'Almost, Maine" performance continues through Sunday, May 8
GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH/THE HIGHLANDER
Against a digital set of the Northern Lights Phoebe Greening as Glory. Left, and Jon Kroese as East appear in the first scene of “Almost, Maine,” the Marble Falls High School production beginning tonight, Friday, May 6, and continuing Saturday and Sunday at Hill Country Community Theatre. Moms will be admitted free on Sunday, Mother's Day.
By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander
The Marble Falls High School (MFHS) Theatre Department will present something just right for a Mother's Day treat—a light-hearted production, “Almost, Maine,” that is continuing through Sunday, May 8, at Hill Country Community Theatre.
The play by John Cariani consists of interwoven romantic comedy vignettes set on a cold and moonless winter night in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, residents of Almost are falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways.
“Those Northern Lights are one of the things we are excited about,” said Jon Clark, technical director and theater instructor at MFHS. “We incorporated projections onto the set of our University Interscholastic League One-Act Play this year. The students got really good at using them and mapping them out and we decided to use that same technology for 'Almost, Maine'.”
“The audience will find lots of pretty things to look at,” Clark continued. “You can say it is a comedy, but it is not cheesy or farcical. 'Almost, Maine,' is one of the most produced plays in America and that is for a reason.”
“The show offers a sweetness and decency that’s become rare at the theater,” read one New York Post review.
Including cast, crew and theater staff, about 25 students per night will participate in the production. It is directed by Mary Downey, a graduating senior from Texas State University who has spent the semester as a student teacher at MFHS.
All mothers will be admitted free to the Sunday Mother's Day matinee and, just for that reason, Clark recommends springing for the $10 tickets for an evening performance.
“We expect a sell-out crowd Sunday,” he said.
The Hill Country Community Theater is located at 4003 West Farm to Market Road 2147 in Cottonwood Shores. Tickets will be sold only at the door for performances at 7:30 p.m.Saturday, May 7, and a Sunday matinee at 2:15 p.m.
The cast of “Almost, Maine” includes Gabe Torres as Pete, Alyssa Press as Ginette, Jonathan Kroese as East/Daniel, Phoebe Greening as Glory/Suzette, Charles McClean as Jimmy, Gigi Goff as Sandrine, Ivy Munn as the waitress, Mariah Woods as Marvalyn, Eric De Lo Santos as Steve, Sydney Kelley as Gayle, Austin Parker as Lendall, Laura Fischer as Randi, Jordan Jones as Chad/Phil, Emily Gunlock as Ellie Isaack as Hope, Mackenzie Young as Rhonda and Miguel Estrada as Dave.
Joining Downey and Clark on the crew of the production are Estrada as stage manager, Greening and Fischer in costume design, Taylor Wimbish in lighting design, Isaack and Torres in LED special effects, Ben Goad in sound design and sound board operation, Christine Asbaugh as light board operator, Austin Parker and Lupita Mora on projections and Goff as properties master.
