Guest blog by Em Imholz

Dolly Parton says that singing, entertaining and writing is her way of channeling her feelings and her thoughts, not just her own, but the things that she sees and the people she loves. She writes, “My head would explode if I didn’t get all of this stuff out!” This is the perfect description of how I feel about my love for music, why I create, the reason I keep singing and why I can’t wait to step on that stage. The excitement is intense, the familiar butterflies and my heart pounding like it’s about to leap from my chest. I’m about to do the thing that I live for, that makes me happier than any other thing. I’m about to do what makes me, me. I can hear the buzz of 1,700 people. The audience at the famous Celebrity Theater is just as excited as we are. It’s opening day at Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival. Our 18 member cast is about to bring to life a very unique version of A Christmas Carol for the very first time. I can’t believe I’m originating the role of Fan and Belinda Cratchit here. We are going to sing seven brand-new songs written by Dolly herself. I can hear the music for my solo and then I hear Dolly’s beautiful words coming from me. I’m thinking this is crazy. This is a dream. How did I get here?

That is what I was feeling two years ago and now I am experiencing my third Christmas here in the great Smoky Mountains. I just picked up my employee tickets for the private screening premier of Dolly’s new movie, Coat of Many Colors. I’m very excited to see it. The more I learn about Dolly, the more I feel we were a lot alike as kids. I would sing, dance, and entertain for anyone that would listen. I loved to teach myself to play instruments and write songs and cast my friends in my plays. Like her, I simply loved anything, everything, all things musical. It’s always been more than my passion, it’s my identity. It’s just who I am. When I read about Dolly as a child, she says the same kind of things.

When I was nine years old Shannon Willis Scruggs and Christopher McCroskey took a chance on a very inexperienced little kid and cast me as Jemima in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Town Theatre. That one chance changed the way I saw the world for good. It changed the course of my life and instilled a love for musical theatre in me that burns bright to this very day. I’ve since had the opportunity to do many shows at Town Theatre. Before rehearsals for each show, my Mom would tell me to soak up the other actors around me like a sponge. And that’s exactly what I did. I was blessed to learn from the very best actors and directors around. Such professionals as Shannon Willis Scruggs, Christopher McCroskey, Andy Nyland, Jamie Carr Harrington, Agnes Babb, Christy Shealy Mills, Rob Sprankle, Frank Thompson, Shelby Sessler and so many more. I have even been given the opportunity to tech backstage with Danny Harrington ~ one of the best. These people are my teachers and the Town Theatre stage is my classroom. I’ve taken many classes since Chitty Chitty Bang Bang but nothing has helped me or prepared me for what I’m doing now, more than the generous actors at Town. I will never be able to repay them for what they’ve done for me; what they keep doing. I realize that I have been truly blessed.

Every kid’s dream would be to do what you love in a theme park. Working at Dollywood is so surreal. During The Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival here, six different musicals all run at the same time. Each are newly arranged or originally written by Dolly and other artists from Nashville. Shows like Oh Holy Night, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Christmas in the Smokies and others run in separate theaters back dropped by 4 million dazzling multi-colored lights and hundreds of gorgeous trees and decorations. There are five roller coasters, more than in any other park in the world, with number six currently being built. You can smell traditional Christmas dinner cooking in the air and hear the laughter of children as they roast marshmallows and S ‘mores. You can hang out with Rudolph and friends at the Holly Jolly Junction and even see the big guy himself, Mr. Claus. From the lyrics of one of Dolly’s songs, it’s a hometown country Christmas. I think the park captures the essence of the holiday season. It’s not just about the beautiful trees and lights but about love and celebrating the traditional true meaning of Christmas. The park has won The Association of Amusement Park and Attractions coveted Golden Ticket Award for Best Holiday Event 8 years running. We always win Best Food and Friendliest Park and I just heard that our show, A Christmas Carol, has won Best Show for the second year. Our show uses state-of-the-art holographic technology to place Dolly and two other actors onstage as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. The show marks the very first time that this kind of technology has been used in a theme park anywhere in the world. After our Season concludes, I will have been in almost 500 shows; this year for the first time being cast as Belle, Scrooge’s fiancée. It’s a full-time adult role and I have a swing to give me a rest and a few days off. I’m doing traditional home school this year for the first time. It’s all hard to keep up with, but when it’s your dream you make it work. My Mom and Dad have made so many sacrifices to allow me to fulfill these dreams. My blessings really are endless and to be able to celebrate them for Christmas at Dollywood each year is just incredible.

