally, this was a non-musical 1968 Mel Brooks movie starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, then this movie became the basis for Mel Brooks’ smash, live Broadway musical starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, who then went onto create a movie version of the musical. But it was the live Broadway show that became a phenomenon, with its story of two con men who oversell what they are certain will be a Broadway flop (“Springtime for Hitler”) so they may profit. Funny lines, funny songs, funny characters. Also, adult language and themes which will make this show Peach State’s annual adult fare for 2009.
BIG RIVER:
Country singer Roger Miller hit upon a classic idea with this concept: Why not set Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” to music? Miller did, and “Big River” was the award-winning result. Featuring bluegrass and country music, “Big River” charts Huck and Jim’s journeys along the mighty Mississippi River.
ONCE ON THIS ISLAND:
Created by the same team who translated E.L. Doctorow’s book “Ragtime” into a musical, lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty retell Hans Christian Anderson’s tale of the Little Mermaid, with a wee bit of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” tossed in, all told in the French Caribbean. This is a one-act play of awesome power and magical thrills. Very much storyteller’s theatre, Guthrie says.
Since opening in Valdosta in 2005, Peach State has been working to become a stop for bus tours. Last year, a bus tour made a stop to see the opening night of “Ragtime.” PSST! hopes more bus tours come this season.
While Peach State has been busy the past several months planning the 2009 season and hiring actors, it has also been weighing the possibilities of the shows for the 2010 season.
The Scene’s sister publication, The Valdosta Daily Times, is the proud corporate sponsor of Peach State Summer Theatre. More information: Visit the Web site www.valdosta.edu/psst
