Starkville Community Theater invites students to spend an evening having a “toe-tappin’, hand-clappin’, bass-slappin’, banjo-ringin’, gospel-singin’ good time” at performances of the musical comedy “Smoke on the Mountain.”
The play centers on the Sanders Family Singers, a gospel group making its return to the music scene in 1938 after five years offstage. The group’s debut is to take place at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, a conservative establishment in rural North Carolina whose members don’t take kindly to a high-energy gospel concert taking place in their church.
“Things don’t go quite as well as (the Sanders Family) would have planned,” director Pattye Archer said.
A large portion of the show consists of musical numbers performed live by the cast. Songs range from the traditionally reverent “Rock of Ages” to the vastly more up-tempo bluegrass gospel tune “I’ll Fly Away.”
Despite the light-hearted nature of the show, it required a strenuous amount of preparation from the cast members.
“We’ve been rehearsing for about seven and a half weeks,” Archer said.
“The script requires the actors to not only sing and act but also to play their own instruments. All seven cast members now play instruments. Most play more than one. When we started only two were instrumentally inclined. The other cast members all learned their instruments for the show.”
Madeline Golden portrays family matriarch Vera Sanders. “It’s been pretty intense,” she said. “I took piano lessons when I was a child, but I haven’t played for 35 years.”
Golden is the client accounts assistant for agricultural communications at MSU. Six cast members and some of the crew have ties to the university.
Bruce Lesley, who plays the church’s pastor, is a music director for choir on campus. Kevin Kern, who portrays Stanley Sanders, is a faculty member in the communication department. Archer herself heads the Instructional Media Center on the bottom floor of Mitchell Memorial Library.
The other cast members are: Krista Vowell (who plays June), the news director for campus radio station WMSV; Molly Watkins (Denise), an instructor for the department of international education; Kary Rogers (Dennis), a senior network analyst; and Paul Ruff (Burl), a local pediatrician.
“Musical comedies are great crowd-pleasers, and the show certainly appeals to our audience,” Archer said.
“Because of the southern roots of the show, it’s just a good fit.”
Showtimes for today and Saturday as well as Tuesday-May 6 are at 7:30 p.m. There will also be matinees at 2 p.m. Sunday and May 6.
Performances are in the Playhouse at 108 Main Street. For reservations and ticket information, call (662) 323-6855.