Big goings on at the Tater Patch Players Theater

This month, the Tater Patch Players theater is buzzing with activity.  The Talmadge Brothers Funeral Home and Casket Company has moved into the theater space on the main floor, and will be there scaring folks through Halloween, but up above the funeral parlor, the theater is alive with activity.
Auditions have been held for the next production, Laugh Out Loud, which is a collection of short and funny plays that will be presented on November 17-20.  These are being directed by a couple of Tater Patchers who wanted to try their hands at directing — Aaron Locatelli and Jan O’Kelley.   This  production is  sponsored by Julia Jorns, CPA and Community Bank of Pickens County. The new directors and their casts will be rehearsing in the upstairs spaces until almost show time.  And as soon as the haunted house is done, the theater has been rented for a private party.  After that the onstage rehearsals can begin.  And meanwhile, every Tuesday at 5PM, Camille Hammond leads her yoga class in the theater’s upstairs meeting room.
Meanwhile, the Tater Patch Board has met and is preparing for its end of year Wassail celebration PLUS a concert by Hickory Wind both to take place in December.  On December 4 and 5 auditions will be held for The Dixie Swim Club.  This will be the first show of the 2012 season, to be presented in February.  It is a hilarious comedy featuring five women who were on their college swim team and who meet every year at a beach house for a weekend get-together.  The play spans more than thirty years, and the audience will find more to laugh at with every scene, as the women get older, but not always wiser.  The play is not a “chick” play — men have been heard roaring with laughter at productions of this show as well.  All actresses, be on the lookout for audition information and times.  This is an opportunity for you to shine.
The troupe’s production planning calendar is filling up with names of directors, producers and stage managers who have been picked for the upcoming four-show season.  After February’s show,  May will bring The Foreigner, another great comedy.  The summer will be filled with singing and dancing as Tater Patch Players bring the first big musical to their new home in the form of Gypsy.  There are great parts for both adult and young singers and dancers here.   November will herald a serious but wonderful play with the timeless The Miracle Worker.  And of course the troupe expects to bring you one or more activities and camps for Pickens youth, host the Talmadge Brothers next October, and they tell me they are  working on a few surprises.  Their motto is: If it’s entertaining, it’s Tater Patch — and they say they intend to live up to it in their first full year at their theater.  They invite you to check out their webpage at www.taterpatchplayers.org or telephone the theater at (706)253-2800 to learn more.