Something old–something new–nothing borrowed — and NOTHING blue, South City is serving up a marriage of theatrical treats from the past and the present in 2018-19!
Tickets are $16 general admission/$13 for students under 18 and seniors over 60.
BEST VALUE: Flex passes are available beginning Sept 1 for $70. Each pass allows the owner a total of 6 admissions to any show during the season (special events throughout the year are not included). Use all the passes on one show or spread them out throughout the season, your choice! Call (205) 621-2128 and leave a message or email info@southcitytheatre.com.
Oct 5-13, 2018
NIGHT WATCH
(Travels to Homewood Library October 19 & 20)
Director JJ MARRS
Unable to sleep, Elaine Wheeler paces the living room of her Manhattan townhouse, troubled by unsettling memories and vague fears. Her husband tries to comfort her, but when he steps away for a moment Elaine screams as she sees (or believes she sees) the body of a dead man in the window across the way. The police are called, but find nothing except an empty chair. Elaine’s terror grows as shortly thereafter she sees still another body—this time a woman’s—but by now the police are skeptical and pay no heed to her frantic pleas. Her husband, claiming that Elaine may be on the verge of a breakdown, calls in a lady psychiatrist, who agrees with his suggestion that Elaine should commit herself to a sanitarium for treatment. From this point on, the plot moves quickly and grippingly as those involved—Elaine’s old friend and house guest Blanche; the inquisitive and rather sinister man who lives next door; and the nosy German maid Helga—all contribute to the deepening suspense and mystery of the play as it draws towards its riveting and chilling climax.
An outstanding Broadway success, this ingeniously devised thriller builds steadily in menace and suspense until the final, breath-stopping moment of its unexpected, “twist” ending. “A most superior thriller…which from its first blood-curdling scream to its last charming surprise is a first-class example of its genre.” —NY Times. “…Miss Fletcher knows exactly what she is doing, goes about her business with gratifying swiftness and comes up with a finish worthy of one of Roald Dahl’s little nifties.” —NY Daily News. “The call for a good American mystery melodrama was answered last night…fulfills all the requirements for an evening of satisfying menace and mystification.” —NY Post.
Dec 7-16, 2018
RADIO TBS
Director Rachael Burnett
Radio hostesses and society doyennes Vesta Poteet and Dixie Mandrell bring to you the comings and goings of the activities in and around The Luna Del Mar Manufactured Home Oasis and Monkey Empire — very few of the monkeys are contagious. And what a jumpin’ place this trailer park is. There’s a visit to Graceland from rovin’ reporter Missy Goode (and her unfortunate arrest by the security guards); there’s the upcomin’ Miss Manatee contest, if forced contestant Mayola Felts can stop eaten’ every sweet thing she can get her hands on; there’s The Heart of Dixie advice for the lovelorn and addicted — a subscription to the Gone with the Wind collectors series of plates with Scarlette O’Hara looking like Ernest Borgnine in drag is a dramatic disappointment. The colossal celebration at Luna Del Mar, penicillin capital of central Florida, is Jesus and Elvis; A Tribute to the Kings, a little nativity with some rock n’ roll. So it’s not the holidays, but in honor of Elvis, a drive-by nativity is planned with headlights to be beamed on the annual tableau — low headlights, PLEASE! If you think that this kings’ tribute runs smoothly, you’ll also believe that teased hair is a thing of the past.
February 1-10, 2019
ALMOST, MAINE
Director Donna Stinson Williamson
On a cold, clear, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, Almost’s residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.
“ALMOST, MAINE is a series of nine amiably absurdist vignettes about love, with a touch of good-natured magic realism…witty, romantic, unsentimental. A beautifully structured play, with nifty surprise endings (most but not all of them happy).” —The New York Times. “Sweet, poignant, and witty. Nearly perfect. AMOST, MAINE’s charm is real. [It] packs wit, earns its laughs and, like love, surprises you.” —New York Daily News. “Mega-hit ALMOST, MAINE lands somewhere between Norman Rockwell and Our Town. Unabashedly unhip. There is no pretense of an edge here—the show offers a sweetness and decency that’s become rare at the theater. At this point, it’s a welcome breath of fresh air.” —New York Post.
