First of all, the theatre program has a real treat in store with the talented Chip Templeton, who when asked how it was to work with the students responded, “I am involved with the play because I want to have a wonderful experience with the students, as well as provide them an opportunity to have a great play that they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
Templeton’s family is known for being business people, but they also have a long-time connection with music and Mississippi State University, for instance the Templeton Music Museum in the library.
“Music brings people together of all races and of all ages; it makes everyone a little bit happier,” Templeton said.
Needless to say, he has enjoyed being able to work with the students during the past few months.
The student actors are extremely diverse and come from many different levels of experience and majors. Grant Alexander, senior English and psychology major, is one of the more experienced actors.
“This is my tenth production at MSU, so I’ve been here for a while … It’s a great show, and I’m happy to be going out in such a big production,” he said. 
Jack Hannon, freshman political science major, plays the villain in the production and spoke about some pre-performance jitters: “I’m excited … it’s nerve-wracking a week before the play opens, but it’s a lot less nerve-wracking when there are 23 other people sharing the panic with you. Last semester there were just nine of us.”
  Hannon also surprised me by saying they would be using real guns on stage (unloaded and deactivated of course)! On the other hand, Colin Baylot, sophomore communication major, leaked he will be playing the romantic hero, Ned Harris: “He makes some false steps along the way, but not everyone is perfect.”
Sarah Beth James, junior communication and Spanish major, shared her thoughts about working with the cast.
“It’s a lot of fun because you get the different personalities of each person and you mix them with the different personalities of each character, and it’s like every night is kind of a new night; you never know what’s going to happen. We’ve all busted it on stage, we’ve all had little accidents and things, but that’s what makes it a show,” she said.
Hillary Laplatney, sophomore educational psychology major, told me why people should come out and see it.
“It’s a comedy, it’s hilarious and you’re going to see a lot of melodrama. We are all crazy over-the-top!” she said with a smile.
It was interesting to me to find Webb Means, freshman civil engineering major, in the theatre. He elaborated, “Well, this is my first time to ever do anything like this; it’s been really fun, and I’ve met a lot of great people.”
From theatre to engineering majors, this play has a very assorted cast and really shows the variety of the theatre department here on campus. Anyone can get involved!
I caught up with the director, Donna Clevinger, to hear her thoughts on the production.
“This has been a wonderful experience working with these very talented and energetic students. We have averaged four rehearsals a week for a period of three hours at a time since Valentine’s Day – that’s a lot of sacrifice! But it’s all worth it when the audience sees this very funny and exciting show! We look forward to the support from our MSU family.” she said.
From observing the cast during rehearsal I witnessed firsthand the friendships they had made, and I could almost taste their anticipation for opening night. You don’t want to miss this. Admission is $10 for all performances, and patrons may visit comm.msstate.edu/dept/theatre/ to see the full-season brochure or to purchase tickets (or at the door). For more information, please contact  Clevinger, director, at 325-4034 or [email protected].