A quartet of belles rings in season
Published 12:37 am Friday, October 7, 2011
There’s no wrong season for comedy.
The Washington High School Playmakers will unwrap the holiday-tied comedy “Christmas Belles” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 and Oct. 15.
Tickets are $5 per head and may be purchased at the door.
The production will be staged at the Washington High School Performing Arts Center.
The play tracks the none-too-subtle misfortunes of a quartet of Futrelle sisters and explores their lives in a small Texas town.
The comedic tension mounts when one of the sisters, directs the hometown Christmas play, and a half-sister shows up to try and endear herself to the others.
Toss in a bout of food poisoning from the band boosters’ pancake supper and the play makes people double up — with laughter.
“We’ve got a really good cast,” said director Travis Carter.
The 11-member cast has begun constructing the set and pulling together costumes, and is well on the way to memorizing its lines.
“It’s just a fun group all around,” Carter said.
Rachel Alligood, a freshman, plays Rhonda Lynn, the half-sister.
“She tries to win people’s affection but in the strangest ways,” Alligood said of her character, adding the newcomer dresses in imitation of one of the other players to gain admission to familial affections.
Kayla Bruce, a senior, takes on the role of Honey Raye, one of the older sisters.
“She is very flirty,” Bruce said. “She is a go-getter. She knows what she wants and goes after it.”
This behavior gets Honey in trouble, Bruce indicated.
Asked what people will take away from the play, she replied, “The laughter. The funny parts, I think, are always what people want to pay attention to and come back for.”
The other cast members are Taylor Abele, Addie VanSalisbury, Erin Stowe, Ryan Cowell, Butch Moore, Gray Peedin, Sarah Vick, Dylan Willoughby and Amy Arnold.
The stage manager is Noelle Gargaro. According to Carter, “Belles” is one in a trio of plays authored by professional playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten.