RSVP's 2018-2019 Season:
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On October 26 through November 4, 2018, RSVP's staged readings for AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE featured stories designed to chill the bones and curdle the blood … all crafted by the Master of Mystery and the Macabre. Readings included: * Annabel Lee * The Bells * The Haunted Palace * The Masque of the Red Death * Morella * The Raven * The Sleeper * The Tell-Tale Heart ... all skillfully read by David Adkins, Manashi C-Lim, Russ Giles, Saulo Hernandez, Sam Huff, Justin Tarlton, and Jacob Williams Stage Manager: Dan Bressler Director: Geri Bressler |
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RSVP, in association with the City of Asheboro, presented Charles Dickens' Christmas novella The Cricket on the Hearth twice during Christmas on Sunset (December 14, 2018) at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre. A tale of the importance of home and family, the story is not as well known as its sibling, A Christmas Carol … but it is just as full of character and excitement.
With plain feelings, hidden feelings, strong feelings, and misplaced feelings, the characters evoke Christmas feelings in a rare story by a master of storytelling. Cricket was the glaze on the plum pudding that is Christmas on Sunset. Philip Shore prepared and directed the script from the original text. This staged reading was free and open to the public as a gift from RSVP and the City. |
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Plucky little orphan Annie charms everyone's hearts, despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the orphanage, Annie foils Miss Hannigan's evil machinations ... and finds a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.
Based on the popular comic strip by Harold Gray, Annie has become a worldwide phenomenon and was the winner of 7 Tony Awards, including best musical. The beloved book and score by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse, and Martin Chanin feature some of the greatest musical hits ever written, including "Tomorrow." RSVP's July-August 2019 production was directed and choreographed at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre by Jim Shover. |
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RSVP's 2017-2018 Season:
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William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is more about the aftermath of his assassination than a character study of the title personage. RSVP's August 2017 presentation was supported by a Grassroots Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council. The Director/Script Adapter/Costumer was Geri Bressler.
What audiences had to say: “Shakespeare in Bicentennial Park is always marvelous! Keep doing the plays for Asheboro!” “Enjoyed the variety of actors – young, older, experienced, novice” “This is a difficult play with layers and layers for us to uncover. The playbill was a great help to the less familiar.” “Outdoor setting very nice. Very professional. Good volume. Great costumes.” |
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Joe Landry's
WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST The scene: October 31, 1948. Radio station WBFR recreated Orson Welles’ notorious 1938 Mercury Theatre broadcast of H.G. Wells’ novel, “The War of the Worlds” – which inspired panic in listeners who mistook the radio play for on-the-spot news. Complete with vintage commercials and live sound effects, this radio-play-within-a-radio-play was a thrilling homage to the golden era of radio. Just as in the thrilling days of yesteryear and the golden age of radio drama, each actor played multiple parts. RSVP's October-November 2017 production was directed by Scott Hunter at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre. |
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The Cricket on the Hearth is one of Charles Dickens’ four Christmas novellas that were extremely popular in the mid-19th century. The best known of these stories is, of course, A Christmas Carol, which has been tremendously influential in our celebrations of the season. Cricket is a wintery tale about the importance and sanctity of home in which love should reign. It is full of Dickensian characters who can hardly speak without exclamation points at every sentence.
Philip Shore prepared and directed the script from the original text. Free, family friendly, fresh, and full of fizz. A staged reading on-the-hoof. RSVP's presentation of THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH was supported by a Grassroots Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council. |
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Joseph Kesselring's Arsenic and Old Lace is a well-loved movie and play because it is charming and sweet in spite of its rather bizarre plot. No one – except the villains – really means to hurt anyone, only to do service to mankind. Within this literary container of mixed nuts, there is great humor and fun.
RSVP's February- March 2018 production was directed by RhinoLeap Productions Creative Director Jeremy Skidmore, as a gift from Thomas Osteen, at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre. We thank you, Tom! |
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Ted Swindley's Always...Patsy Cline is based on the true story of Patsy Cline's friendship with Houston housewife Louise Seger. Having first heard Cline on The Arthur Godfrey Show in 1957, Seger immediately became an avid fan of Cline's, constantly hounding the local disc jockey to play Cline's records on the radio.
In 1961 when Cline went to Houston for a show, Seger and her buddies arrived early and, by coincidence, met Cline who was traveling alone. The two women struck up a friendship that lasted until Cline's untimely death in a plane crash in 1963. The show's title was inspired by Cline's letters to Seger, which were consistently signed "Love ALWAYS… Patsy Cline." |
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The Little Mermaid is the live-action telling of Disney's popular animated feature. It is the story of a young mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her voice to find love. Music by Alan Mencken with lyrics by Ashman & Slater. The book is by Doug Wright based on Hans Christian Andersen's classic story.
RSVP's July-August 2018 production was directed by Nikki Peters and choreographed by Jim Shover, at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre. |
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RSVP's 2016-2017 season:
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William Shakespeare's*
The Taming of the Shrew * Director Geri Bressler adapted Shakespeare's immortal masterwork for clarity and to heighten the comedy. Her edition added Rosie the Riveter (Kate) to a loud, boisterous Army officer as her Petruchio set in the swing dance era. This addition of traditional to contemporary created a clever and intelligent evening of theatre for maximum fun. RSVP's production was held August 26-28, 2016, with FREE admission at Bicentennial Park Rotary Pavilion, Downtown Asheboro, directed by Geri Bressler. |
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Agatha Christie's
And Then There Were None has been thrilling and chilling audiences since 1943. Although classified as a drama, it is not devoid of humor. Eight guests, who have never met each other or their apparently absent host and hostess, are lured to an island off the coast of Devon. Marooned there with two house servants, they begin, mysteriously, to die. This is not only a “whodunnit?” but also a “howdunnit?" RSVP's 2016 production was directed by Travis Walsh at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre. |
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Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol Adapted and directed by Jim Langer. This presentation has become a popular part of Asheboro's “Christmas on Sunset” the last three years. Mr. Langer infused the whimsical, the ghostly, and dramatic text into a large-scale reading format. The costumed cast covered the stage with characters and situations to create a fun-filled family entertainment. FREE performances were held at the Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Avenue, as part of Asheboro's annual Christmas on Sunset - 6:30 and 8:00pm Friday, December 9, 2016. Directed by Jim Langer, Roundhouse Actors Professional Theatre. |
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Scott Icenhower's
The Service at Rocky Bluff The Service at Rocky Bluff is the creation of Greensboro playwright Scott Icenhower. It is the tale of a wandering C&W quartet that returns to the home church, Rocky Bluff Baptist, of one of its members, that of Amy the lead singer. But there is unrest at Rocky Bluff. A search committee from another church is poking around with the intent to poach the pastor. The antidote to this, as determined by the quartet and the church staff, is to show how inept the pastor is by putting a comic impostor in the pulpit for a song service to fool the poachers. The Service at Rocky Bluff is a wonderful mixture of light-hearted antics combined with the serious message of several favorite hymns. It’s a match made in heaven. RSVP's 2017 production was directed by Gwen Hall at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre. [see full article written by Philip Shore for Asheboro's Courier-Tribune] |
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Ketti Frings'
Look Homeward, Angel This play won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for drama. RSVP’s version was a staged reading "with all the bells and whistles." Look Homeward, Angel is a piece of North Carolina cultural history that continues in importance. Prolific Thomas Wolfe was the author of prose more poetic than prosaic. Ms. Frings captured the essence of the book deftly by concentrating on Eugene Gant’s coming of age and his departure from home to go to college. RSVP's 2017 production was directed at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre by Alisa Smith McNeill. |
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Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman's
Hello, Dolly! Dolly Levi is a New York-based matchmaker who merrily arranges things; a widow, she has designs on "half-a-millionaire" Yonkers merchant Horace Vandergelder. She weaves a web of romantic complications involving him and his two clerks, and a pretty milliner and her assistant. Romance is the whole thing! Hello, Dolly! was the iconic Broadway musical of the late 1960s, the longest running show of its time at 2,844 performances. RSVP's 2017 production was directed and choreographed at Asheboro's Sunset Theatre by Jim Shover. Click here to read the full article in Asheboro Courier-Tribune's Get This! |
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RSVP's 2015-2016 Season:
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William Shakespeare's*
Macbeth * The immortal bard’s masterwork of conciseness and power – re-imagined in the present moment a la television’s House of Cards, including everything an audience expects from this classic: intrigue, the supernatural, bloody deeds, overwhelming guilt, and ultimate tragedy. Bicentennial Park Rotary Pavilion, Downtown Asheboro - FREE Admission Directed by Travis Walsh, August 28-30, 2015 |
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Tennessee Williams’
