‘Christmas Belles’ take stage in UC

Posted: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 8:56 pm
By: Chris Menees, Staff Reporter

By CHRIS MENEES
Staff Reporter
Masquerade Theatre will ring in its latest production Friday night.
A cast of 12 local residents is ready to entertain audiences the next two weekends as the 11 quirky citizens of the small town of Fayro, Texas, in the holiday-themed comedy “Christmas Belles.”
The play will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8-9 and 2 p.m. Oct. 10 at the historic Capitol Theatre on South First Street in downtown Union City. (See related photo feature, Page 9.)
Advance tickets are available for $10 each at Lanzer Printing & Office Supply downtown.
Cast members include theater veterans Sacchi Doss and Michele Huffstutter, who will share the role of town florist Miss Geneva Musgrave (with Mrs. Huffstutter performing the part Friday through Sunday and Mrs. Doss playing the role Oct. 8-10); Paula Pruett as Honey Ray Futrelle; Heather Gilliland as Gina Jo Dubberly; John Blanton as John Curtis Buntner; Catherine Nailling as Twink Futrelle; David Houston as Dub Dubberly; Kathy Smith as Frankie Futrelle Dubberly; Dana Goodman as Rhonda Lynn Lampley; Michael Chappell as Justin Waverly; Brian Johnson as Raynerd Chisum; and Tori Cole as Patsy Price.
The play — a sequel to the comedy “Dearly Departed” — is set at Christmas time in Fayro, but the Futrelle sisters are not in a very festive mood. A very pregnant Frankie is several weeks overdue with her second set of twins, Twink is in jail for accidentally burning down half the town and Honey Rae is desperately trying to keep the community’s Christmas program from turning into chaos.
To make matters worse, Miss Geneva — the ousted director of the previous 27 Christmas productions — will stop at nothing in her attempts to take over the show. The celebrity guest — Santa Claus — is passing a kidney stone and one of the shepherds refuses to perform without pulling his little red wagon.
Plus, the entire cast is plagued by food poisoning from the band boosters’ pancake supper.
And, finally, when Frankie inadvertently discloses a family secret, all hope for a successful Christmas program seems lost, even despite the appearance of an Elvis impersonator.
“Christmas Belles” is being directed by theater veteran Johnny McIlwain, with Todd Little, Jenny Gilliland and Ron Bloebaum sharing stage manager duties.
Bob Elderkin is overseeing scenery/lighting design and sound/light operation, while costumes are being coordinated by Jennie Overall and Stephanie Sergerson. The stage crew includes Terry Overall and Ralph Gilliam and properties are the responsibility of Elderkin, Miss Nailling and Ms. Smith. Set construction and painting are being done by Elderkin, Bloebaum, Terry Huffstetler, Gerry Hart, Gilliam, Jerry Paschall and Pat Wade.
Ticket sales are being handled by Sandra Harris and Lanzer’s, with Jack Hudgens overseeing tickets, Jeannine Cranford handling the box office, Brandon Bennett in charge of the theater’s window display and Ms. Pruett working on publicity.
The play — a comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten — is being presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service.
For more information about the play and upcoming productions, visit Masquerade Theatre’s website at www.ucmasqueradetheatre.com.
Staff Reporter Chris Menees may be contacted by e-mail at cmenees@ucmessenger.com.

Published in The Messenger 9.29.10