Starkville Community Theatre will stage the Mississippi premiere of Kenneth Jones’ drama “Alabama Story” early next year, directed by Louie Gallo.
In 1959 in Montgomery, a children’s book about a black rabbit marrying a white rabbit stirs the passions of a segregationist Alabama senator and a no-nonsense librarian, along with two childhood friends – an African-American man and a woman of white privilege – reunited in adulthood. Inspired by true events, this tale of the Deep South during the flowering of the civil rights movement brims with humor, heartbreak, and hope.
The show will perform February 15-17, 2024, nightly at 7 p.m.; February 18 at 2 p.m.; and February 20-23, nightly at 7 p.m..
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Auditions will take place Monday and Tuesday, November 13 and 14, upstairs at the Playhouse on Main, starting each night at 6 p.m..
Auditions will consist of cold readings from the show script, and a perusal copy of a script is available by request if you send an email to SCT Executive Director Gabe Smith at gabe.smith.writes@gmail.com.
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There are 6 roles available.
GARTH WILLIAMS, 50ish or older, a white writer and illustrator from the East Coast, who also assumes other roles, including: aged, sickly Alabama State Representative BOBBY CRONE; Montgomery newspaper reporter HERSCHEL WEBB; segregationist columnist HENRY BALCH; a RADIO ANNOUNCER; and WHITE PASSERSBY.
LILY WHITFIELD, 32, a white woman from small-town Alabama privilege; genteel Alabama accent. She is sheltered, ashamed, loyal, religious, garrulous, charming, unhappily married, all façade, ready to blossom.
JOSHUA MOORE, 32, upwardly mobile middle-class African-American man, who left Alabama more than a decade ago; purposely subtle and suppressed Alabama accent, which becomes pronounced when agitated. He is aspirational, loyal, kind, worldly, happily married, slow to boil, a disciple of Dr. King.
SENATOR E.W. HIGGINS, 50ish or more, a white Alabama State Senator; pronounced but not extreme Alabama accent. He is a charmer, a bully, a bull, a poisoner, a politician, a victim of the world he grew up in.
EMILY WHEELOCK REED, 50ish or more, a white librarian, the State Librarian of Alabama, born in North Carolina and raised in Indiana; no Southern accent. She has no sense of humor, she does not suffer fools, she is all-business.
THOMAS FRANKLIN, 28, a white reference librarian, Emily’s assistant, an Alabama native; genteel, educated, pronounced Alabama accent. He is officious, efficient, slightly uncomfortable in his own skin. Neutral and objective when conveying information.
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Rehearsals will begin following casting in mid-November. Though performance dates and final rehearsal dates are non-negotiable, the director is open to working around other scheduling conflicts during the rehearsal period, when possible.
For any additional questions about the production or about auditions, please email the director at gallolouie1@gmail.com. If you would like to serve on the crew (as backstage help, light or sound operator, costumes and props, or more), please either reach out to the director or attend auditions and meet him in person to discuss ways you can be involved.
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“Alabama Story” is presented through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. This production is generously sponsored by Spruill Property Management, and is supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.