As Kings River Life continues to follow the Visalia Community Players production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee musical, for week two we are on a costume hunt with Bee costumer Milinda Shelby and director Corey Ralston and we have the first of our cast interviews!
Here at Kings River Life we have a passion for the arts and we try to share that with our readers in every way we can. One way is by doing local actor/director profiles featuring some of the talented people that bring the Valley theatre. However, the person we are profiling this month is such a big part of the Visalia arts community that calling this simply an actor/director profile seems inadequate.
Christopher Sergel’s artful dramatization of Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mockingbird unfolds as an adult Jean Louise Finch (Irene Morse), once known as Scout, reflects on her life as a child in Maycomb, Alabama in 1935, and on life changing events that she struggled to understand.
The Visalia Community Players are presenting The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Ice House Theatre this August 17 through September 2 and Kings River Life Magazine is going to follow them on their journey to produce this fun musical. This will be a brand new adventure for KRL as we follow the production of this show from beginning to end and we are taking you our readers on the journey with us.
What do a biologist, a physicist, an aging model, a strong-willed mother, an alcoholic lover, a “nervous Nellie”, and a gardener have in common?
Director Ryan Pullen describes Dead Man’s Cell Phone as a dark comedy about our need to connect in a digital world. Pullen identifies Jean as the central character who shows growth throughout the play “transitioning from making connections virtually to making them interpersonally.” Pullen defines the remaining characters as archetypes of how we insolate ourselves from all the digital options available through technology. “As an example, Dwight focuses on the real world through paper.”
Kick off the holiday season with the antics of three actors portraying 30 men, women, and animals in 90 minutes! The action is packed with fun that will have you rolling in the aisles with laughter. The Visalia Players presents Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some!) as the perfect opener to a season filled with joy and spirit.
Steel Magnolias, a witty comedy/drama by Robert Harling, is set in Louisiana in Truvy Jones’ beauty salon, which serves as a gathering place (think Starbucks) for women, more family than friends. Truvy (Leeni Mitchell) employs her magic wand and pixie dust making these women feel particularly special.
The Visalia Players proudly present The Taffetas, those singing sisters from Muncie, Indiana in an encore appearance on the Ice House stage. This time they’ve brought their fiancées, those swingin’ singin’ guys from Alpha Mu Phi Pi, The Cardigans. Together, they are planning A Taffeta Wedding.
When Leeni Mitchell committed to direct Our Town for the Visalia Community Players, she realized that she needed to know more about Thornton Wilder’s message and reason for writing the play. In her research, she found that the play had layers to be peeled away.