I really don’t know where my love for all things musical will take me.  But I do know that when I look back, I’ll think of all the fun, encouragement and education I got at Town Theatre. If you get a chance, look for my plaque  on the wall at Town. Mom and Dad bought it for me after Chitty Chitty Bang Bang closed. It says, “This is where it all started.” And you know what? It sure was!

#DineAroundTown

Guest blog by Sharon McElveen Altman

Some songs are deeply embedded in your soul. Something happens in your day, and a song comes to mind – perhaps one you haven’t heard or thought of in years. In fact, I have a friend with whom we make that a game (to our husbands’ dismay), to see in our visit how many songs come to mind!

Examples: Let me see someone walking down the street in the rain with an umbrella, and – of course – I hear Gene Kelly’s sheepish “I’m singing in the rain.”  Or, when I’m about to burst with happiness, I hear him sing, “Gotta dance!” (although I can’t dance!)

Some movie scenes have a similar effect on me:  Let me walk in a room where the loveseat is in the open and like a child, I want to step on it and turn it over to see if I can keep my balance.

Being the Musical Director for Town Theatre’s production of Singin’ In The Rain has allowed me to share my love of this movie. I split my time between my homes in Lake City and Columbia, so seeing the cast now singing these classic songs with such energy and passion (even while dancing!), makes all the travel investment worthwhile.

So there I sit in the audience, just like you: wanting to sing along, and thinking how easy the cast makes it look to execute Joy Alexander’s impressive choreography; how as director, Allison McNeely makes me feel the need to help develop a solution for the ‘new talking picture’; wondering how Danny Harrington copes with a wet stage and questioning, does Lina’s (Shelby Sessler) voice really sound like that?!?

There are so many fun aspects to this production, and I always feel better and more lighthearted after leaving the show. I know you will, too. And I know what song will be in your head the next time you’re outside in the rain!

Sharon is enjoying her second year at Town. Musicals to date include Stand By Your Man, Always Patsy Cline, White Christmas and Sugar. She thanks Jerald (husband), Joye (daughter) and Carolyn (BFF) for their support of her crazy schedule between their Lake City and Irmo homes. Sharon invites you to worship with her at Spring Valley Baptist Church.

Guest blog by Parker Byun

In the Columbia community of theatre, participants come from a multitude of different backgrounds with a wide range of interests. When I step out of the acting world, I often do not realize that being a part of this community really makes me stand out!

I am now in my fourth and final year at the University of South Carolina, and my major is Geography with a Physical Geography track – this is the study of the physical earth, including landform and climate patterns. I plan to work in the field of weather and climate, and yes…this includes being a meteorologist! This past summer, I was a volunteer intern at the National Weather Service of Columbia, and I found it incredibly fascinating to learn the “behind the scenes” work for forecasting. Furthermore, it gave me a better understand and appreciation for the environment around us. I will never look at the weather segments on the news the same again.

While I was developing an unpredictable interest in Geography my first year of college, I KNEW I wanted to continue to work the stage. I demonstrated a mere interest for the stage when I accomplished my first play at eight years old, Don’t Drink the Water by Woody Allen, which some friends of ours put together. I portrayed the role of Kilroy—the tiniest Kilroy ever to be conveyed! A few years pass, and I begin chorus in middle school and high school theatre at Spring Valley High School where I began working with Allison McNeely. I participated in my first Town Theatre show in the Summer/Fall of 2012 where I was cast in The Music Man (directed by Shannon Scruggs). I felt at home with Town Theatre.

With this in mind, talking with my peers, supervisors and professors, the question is always asked, “What do you do for fun?” The answer is simple, I love performing! This answer seems to throw people off in one of two ways: either they never would have guessed I had any interest in the performing arts, or they never knew I would major in Geography because I exude a love for performing! Because the two do not correlate, the joke always comes up that I should be a dancing, singing meteorologist on live TV! To be honest, the gig doesn’t seem half bad!

Singin’ in the Rain is my eleventh show at Town Theatre and I could not imagine a better group of people to share the stage with. I reiterate the variety of the cast. There are some who have never done a show before, and some who have done shows for years. Nonetheless, when everyone is working hard, you would never guess this was the case! Everyone has had the ability to learn from each other and cooperatively work together to put on a memorable experience.

What particularly stands out about this show is that it deals with both weather and performing! (So why wouldn’t I absolutely love this show?) The Singin’ in the Rain aspect demonstrates that no matter how unfortunate a situation can be, or how you think you have hit rock bottom, you can always make joy and bring joy into a situation!

So, in spirit of the weather man who performs on stage, you can expect there to be singing, dancing and scattered showers throughout each performance! “Come on with the rain, I’ve a smile on my face, because believe me, you will leave this show feeling positive and refreshed!”

Guest blog by Ella Rescigno

What a summer! Now that I am back from 20 days in NYC, I can reflect on all of the wonderful things I was able to do this summer. My mom reminds me of a quote she loves,  “Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.”

Every single day of my summer was spent doing what I love.  I am passionate about singing and acting, I love dancing, I enjoy spending time with friends that love what I love, and I’m a dreamer. My family encourages my dreams and I am blessed by God to get to chase them.  I started my summer performing in my dream role, Jane Banks. You see, at age five I saw the Broadway production of Mary Poppins. I sat on a booster seat and cried as Mary left the children. When it ended I told my mom that I would be on that stage one day. Sure enough, Mrs. Shannon cast me as Jane Banks. It was a role that I will always remember and I am grateful for the opportunity. I spent time learning blocking, music and lines. I enjoyed meeting many new people at Town and got to spend my days at my favorite Columbia Theater.

For me, it all started at Town. I was five and joined Mrs. Jamie’s youth program. I was Oz in the Magical Land of Oz, young Cosette in Les Mis and Susan Waverly in White Christmas. Little did all the people surrounding me know that they were feeding my love and my hopes for the future. When I finished my last performance as Jane Banks, I flew out the next morning to begin rehearsals in my very first Off Broadway production of Dream Street.  I was cast in the lead role as Lily. Our plane landed, we raced to our driver, and he dropped me off at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.  For 12 days I spent 8-10 hours in rehearsals with one 30 minute break each day. And honestly, I just wanted more. The production lasted six days on 42nd Street and it was a dream come true for me. One step closer to living my dream.

Our plan was to be home one day before school started.  There are often things I don’t share, but I can share this one.  I got a call from my agent in NYC, Abrams Artists Agency. They asked me to stay and audition for a CBS TV series and an equity National Tour of White Christmas. I stayed for both and was called back the following day.  I felt great about both auditions and callbacks. Then comes the waiting. So many people ask me how I can wait and so often be told no. Unless you love it like I do, you may never understand. Auditions fill my soul, they fill me with excitement.  The preparation, walking into the audition room, performing for people I’ve never met and then letting the process happen. By the time you reach a final callback, it’s not about your talent or ability anymore. It’s about a look, or your size, or your hair color, or your height compared to adult actors being cast. So to answer the question about how I do it and hear “no” so often. Well, “no” means not right now to me. It’s never final. It means “close this door and look for the next one to open.” It means “you made it to a final callback and just didn’t quite fit at the end.” It means “this isn’t the right timing, this isn’t God’s plan for you.”

I am positive about my future, I have thick skin and BIG dreams. So in the meantime, I will train train train. I will sing, I will dance, I will take acting classes for stage and camera, and I will trust that God’s perfect plan and timing will reveal itself. My family and true friends support everything I do. I am surrounded by an incredible team of “trainers” and I have an agency that wants to represent me right into adulthood. But most importantly, this is what I love.  This is what makes me happy. What more could a theatre kid ask for!!

In your Kentucky Blue or Gamecock Garnet, we hope you’ll join us for a fun day of tapping and tailgating! Our Saturday, Sept. 12 show will have a 2:00 PM start time. After the show, we’ll have the Poultry in Motion food truck outside ready to fulfill your tailgating needs. Dine in our courtyard or grab your food and head to the football viewing spot of your choice! Kick-off is 7:30 PM and the game will be televised on the SEC Network so there will be plenty of time that day for a play, poultry and pigskin!

Grab 25 wings with tortilla chips and a pint of PIM’s “world famous queso” for $35. Need a little more? Grab 50 wings with tortilla chips and a pint of queso for $55. Need to feed a smaller crowd? No worries — some of PIM’s regular menu will be available too.

Get your tickets online at www.towntheatre.com! Poultry in Motion will take your order before the show and have your food ready to go after the curtain falls. (And we have to say it… Go Cocks!)

Guest blog by Caroline Quinn

I missed being in Town’s summer show with my theatre family this year – but I had an exciting summer adventure in Flat Rock, NC performing at Flat Rock Playhouse – the Theatre of North Carolina.  Flat Rock is a really neat mountain town founded by people from Charleston looking for a place to cool off during the summer.  Did I mention that it’s at least 10 degrees cooler there?

I first appeared at Town Theatre five years ago in Annie.  Shannon, the director, cast me as the youngest orphan, Molly, and she didn’t even complain when I showed up for the first read through with a terrible lisp from losing six teeth AFTER she had cast the show.  Since that show, I’ve considered Town Theatre to be my home, and I’ve been addicted to the stage.

At Flat Rock Playhouse this summer, I performed in Gypsy as Young Louise, the oldest daughter of the “stage mom” Rose Hovick.  Young Louise only appears in the first act of the show before being replaced by an adult actress.

At the start of the show, Young Louise’s mother focuses all of her attention on turning her younger sister Baby June into a star, which makes Louise feel pushed aside by her mother.  It was a very different role than anything I’ve ever played because I was supposed to be quiet and not very confident, and most of my past roles have been feisty characters.  My family and friends thought that one of Mama Rose’s first lines where she had to yell at me, “Sing out Louise!” was very funny.  Anyone who’s heard me belt will understand why that was so amusing to them. After June runs away to get married, Mama Rose wants to turn Louise into a star.  Louise became known as Gypsy Lee Rose, a very famous burlesque star.

I hope to have a successful career in musical theatre, so this opportunity to perform with professional actors, directors and crew who are actively working in the industry was amazing!  I made great friends and learned so much more than I thought possible.  My favorite things about being at Flat Rock Playhouse were working with professional actors like Klea Blackhurst, making new friends, and watching as tour buses line up on “the Rock” to bring groups in from neighboring states to see our show.  That would never get old!  On my days off, my favorite things to do in Flat Rock were hiking to the water falls, swimming in the river, and spending time with my biggest fan, my brother Trace.

I completed 32^nd performances, including 2 on my 12^th birthday last week, and started back to school the next day!  I was sad when the show closed, but will always remember this experience.  I know I’ve made some great life-long friends, but I’m also happy to come back to my Town family.

Guest blog by Christy Shealy Mills

I only intended to do the one show — Annie — in hopes of enabling my twenty-something- year-old son to meet new age appropriate friends. While his position as dance instructor/Tumblebus teacher had provided a multitude of new acquaintances, most of them were under the age of five.

I was delighted to make it into the ensemble, along with aforementioned son, as well as 12-year-old daughter, after the nerve-wracking audition with a theatre full of hopefuls of all ages. That spark set off a wildfire and we have been constantly making that one hour drive since walking into that sea full of theatrical strangers, many who have since become great friends.

I have watched with great and ever-growing admiration as one of those friends worked her magic on many cast mates during rehearsals for the ten musicals I have taken part in alongside her. Truth be told, at first it was with just a tinge of uppity-ness when I learned that SHE was the dance captain. I wondered what made her so special. It didn’t take long to figure it out. I have seen other new-to-Town Theatre dancers (especially dance teachers, who are used to being in charge) exhibit the same misguided attitude, although not outright and openly. One has to be tuned in to notice it.

As a dance teacher, I know how hard it is to correct a student without squashing their confidence or causing a bit of defensiveness. It takes just the right amount of gentleness combined with firmness, which is why Ag is the perfect dance captain.

Agnes Babb has exactly that right amount. She is the epitome of grace and tact, which she puts to good use when assisting actors, many with fragile egos. I have often observed how she says “hey, can we go over this step?” (yes, to me from time to time), when she really means “hey, you are doing this step wrong.”

Agnes would never utter those words, or anything that could be offensive, even if true, to a cast member. She accomplishes what needs to be accomplished and always leaves the subjects feeling more confident and certainly appearing more polished. Of course, I wasn’t there for the first 60-something shows she did at Town, so this ability to “fix” without offending could be a learned trait, but I believe it is an innate quality. Even when calling us to review before going onstage, it is never with an air of bossiness, which folks in any degree of leadership positions tend to possess.

