Announcing our 2014-15 Directors!

We're thrilled to announce our slate of directors for our 2014-15 Mainstage season! Thank you to all who applied and congratulations to those who have been selected!

The Addams Family - Jerry Crouch
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Eric Mills
A Chorus Line - Chanda Calentine
A Streetcar Named Desire - Jerry Crouch
The Great American Trailer Park Musical - Mark Jones
Not Now, Darling - Ralph Redpath

We'll be posting information on audition dates and more very soon!

Spamalot: Pics from Rehearsal!

We've been in rehearsals for about a month now on Spamalot, and we don't know if we've ever had this much fun learning "routines and chorus scenes." Our stage manager, Rodney Smith, is also an excellent photographer, and he's been posting pictures from the first day of auditions all the way through. It's an authentic look behind the scenes of the production process - and it's also a lot of fun to see new pictures every few days!

Spamalot has everything - killer rabbits, flying cows, taunting Frenchmen - but is there another production of Spamalot in the world that has a rehearsal photo of a Julia Child impersonator reading her lines? We think not (and we're so glad Rodney captured that very funny moment).

Dearly Departed Cast List

We are THRILLED to announce the cast for Dearly Departed, the drop dead funny Southern comedy that will open April 11, 2014! Director Lauren Fortuna has assembled a cast that mixes returning friends and first-time ACTers. Congratulations to all who auditioned - if your name isn't on this list, we hope it will be on the next one! 

Raynelle - Judi Pratt

RayBud - Adam Arthur 

Lucille - Amy LaDeroute 

Junior - Craig Justus

Suzanne - Susie Davis

Marguerite - Diane Chapman 

Royce - Waylon Wood

Delightful - Stephanie O'Rear 

Rev. Hooker - Frank Salvo

Veda - Annette Hobbs

Norval - Terry Ward 

Nadine - Cary Nichols

Clyde - Eric Mills

Juanita - Honor Moor

Bud - TBA 

Joy of Life Singers: 

Andriette Kinesella

Tracy Munn

Peter Johnson

Gary Gaines

Susan Mengel

Cabaret: Creating the Set

Jill Summers (bottom left) is the Technical Director here at Asheville Community Theatre. She's also designed many of the sets over the past few years, and has been working hard on the concept and build for Cabaret.

Jill shared her scenic model for Cabaret with the staff, cast, and crew a few weeks ago (top right). It's a two level set with a space between the grand staircases so that the orchestra can be seated onstage. It's grounded by a metal centerpiece (hence, the welding, top left) with wooden platforming, the beginnings of which are show on the bottom right. Of course, by the time Jill and her talented crew of carpenters and painters are through, the metal and the bare wood will be transformed into the Kit Kat Klub.

Cabaret: The Inside Scoop

That's me on the right! Lyle Laney is on the left,
Jessica Pisano (Sally Bowles) is center, and
Alan Malpass is on the floor!

Hi everyone, my name is Van Raynor and I am a marketing intern for ACT. I am also in this years production of Cabaret. Jenny Bunn and I thought that we would give you an inside scoop on what is happening behind the scenes of Cabaret.

If you have never seen the show, Cabaret is set in Berlin in the 1920s during the rise of Nazi Germany. The show takes place in the debaucherous Kit Kat Klub with a wide variety of interesting (and very flexible, I might add) club dancers. Cliff Bradshaw, an American writer, comes to the city in the search of inspiration for his book. He goes to the "Klub" where he meets Sally Bowles, a British singer. The characters face many new challenges and decisions that will change their lives maybe for the better, maybe for the worse as they move into the new political climate.

This sizzling show directed by Jerry Crouch will be sure to keep you warm in the month of February. The cast of 15 who have various backgrounds in acting, dancing and singing, have been rehearsing since December in preparation of opening night on the 7th of February 2014. We are all excited to get this show up on its feet! Our almost nightly rehearsals have left some of us - and I can testify to this - sore and out of breath because of the tough dance steps our choreographer Kathy Myers has given us. Just wait for some of the lifts and routines we have waiting for you at the "Klub!" And if that isn't enough we have Lenora Thom as our Music Director which as anyone who's worked with her before knows that she will get you singing to a German efficiency. Director Jerry Crouch has been taking candid pictures of the rehearsals for the past few weeks and we thought we would show you a few to get you in that Cabaret spirit!

Scenes from a musical - or at least the rehearsals!

The Santaland Diaries: Crumpet's Top 10 Holiday Wishes NUMBER 10

The Santaland Diaries is back for the 12th year in a row at Asheville Community Theatre! This year's production stars Bradshaw Call and is directed by Betsy Puckett. They've cooked up a really creative way to tell this story - and we can't wait to see it!

The Santaland Diaries is, in a nutshell, an "oh my gosh that's SO true" elf's eye view of massive meltdowns, ridiculous expectations, and customer service holiday horrors. If you've ever worked retail during the holidays - or really, if you've ever been in a retail store during the holidays - this story will seem all too true. And guess what? It IS a true story!

Crumpet is the elf name our narrator is required to go by during his stint working at Macy's Herald Square. He's not thrilled about that. Or about a number of other things. So, we put together a list of his Top Ten wishes that would make his holidays a little better. Count down with us all the way to number one! Plus, watch for our "caption this" photo (hint: we'll release it on Wednesday afternoon) to win two free tickets to The Santaland Diaries!

Cabaret: Cast List

Asheville Community Theatre is happy to announce the cast for the upcoming production of Cabaret opening February 7, 2014.

EMCEE - Kevin Moxley*
SALLY - Jessica Hutchman
CLIFF - Mark Jones
FRAULEIN SCHNEIDER - Ruth Butler
HERR SCHULTZ - James Curley*
FRAULEIN KOST - Jess Marie*
ERNST LUDWIG - Luke Haynes

KIT KAT KLUB GIRLS & BOYS: Fleming Lomax, Jax Ranger*, Leslie Lang, Ashley Dillingham*, Karen Panek, Rebecca O'Quinn*, Lyle Laney, Jacob Walas, Van Raynor and Alan Malpass

The Cabaret Creative Team and the staff of ACT would like to thank the 45 talented actors, singers and dancers who auditioned for the 17 roles in this legendary Broadway musical drama.

One of the most exciting things about this wonderful cast is the *6 new actors who will be joining the ACT family for the first time! As the Emcee of the KIT KAT KLUB says "Wilkommen!"

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: Study Guide

We have two matinee performances during the run of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever that are for school groups only.  For those performances, we provide a study guide that we send to teachers in advance of the field trip.  But guess what? The study guide is great for any young audience member - whether they're attending a school performance or not!