April 5-14, 2019
HARVEY
Director Pat Yates
Elwood P. Dowd insists on including his friend Harvey in all of his sister Veta’s social gatherings. Trouble is, Harvey is an imaginary six-and-a-half-foot-tall rabbit. To avoid future embarrassment for her family—and especially for her daughter, Myrtle Mae—Veta decides to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium. At the sanitarium, a frantic Veta explains to the staff that her years of living with Elwood’s hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also, and so the doctors mistakenly commit her instead of her mild-mannered brother. The truth comes out, however; Veta is freed, and the search is on for Elwood, who eventually arrives at the sanitarium of his own volition, looking for Harvey. But it seems that Elwood and his invisible companion have had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors. Only at the end does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn’t so bad after all. A celebrated success: This play has become one of the most successful and popular plays ever offered to nonprofessionals.
June 7-16, 2019
LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO
Director Lisa Ponder
THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, in December of 1939. Gone with the Wind is having its world premiere, and Hitler is invading Poland, but Atlanta’s elitist German Jews are much more concerned with who is going to Ballyhoo, the social event of the season. Especially concerned is the Freitag family: bachelor Adolph, his widowed sister, Beulah (Boo) Levy, and their also widowed sister-in-law, Reba. Boo is determined to have her dreamy, unpopular daughter, Lala, attend Ballyhoo, believing it will be Lala’s last chance to find a socially acceptable husband. Adolph brings his new assistant, Joe Farkas, home for dinner. Joe is Brooklyn born and bred, and furthermore is of Eastern European heritage—several social rungs below the Freitags, in Beulah’s opinion. Lala, however, is charmed by Joe and she hints broadly about being taken to Ballyhoo, but he turns her down. This enrages Boo, and matters get worse when Joe falls for Lala’s cousin, Reba’s daughter, Sunny, home from Wellesley for Christmas vacation. Will Boo succeed in snaring Peachy Weil, a member of one of the finest Jewish families in the South? Will Sunny and Joe avoid the land mines of prejudice that stand in their way? Will Lala ever get to Ballyhoo? The family gets pulled apart and then mended together with plenty of comedy, romance and revelations along the way. Events take several unexpected turns as the characters face where they come from and are forced to deal with who they really are.
Winner of the 1997 Tony Award for Best Play. “Everything falls into place in this…wonderfully crafted script.” —Variety. “Alfred Uhry’s charming Broadway comedy (sort of) THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO…has a subtext and undertow of thought. It is a delightful comedy freighted with an uncomfortable message.” —New York Post. “Alfred Uhry’s achingly beautiful play THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO [is] luminous and powerful. It will most likely find a place in the American canon alongside Uhry’s DRIVING MISS DAISY…Uhry draws his characters with so fine a pen, on such a solid foundation, that the story takes on the sharp poignancy of life.” —Los Angeles Times.
August 9- 18, 2019
THE SAVANNAH SIPPING SOCIETY
Directed by (to be announced)
In this delightful, laugh-a-minute comedy, four unique Southern women, all needing to escape the sameness of their day-to-day routines, are drawn together by Fate—and an impromptu happy hour—and decide it’s high time to reclaim the enthusiasm for life they’ve lost through the years. Randa, a perfectionist and workaholic, is struggling to cope with a surprise career derailment that, unfortunately, reveals that she has no life and no idea how to get one. Dot, still reeling from her husband’s recent demise and the loss of their plans for an idyllic retirement, faces the unsettling prospect of starting a new life from scratch—and all alone. Earthy and boisterous Marlafaye, a good ol’ Texas gal, has blasted into Savannah in the wake of losing her tom-cattin’ husband to a twenty-three-year-old dental hygienist. The strength of her desire to establish a new life is equaled only by her desire to wreak a righteous revenge on her ex. Also new to town, Jinx, a spunky ball of fire, offers her services as a much-needed life coach for these women. However, blinded by her determination and efforts to get their lives on track, she over-looks the fact that she’s the one most in need of sage advice. Over the course of six months, filled with laughter, hilarious misadventures, and the occasional liquid refreshment, these middle-aged women successfully bond and find the confidence to jumpstart their new lives. Together, they discover lasting friendships and a renewed determination to live in the moment—and most importantly, realize it’s never too late to make new old friends. So raise your glass to these strong Southern women and their fierce embrace of life and say “Cheers!” to this joyful and surprisingly touching Jones, Hope, Wooten comedy!