"Catfish Moon" Will Tickle Your Funny Bone And Reel In Your Heart--Now Playing At The James F. Dean Theatre

Outside on Summerville's S. Main Street adjacent to the Town Square, the newly installed marquee of the James F. Dean Theatre brightly lit the front entrance. Inside the rejuvenated community theater, the prop lighting radiantly illuminated the beautifully prepared set--an assemblage of weathered timber fashioned into a rustic, old fishing pier overshadowed by moss-laden trees and unforgotten recollections. But the most brilliant luminary of the celebratory evening was the magical, celestial light fondly remembered as the "Catfish Moon."

The fishy sounding full moon and weatherworn pier are literally and figuratively significant  pieces in the puzzling lives of the three long-time friends featured in Laddy Sartin's touching and lighthearted play reflecting the true meaning of the words, "Let's go fishing." A resident of Rock Hill and Mississippi educated, Sartin understood small town, southern ways and catfish angling with alligators.

A favorite hangout when they were kids, where after skipping school the threesome would skinny dip, woo girls, and go on overnight fishing trips, the old pier in many ways had become the mirror image of their relationships--weather beaten, neglected and in serious need of loving care.

Successful in business but left lamenting, "There is more to life than the almighty dollar," Curley(Barry Gordon) was the big brother of the group. Sensing time was running short on their fractured friendships, he sets out on a plan to put in motion the healing process by recapturing their youthful glory days. He invites Gordon(Ernie Eliason) to meet him on the old pier where they share drinks and reminisce--no beer for Gordon who was an alcoholic.

Curley takes the opportunity to address the on going feud between fun-loving Gordon and short-tempered Frog(Chad Reuer) worsened by the fact Gordon, described by Frog as "a person who doesn't know the meaning of moderation," had developed a love interest in Frog's ex-wife Betty(Shannon Johnson); also Curley's sister. With this rendezvous, a sequel of events are thus put in motion that takes you on a trip down memory lane, stirs your passions, tickles your funny bone, and breaks your heart.

The superbly crafted props and artfully appointed scenery were mesmerizing. I had to restrain the urge to jump on stage and join Curley and Gordon on the pier, crank the top off a couple of beers, and shed a few clothes. "I spent a long evening meticulously hot gluing the grassy weeds to the stage floor," Chrissy Eliason recounted--the set designer, director and driving force behind the perfectly casted actors.

So convincing were the cast's performances, you forgot you were sitting in a theater and not observing real life unfold before you. As the goofus of the trio who couldn't control his fishing rod any better than he could his drinking habits, Ernie Eliason delivered a top notch performance demonstrating both versatility and temperament; transforming himself into a love-smitten fool one minute and a drunken fool the next.

Barry Gordon, southern boy born and raised on Savage Street in Charleston, skillfully charmed his way through his role like the dying with dignity, southern gentleman he is while tough guy Chad Reuer provided the fireworks and validated the quote, "Your acting like a big baby." See the play and you will know what I mean. And equally notable, Shannon Johnson sweetened the cast with her irrepressible smile.

So, if you appreciate the value of friendship, love to laugh, and believe in second chances, "Catfish Moon" will brighten your smile, warm your soul, and illuminate your heart. It is a must-see.

Things just keep getting better and better at the James F. Dean Theatre. You can purchase tickets at Flowertown Players.

Monica Shows-Assistant Director; Jane Batten--Stage Manager; Scenic Artist--Robert Maniscalco; JC Conway--Lighting and Sound Design; Makala Becker--Light Board Operator; Jeff Wolf--Sound Operator

8 PM shows: March 28 and 29; April 3, 4, and 5; April 10, 11, and 12
3 PM shows: March 30; April 6; April 13

The Specter Of Change Arrives In Summerville Once Again-A Welcomed Visit

Change has been a persuasive specter in Summerville, appearing at times in different forms and making its presence felt over the passing years. Transformation, metamorphosis, development, modification, transition, contraction, refinement, destruction and reconstruction are just some of its hauntings. Sometimes visitations have been spontaneous and sometimes coerced, sometimes unwanted and sometimes welcomed.

This specter of change has returned to Summerville recently, but this visitation has been coerced. And if your powers of observation are acute, you would have perceived its presence downtown, taking the form of reconstruction.

Our community theater is getting a long needed facelift with a new marquee as the primary feature. This will be the third marquee since the theater was first built around 1935. The second marquee change took place during its much needed renovation when the theater became the home for the Flowertown Players around 1976. The new marquee will be a return to the look and feel of the original with some slight differences.

As part of the change, the brick flower boxes have been removed and needed repairs to the masonry are being addressed. If everything goes according to plan, the new marquee will make its debut within the next two weeks - just in time for the Flowertown Players next production of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama winning musical Rent.

Rent, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, is based loosely on Giacomo Puccini's opera "La bohème." The off-Broadway show debuted exactly 100 years after Puccini's opera of 1896. On Broadway, it had a 12-year run of 5,123 performances and became the ninth longest-running Broadway show at the time. The production grossed over $280 million.

With their presentation of Rent, the Flowertown Players will be venturing into uncharted waters - it deals in adult rated material. The setting of the play is in New York City's Lower East Side during the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, the artsy avant-garde neighborhood of marginalized artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors of Manhattan. Bohemianism was the practice of an unconventional lifestyle and Bohemians were associated with anti-establishment political or social viewpoints, which often were expressed by artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors through free love, frugality, and voluntary poverty.

This production of Rent follows a year in the life of a group of these impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive in that Lower East Side environment of New York City - falling in love, finding their voice and living for today. The cast consists of 20 of our locally dedicated actors.

On my recent visit to the James F. Dean Theatre, I got a preview of the near-completed set and a peek at Mark Gorman, Artistic Director of South of Broadway Theatre Company, and JC Conway working through procedures involved in setting the final mix of the scripts lighting cues. The play will open Friday, January 17th. I look forward to seeing some of you then and everyone else stay-tuned for my after-opening night review.