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof To characterize the play is not easy. It is entirely about truth but none of the characters is able to recognize his or her failings in that realm. Big Daddy, the patriarch, is sure he is healthy; the matriarch, Big Mama, is sure she is loved; the scion, Brick, would like to tell the truth but others keep telling him what their truth is; Margaret, Brick’s wife, would simply like her husband’s love, but the nest is so soiled that there is little likelihood of that happening. Brick’s brother and sister-in-law are too busy vying for the family fortune to see straight. Tennessee Williams paces his story expertly with revelations and obscurations occurring throughout. Real drama for real people. Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro, NC Directed by Michael Henry Carter, November 6-8 & 13-15, 2015 |
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Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol Adapted and directed by Jim Langer. The fun, the fizz, the steaming pots … oh, and don’t forget the ghosts. This staged reading of Dickens’ short story has been a part of Christmas on Sunset for several years. It is the perfect antidote for anyone inclined to say “Bah, humbug!” FREE performances held at the Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Avenue, as part of Asheboro's annual Christmas on Sunset Directed by Jim Langer, RAPT, Dec. 11, 2015. |
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Sam Bobrick’s
Getting Sara Married Sara Hastings, in her mid-thirties, is too busy to think about getting married. Her Aunt Martha, however, has plenty of time to think about it. She has chosen Brandon Cates for her niece despite the fact that Brandon is already engaged to someone else. To get the two together requires several blows to the head to make the idea make sense. Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro, NC Directed by Alisa Smith McNeill, February 26-28 & March 4-6, 2016. |
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A.R. Gurney’s
Love Letters Six performances read by six different pairs of local actors. The hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments of a couple that never quite got together, from childhood to maturity, are detailed in correspondence between the two. This show has played on Broadway and Off-Broadway to great acclaim. Its poignancy captures the heart and sweeps listeners along through this lengthy friendship from its beginning to its bittersweet conclusion. Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro, NC Directed by Philip Shore, April 22-24 & April 29-May 1, 2016. |
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Once Upon a Mattress
Music by Mary Rodgers * Lyrics by Marshall Barer Book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer If you thought you knew the story of The Princess and The Pea, you may be in for a walloping surprise! Did you know, for instance, that Princess Winnifred actually swam the moat to reach Prince Dauntless the Drab? Or that Lady Larken's love for Sir Harry provided a rather compelling reason that she reach the bridal altar post haste? Or that, in fact, it wasn't the pea at all that caused the princess a sleepless night? Carried on a wave of wonderful songs, by turns hilarious and raucous, romantic and melodic, this rollicking spin on the familiar classic of royal courtship and comeuppance provided for some side-splitting shenanigans. Directed and Choreographed by Jim Shover, July 22-24 & 29-31, 2016. |
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RSVP's 2014-2015 Season:
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William Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night Twelfth Night is perhaps the most outrightly funny of Shakespeare’s comedies.The action takes place in the fictional country of Alluria, on the coast of some sunny sea on the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6 - the day of Epiphany! Identities are lost and gained and swapped and mistaken and, of course, love conquers all. Director Jim Langer placed the characters in occupations that make sense (sort of) in our present moment: Orsino owns a casino; Olivia owns a golf resort. Into this scene comes Viola, dressed as a man to protect herself in a strange country. Add in the too-full-of-BBQ Aguecheek and the none-too-sober Tobias – who, under the leadership of the down-to-earth Maria, bait the sour, overblown Malvolio without restraint. Bicentennial Park Rotary Pavilion, Downtown Asheboro - FREE Admission. Adapted and directed by Jim Langer, August 29-31, 2014. |
Click here to meet the Company of RSVP's Twelfth Night
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John Patrick's
The Curious Savage The Curious Savage had a short run on Broadway in 1950. Old as it is, the play retains its freshness through its sharply defined characters and its contrasting of the gentleness of the disadvantaged versus the ruthlessness of those who have everything. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Ethel P. Savage inherits an estate of ten billion dollars. Her children want the money but not her. To isolate and confound her, the children put Mrs. Savage into a rest home, The Cloisters, inhabited by gentle, deluded souls who care for her. Will the children get the money? Will the residents of the home experience changes that will improve their prospects? Such are the questions of the play. Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro, NC Directed by Alisa Smith McNeill, November 7-9 & 14-16, 2014. |
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A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens The beloved classic set on a Christmas Eve, when four ghosts teach elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge that love and friendship are much more important than amassing a fortune. RSVP’s third annual staged reading was presented at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre on December 12-13, 2014, adapted and directed by Jim Langer. |
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Steel Magnolias
