OCTOBER 1, 2009 ISSUE
Theatre Veterans Form New Stage Company in Blowing Rock
First Production Scheduled for October 30
In the wake of the Hayes Center’s temporary closing and uncertainty about the future of the 23-year-old Blowing Rock Stage Company, several theatre veterans have founded a new acting company in Blowing Rock.
Among the founders of the new Ensemble Stage Company are several core members of the Blowing Rock Stage Company from the past nine years, including its General Manager Robert Miller, Jr., Technical Assistant Gary Lee Smith, Technical Director Tim Billman and Lisa Lamont, a frequent stage manager.
“This community deserves to have live theatre available to them, and since the recent closing and uncertain as well as unclear future of the Blowing Rock Stage Company, that niche needed to be filled,” Smith said in a press release. Smith could not be reached for further comment as of press time.
The three-year-old Hayes Performing Arts Center temporarily suspended operations in September, citing financial reasons and a need to restructure the organization. The Hayes Center Board of Trustees cancelled the remaining Stage Company shows scheduled in 2009 and said it intends to re-open the center in time for the 2010 season.
Blowing Rock Stage Company Producing Artistic Director Kenneth Kay resigned on September 8.
Although the trustees announced no plans to abolish the Blowing Rock Stage Company—the theatre-in-residence at the Hayes Center—trustees Chair Ron Bryson’s comments indicated the Stage Company would play a smaller role at the Hayes Center in the future.
“The Stage Company…is a small piece of a much larger operation. In order to position [the Hayes Center] as a community resource, we need to reorganize and restructure and redefine that,” Bryson said in August. “It’s going to be a regional center, not just the Stage Company.”
The Ensemble Stage Company’s first production will be on Friday, October 30, with a one-night presentation of H.G. Wells’ radio play War of the Worlds at 8:00 p.m. at the Blowing Rock School Auditorium. The script has been adapted for the High Country, so the epicenter of the alien invasion takes place in Blowing Rock and includes Banner Elk, Lenoir, Asheville, Charlotte and numerous other locations throughout North Carolina.
Smith, the company co-founder and War of the Worlds director, has assembled a cast that includes Blowing Rock Mayor J.B. Lawrence and MTN-TV host Bill Fisher. Actor and ASU professor Derek Gagnier stars as Orson Welles.
Tickets are $10. For information or reservations, call 828-406-2884 or purchase tickets at the Blowing Rock Visitor Center, Crippen’s Restaurant or Black Dog Coffee.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
