Tickets on sale for Hairspray
ShenanArts will be hosting the Virginia premiere of the recent Broadway hit musical Hairspray beginning Aug. 12.
The local production, based on the film written and directed by John Waters, is being directed by one-time “American Idol” contestant Colon Berry, who also co-stars as Link Larkin, the resident hunk of “The Corny Collins Show.” The storyline revolves around that show and the plus-sized heroine of Hairspray!, Tracy Turnblad (Justine Juart), who has a passion for dancing and dreams of being able perform on the show.
Hairspray runs Aug. 12-Aug. 22 with Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now at www.shenanarts.org.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
ShenanArts announces auditions for Hairspray
Edited by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
ShenanArts will hold auditions this weekend for the first production in its new performance venue at Gypsy Hill Place in Staunton coming up in August.
ShenanArts at Ntelos Theatre will open with the Virginia premiere of the recent Broadway hit musical Hairspray, directed by Colton Berry with choreography by Lindsey Walters and music direction by Jane Volke.
Auditions will be held on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the old Books-A-Million space in the Staunton Mall.
Pufferbellies sales to benefit ShenanArts
Edited by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
ShenanArts will receive 10 percent of the Sunday sales in June at Pufferbellies Toys and Books in Staunton as part of the store’s Shop Sundays for a Cause charitable giving program, owners Erin and Susan Blanton announced this week.
Founded in 1981, ShenanArts ‘ mission is to use theatre to build bridges within the community. ShenanArts produces plays for all generations.
Pufferbellies has donated more than $8,500 to 18 different non-profit organizations serving area children and families, including Camp Dragonfly, Friends of the Staunton Public Library, Friends of the Augusta County Public Library, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, People Places, and Valley Children’s Center.
A new home for ShenanArts
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
ShenanArts unveiled its new home on Thursday – and had a couple of friends over to mark the occasion.
“Ntelos has been very supportive of ShenanArts for a number of years. We certainly appreciate that. And they’ve shown their support here again and upped the ante,” said Mike Conner, the chairman of the Board of Directors for the children’s theater nonprofit, which is moving into Gypsy Hill Place in Staunton.
The theater will be known as ShenanArts at Ntelos Theater with a financial gift from the Ntelos Foundation that is going toward the $150,000 renovation of the auditorium at the former R.E. Lee High School. Read more
Gypsy Hill Place: On pace
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Talk about ambitious. Charlottesville-based Octagon Partners gave itself 10 months to rehab the old R.E. Lee High School on Churchville Avenue into senior housing and new spaces for ShenanArts and the Staunton Senior Center. And Octagon and general contractor Mathers Construction of Waynesboro are coming in a little ahead of schedule in spite of a brutal winter weather season that put a number of local projects on hold for long stretches. Read more
The Junior Opry is back
Talent showcase returns to Stage4 Jan. 3
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Bob Campbell wanted to bring his Virginia Junior Opry back to the Staunton area. Jeff McDaniel wanted it back, too, because he knew a Staunton-based Opry show could pull from a wide base of local talent.
“And here we are,” said Campbell, who with McDaniel, a ShenanArts veteran who connected with Campbell at a Virginia Junior Opry show in Clifton Forge earlier this year, is putting on a Junior Opry performance on Sunday, Jan. 3, at Stage4 Theatre in Verona.
Campbell has moved the Opry back and forth between the Staunton area and the Clifton Forge area for the past 10 years. Campbell, a member of the popular local act The Coachmen, has wanted to find a home in the Staunton-Augusta area for the show modeled on the Grand Old Opry since getting the series going. Read more
ShenanArts to host Junior Opry
Staff Report
News Tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
ShenanArts will be hosting a session of The Virginia Junior Opry at its Stage4 Theatre, on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010.
The show will begin at 3 p.m., and proceeds will go to benefit ShenanArts’ re-location fund.
The Virginia Junior Opry was formed in the early ’90s, by Staunton native, Bob Campbell, to provide a forum to showcase young talent throughout the state in a drug- and alcohol-free environment. The show is headquartered in Clifton Forge. Read more
