Playing the young man, Hal, is an actor familiar to most Tater Patch fans, Daniel Picklesimer.  Daniel said that this is a very difficult character for him.  Daniel finds Hal to be very different from himself.    He sees Hal as a totally honest person,  but one who pursues answers “almost to a fault”.  Hal is in danger of inadvertently hurting those who might care about him in his single-minded pursuit.  Daniel says “I want to tell Hal ‘stop it!’ because he is so intense in his pursuit of the answer”.  Daniel says the acting requirements of this character are very subtle that he is working constantly to master those nuances and to better understand and portray Hal.

The character he interacts with the most in Proof is Catherine, the mathematician’s daughter who fears for her sanity.  She is introverted, depressive, and almost hostile to those around her in an attempt to shield herself and those she cares about from the demons of madness that she fears.  This large and challenging role is being played by a virtual newcomer to the Tater Patch stage.  Alecia Moore is originally from North Carolina.  She went to a school with no theater program,   but found a summer program for the arts allowed her to learn about acting, improvisation, stage combat and other theater skills.  She participated in it every summer, first as a student and then as a teacher.  When she moved to Jasper, she came to know Linda Robertson, who’s been making costumes for Tater Patch for a number of years.  Alecia became her “number one helper” and didn’t set foot on stage until a replacement was needed for one of the many Nazi dancers in last summer’s The Producers.  She stepped in and did a fine job, but then stepped backstage again. She  was excited and challenged when Director Stanley O’Kelley called her to offer her the role of Catherine.  “I relate to the angry small child in Catherine”,  Alecia explained.  She is very comfortable in this large role  with scenes ranging from deep depression to romantic interludes, to anger at what she sees as a betrayal.  When asked what she plans to do for her next Tater Patch Players part she said “I’ll be helping Linda with costumes for Guys and Dolls”.  Alecia is an all-round trouper indeed.

Part of the character Catherine’s interactions during  the play are with her sister, Claire, played by Marena Leonard.  Claire is an organized, busy professional woman who has built a life and career in New York.  When she comes home, during a time of family trouble, the usual sibling rivalries become  much more tense.  Marena played multiple parts in L’il Abner, and appeared most recently in Almost, Maine.  While most of her roles have been comic, she is enjoying playing Claire.  Marena says “It’s like a grownup version of ‘playing pretend’.”    The subject and content of the play, as she says, are not suitable for kids.  However she feels the play will have great impact and appeal to an older audience.  “They will enjoy it because they will be able to relate to it better than a younger person” she says, citing some of the varying emotions that run throughout the show.  Marena says math, which is the underlying theme of the play, is not her strong subject and that she prefers the written word.  She is making the written words of playwright David Auburn come to life in this show.

The fourth member of the cast is Jason Boskey.  Jason’s only role with Tater Patch was in Almost, Maine.  He has appeared at the Blue Ridge Community Theater in several plays and has appeared in the short film A Touch of Darkness.    He is a self-described “accounting sherpa”.  He explains that a sherpa is a Tibetan native who helps the mountaineers who climb the Himalayas.  He has has worked for many years in accounting and now acts as a helper and a guide in business and personal finances and taxes. He  hopes, however, that his future will lie in writing for the stage and screen.  As he enjoys his first serious stage role,  Jason plays a different type of sherpa — guiding his daughter, Catherine through her dread that she will become as insane as he has.  Jason says  ”My role is to help my daughter with the fear she has that she will turn out like me.”

Tater Patch Players encourage you to see this moving play.  Performances will be at the Pickens Chamber of Commerce on June 3,4,5, 6 and are sponsored by Community Bank of Pickens County.  This is one piece of great theater that you will not want to miss.

Guys and Dolls will be performed July 29-August 1 and August 5-8.  The Sunday performances will be matinees.  All shows will be at the Pickens Chamber and other details will be announced soon.

Smoke on the Mountain will also be at the Pickens Chamber and will be on October 28-31 and November 4-7.  Details coming soon!

The Community Bank of Pickens County is a Main Stage sponsor for all of these performances, and we thank them!

It ‘s time for summer camp again!  The Tater Patch Players/Jasper Young Singers will hold a Music and Drama camp at Holy Family Episocopal Church on Griffith Rd, off Cove Road for two weeks this summer.   In each week-long session there will be acting, singing, moving, script writing and puppetry for 8 to 10 year olds.  There will be week-long sessions for singing, movement, costume design, improvisation and Broadway Cabaret for rising fifth graders, through high school.  Each week will have a different theme and offer different materials.  Also, there will be a production of HMS Pinafore for rising 5th graders through high school age.  Youth this age that wish to be in this production must be enrolled for BOTH weeks, as it will take that length of time to learn and rehearse the materials.

The staff will be John King Carter, Suzanne Shull, Thelma (Bay) Cagle, and Crystal Merrill.  The first week will be June 7-11 and the second will be June 14-18.  Camp hours will be from 9 AM till noon.  There is a link to the flyer for camp.  Please contact the number on the flyer for more information.  Campers’ parents who need to are encouraged to ask about available full or partial scholarships.

http://taterpatchplayers.org/Camp10.pdf