Greenville little theatre sc series#

“Ah, Wilderness” is the only time the McCallas have appeared in a GLT play with their son. “We say there are still people who like to hold it against her,” Allen says. He’s trying to pick it up and people are screaming, ‘Pick up the spoon.’” She decides to let him die. As he is trying to take his medicine, he drops the spoon. He’s in a wheelchair, and they’re having an argument and he starts having a heart attack. “Allen is an invalid in the show and he’s dying. “ was much beloved by the audience, and I am playing Regina, who is the biggest b**ch in written history,” Suzanne says. It was a jungle gym of fun for the fairies, and the people, too,” Suzanne says.

Greenville little theatre sc series#

The rest of the set was a series of slides that went into pools of water. One artist made fairy wings out of watercolor chiffon that were mounted on sticks and branches, while another painted Van Gogh’s “Starry Nights” as the backdrop. The play really brought out the company’s creative side. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was the first Shakespeare play performed on the GLT stage.

“There’s a role in it that is written for Suzanne practically, Billie Dawn, and she was fantastic in it,” Allen says. The first play the McCallas appeared in at GLT was “Born Yesterday,” something they had done in Kentucky. The theater was able to find the performers it needed, and the show was a success. So GLT put the show in its season, not realizing that it might be hard to cast because it required a lot of black talent, something the theater had had difficulty attracting before. ‘Beehive’ was somebody who wanted to do a set of songs and felt like they couldn’t do it without words.” “Beehive,” 1995. Different types of musicals began being written as well. Musicals closed on Broadway, and went on tour and not released. “A show would run on Broadway for three years, closed, and then released to theaters like ours,” Allen says. GLT, like a lot of theaters, was set up for Broadway shows, not pop musicals. Allen directed, and Suzanne designed the sets and costumes.

The McCallas wanted “To Kill a Mockingbird” but were given a female version of “The Odd Couple” instead. All of the applicants had to direct a play in that theater’s season. Here are some of the highlights:Īllen was performing in a production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” with Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre when a friend of his mother told him GLT was looking for new leadership. During their tenure, they’ve produced more than 180 shows and tripled attendance. This year marks the McCallas’ silver anniversary with the theater. The board made the McCallas a deal: the board would take care of the debt if the husband-and-wife duo would take care of the audiences. Debt had climbed, and season subscriptions had plummeted after a series of missteps. When they were hired in 1993, the theater was in trouble. Allen and Suzanne McCalla weren’t sure how long their tenure was going to last at Greenville Little Theatre.