Renaissance Players 04-05 season includes community premiere of Beauty and the Beast
Release Date: 8/6/2004. Expired: 9/6/2004
A community premiere, two classic musicals and a hilarious look at southern life highlight the 2004-05 season for the Renaissance Players, the community theatre troupe at The Renaissance Center in Dickson.
The new season kicks off with one of, if not the first amateur production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast anywhere in the United States. The rights for non-professional productions of the tremendously popular show still running in New York have been released for productions to begin in October and The Renaissance Center was one of the first companies in line to present the show. The Renaissance Players bring the 1991 Academy Award-winning movie to the Performance Hall Oct. 8-24.
“We are very excited to present Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to kick off our 2004-05 season,” said Amy Scott, managing director of the Renaissance Players. “It is a credit to the quality of our productions that the Renaissance Players were selected for one of the first community productions of this magical musical.”
The new season also includes classic musicals in Jesus Christ Superstar (March 11-27) and Fiddler on the Roof (July 15-31). Southern life at a small county fair is the focus of the hilarious comedy Faith County (May 13-22) and The Renaissance Center brings back A Christmas Carol (Dec. 3-19).
“We want to make A Christmas Carol an annual tradition as our holiday community theatre production,” Scott said. “We presented it in the first two seasons of our community theatre and it was immensely popular. At a time of year when families especially become the center of life, we hope to make our production of A Christmas Carol a part of the season’s traditions.”
Renaissance Players productions are open to anyone who would like to be involved in a theatre production, whether on stage or behind the scenes. In addition to acting and singing, participants can help in costuming, constructing sets, playing in the Renaissance Players Orchestra and there even are opportunities to direct shows.
One change for the 2004-05 season is the return to Sunday matinees. Each show will be presented at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sundays. For the 2003-04 season, matinees were presented on Saturdays.
“We are keeping ticket prices the same this season and going back to the Sunday matinees,” Scott said. “Our patrons told us they prefer the afternoon shows on Sundays instead of Saturdays and beginning with the new season in October we will return to that schedule.”
Tickets for each production will be $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7 for children 12 and under.
The Renaissance Players 2004-05 season includes:
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
Oct. 8-24
Auditions: 6 pm Aug. 16-17
The Renaissance Players present one of the first community productions in the country of the magical musical Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Based on the 1991 Academy Award-winning animated film, the musical opened on Broadway in 1994 and is now the sixth longest running musical in Broadway history. Memorable songs by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice highlight the story of a cold-hearted Prince who is transformed into a hideous Beast and only the love of the beautiful Belle can break the spell. Wonderful characters such as Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip inhabit the enchanted castle where the Beast tries to hide from the world.
A Christmas Carol
Dec. 3-19
Auditions: 6 pm Sep. 27-28
Scrooge returns to The Renaissance Center stage in an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic A Christmas Carol. Spiritual visits from Jacob Marley and a collection of ghosts show miserly Ebenezer Scrooge the error of his ways and turn his heart on Christmas Eve. A wonderful holiday tradition for the entire family that, in the words of Tiny Tim, will “God bless us, one and all.”
Jesus Christ Superstar
March 11-27
Auditions: 6 pm Jan. 10-11
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s breakthrough rock opera chronicles the last seven days of Jesus’ life as seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. Afraid that Jesus has lost control of his followers, Judas betrays him to the local leaders, only to realize he’s been tricked into being the instrument of Jesus’ martyrdom. The production premiered in New York in 1971 and ran for 720 shows over two years, came back in a 1977 revival and again in 2000. It also was made into a feature film in 1973 by director Norman Jewison. When it closed in 1980 on London’s West End, it was the longest-running musical. The show’s various recordings have been best sellers around the world, even reaching the pop charts with Yvonne Elliman’s I Don’t Know How to Love Him from the original cast.
Faith County
May 13-22
Auditions: 6 pm March 14-15
In Mineola, a small town located “somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the South,” a colorful collection of good ol’ country folk gather at the Faith County Fairgrounds for this year’s county fair. In a place where beehive hairdos are still the rage and Saturday nights are reserved for the tractor pulls, there’s still competition in the arts and crafts category and plenty of gossip to be found at the lemonade stand run by the ladies of the church. Written by Mark Landon Smith, Faith County is a hilarious look behind the friendly waves and smiles of small-town America.
Fiddler on the Roof
July 15-31
Auditions: 6 pm May 16-17
The winner of nine Tony Awards in 1965, Fiddler on the Roof was one of the first Broadway musical comedies to address serious issues like persecution, poverty and the struggle to maintain one’s values. In a Jewish village in Russia in 1905, dairyman Tevye must choose between his daughter’s happiness and his beloved family traditions when she wants to marry a poor tailor instead of the middle-aged butcher her father has chosen. With popular songs such as Matchmaker, If I Were a Rich Man and Sunrise Sunset, Fiddler on the Roof hit a bright note with theatre audiences despite early criticism, and the 1971 movie directed by Norman Jewison collected three Academy Awards.
For more information on the Renaissance Players and any community theatre productions, call (615)740-5600. To purchase tickets for a show, call (615)740-5570.
The Renaissance Center is an arts and technology education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.
Visit the Theatre page for more about community and professional theatre.
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