To my way of thinking, a dance captain is like a drum major in a marching band. The job is to keep the morale high, keep them instep and often to run interference. Agnes does all this as if by second nature. She is one of the many reasons I think so highly of Town Theatre. Agnes Babb is just as gracious offstage as she is graceful onstage. I am thankful to Ag for helping us to always “Step in Time.”

Guest blog by Kerri Roberts

On the stage, the music begins, the story ignites with melody and lyrics, movement and nuances of character. The energy of the others there with me and those engaged from the audience thrills and drives me.  It fills me with a passion and satisfaction like absolutely nothing else.  I had almost forgotten.  It’s been a long time.  Like riding a bike it all came back to me, and I realized once again that this is what I was made to do.  But there’s been quite a journey since the last time I was here and I have quite a different perspective.

I can relate to George Banks when he sings, “A man has dreams of walking with giants; to carve his niche in the edifice of time.”  I know that feeling.  I had dreams of New York City.  I had a husband with a heart to go with me anywhere, to support my dreams.  We had a plan to pursue it.  And then we were surprised with our first sweet baby boy.  I knew in an instant that my dreams were changing, growing. That maybe in this life we get to chase many dreams – not just one.  And different dreams must take priority in different seasons of our lives.  And though I was still able to do a good deal of singing during that time and two shows at Town Theatre, (The Sound of Music and Beauty and the Beast), my priority was growing into my new role and experiencing new dreams as a mother.

In 2008, another new dream took our family to Zambia, Africa.  And we spent the next 7 years living and working there.  The things we saw, the people we served, the experiences we lived changed us for the better, forever.  For 6 of the 7 years we were there I didn’t sing at all.  I wrestled with who I was, with the significance of my life and my passion for music in light of the things I now knew about the world.  Then last year I had the opportunity to put together a series of opera and musical theater programs with 3 other American friends who were also living in Zambia.  For the first time in years I felt alive doing what I love the most.  And I realized the significance of it.  Joy.  In the faces of those who watched, privileged upper class and the destitute poor.  What I was doing brought joy, to me and to others.  In addition, doors opened for relationships to be formed that otherwise would not have been.  Those performances may not have changed the world, but they changed the atmosphere for those groups of people for that space of time, and I was so grateful.

Over this last year our dreams have expanded yet again and brought us back to the States.  In this new season in my life, I feel the overwhelming desire to pursue things that make me feel alive.  Not simply for my own joy, but because I get to help shape the dreams of the 5 little people entrusted to me.  This is why I decided to audition for Mary Poppins and why I’m so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this stellar production!  Not only have I had the chance to rediscover the absolute joy of being on the stage, but my husband and kids get to watch me do the thing I love most.  And because my 3 daughters are also in the show I’ve had a front row seat to watch them try something new, and love it too!  This is why our community theater is so important.  We need places like Town Theatre that give people like me the chance and the space to chase our dreams and to bring joy to the lives of others, right here in our own hometown!  I feel so blessed to be a part of Town’s family.

I don’t know how my dreams may develop, but here is what I’ve learned.  Maybe my life’s ambition is not to carve one niche in the edifice of time, but to use the gifts given to me to make at least small imprints on the lives of those I touch – my family, my friends, or audiences in a theater.  Perhaps the pursuit of one dream doesn’t have to mean death to all other dreams, but there are ways for one dream to actually fortify and strengthen other dreams!  We are all gifted in various ways.  May we all learn to look for the joy and be willing to expand and grow as our dreams change and take shape.  The smallest gift, when used to change the atmosphere of one life, for even a moment, creates a ripple that can change the world.

Guest blog by Betsy Jackson

Last summer my family was introduced to the theatre experience when my youngest child Nathan was cast as Michael Darling in Town’s production of Peter Pan.  Not knowing what we had gotten ourselves into is quite an understatement.  Right before our eyes something magical happened! I will never forget the way my heart felt, or the tear that dripped down my face when I saw the first full run of the show.  It is a feeling as a mother that will stay with me forever.  There Nathan was chasing his dreams without any fear of what was to come, and loving every minute of it!  I’ll have to admit watching the show made me a little jealous! I had always wanted to do something like that, but unlike Nathan I was afraid.  

From the lighting, the sets, the music,and choreography to the cast and crew, this show is one you don’t want to miss!  You can have a “Jolly Holiday” with Mary or “Step in Time” with Bert and his sweeps, but one thing’s for sure… You will leave feeling SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!