By Robert Harling Truvy's beauty salon is where all the ladies who are "anybody" in Chinquapin, Louisiana come to have their hair done. Wise-cracking Truvy – helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle – dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town's rich curmudgeon, Ouiser; an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee; and the local social leader, M'Lynn, whose daughter Shelby is about to marry a "good ole boy." The women’s underlying strength – and love – make them touching, funny, and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad. Presented at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre February 27-March 1 and March 6-8, 2015; directed by Theresa Thomas. |
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Greater Tuna
By Joe Sears, Ed Howard, and Jaston Williams What do Arles Struvie, Thurston Wheelis, Aunt Pearl, Petey Fisk, Phineas Blye, and Rev. Spikes have in common? In this riotious send-up of small town morals and mores, they’re all among the upstanding citizens of Tuna, Texas' third smallest town. Hilariously presented at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre April 24-26 and May 1-3, 2015; directed by Philip Shore. |
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Monty Python’s
Spamalot Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, Spamalot retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and features a bevy of beautiful show girls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits, and French people. Did we mention the bevy of beautiful show girls? Presented at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre on July 24-26 and July 31-August 2, 2015; directed by Jim Langer and choreographed by Jim Shover. |
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RSVP's 2013-2014 Season:
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Much / M*A*S*H Ado about Nothing
By William Shakespeare; adapted by Jim Langer Much Ado About Nothing, written around 1598, is considered one of Shakespeare’s best comedies. It combines elements of robust hilarity with more serious meditations on honor, shame, and court politics. It is a joyful comedy that ends with multiple marriages and no deaths. To Shakespeare’s plot and language, in this RSVP production Director Jim Langer overlaid some contemporary familiarity by using a modern setting familiar in tone to a famous television show which took place at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Much Ado translates very well in its newer location in the early 1950s, with original music by Noah Lowdermilk and Gigi Pacheco (lyrics by Wm. Shakespeare). Presented at Asheboro’s Bicentennial Park, with FREE Admission. Directed by Jim Langer, August 29-31, 2013. |
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Pat Riviere-Seel’s
The Serial Killer’s Daughter is a poetry collection arising from the life and execution of Velma Barfield, exploring the mother/ daughter relationship between Velma and her grown daughter. This is not a sensational story; rather, it is one that explores the tragic fate of a daughter who has a serial killer for a mother. Velma Barfield was an ordinary, fiftyish, live-in nursing assistant; a working-class woman of no discernible distinction – with an addiction to prescription drugs, for which she needed money. The Serial Killer’s Daughter was the 2009 winner of the N.C. Literary and Historical Society’s Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry. Directed by Justin Tarlton, RSVP presented this dramatic reading October 3, 2013, at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre, immediately followed by a Q&A discussion and reception with award-winning author Pat Riviere-Seel, hosted by the Friends of the Randolph County Public Library. |
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A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens The beloved classic set on a Christmas Eve, when four ghosts teach elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge that love and friendship are much more important than amassing a fortune... RSVP’s second annual staged reading was offered as part of Asheboro's annual CHRISTMAS ON SUNSET on December 13, 2013; presented at the Sunset Theatre, adapted and directed by Jim Langer. |
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You Can’t Take It With You
By George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart At first the Sycamore family seems mad. But it’s not long before we realize that if they are mad, then the rest of the world is madder. In contrast to these delightful eccentrics are the unhappy Kirbys, whose son Tony is in love with Alice Sycamore. Mayhem ensues, starting with Tony mixing up the date to bring his straightlaced parents to dine at the Sycamore home, thus meeting them in their slightly batty natural element. This Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy celebrates non-conformity, and has been delighting audiences since 1936. Presented February 21-23 and February 28-March 2, 2014, at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre, directed by Philip Shore. |
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Always…Patsy Cline
By Ted Swindley Based on the true story of Patsy Cline’s friendship with her most devoted fan, Houston housewife Louise Seger. Until the day Patsy died tragically in a plane crash, she’d kept in touch with Louise by writing her long, handwritten letters which she signed “Love ALWAYS… Patsy Cline." Presented April 25-27 and May 2-4, 2014, at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre; directed by Joe Thatcher. |
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Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
The Sound of Music When a postulant proves too high-spirited for the religious life, she’s dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain, and they marry. Returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain's immediate service in their navy. The family's narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the theatre. Presented July 25-27 and August 1-3, 2014, at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre; directed by Scott Lilly. |
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