Drumroll please! We are thrilled to announce our upcoming 2023/24 season at South City Theatre!
From classic thrillers to moving dramas and hilarious comedies, our 2023-2024 season is sure to leave you spellbound. And there are sure to be a few surprises along the way!
August: Covering Dish
October: Dracula
December: A Tuna Christmas
February: Crimes of the Heart
April: The Wild Women of Winedale
June: Catfish Moon
Stay tuned for more information on seasons tickets.
Would you like to be a director for the upcoming season? Send an email to donna.williamson@southcitytheatre.com with your resume by May 31, 2023, to be considered for the upcoming season.
South City Theatre and the Pelham BEAT are excited to present Love Letters, a poignant and entertaining play that explores the profound and enduring nature of love. The play revolves around two friends who have exchanged letters, cards, and notes with each other for more than half a century. But as they reflect on their lives and choices, they realize that they may have missed out on the love of their lives. This production is directed by Pat Yates and stars Sue Ellen Gerrells and Ron Dauphinee.
Love Letters is a heartwarming and humorous portrayal of the human experience of love, loss, and connection. It is a play that will leave audiences both laughing and crying. But that’s not all! The play is presented alongside a sumptuous dinner and dessert. The menu includes a delicious chicken marsala dish, consisting of grilled chicken breast sautéed in a creamy mushroom marsala sauce served with garlic mashed potatoes and streamed broccoli. For dessert, indulge in some strawberry shortcake. A cash bar will also be available for those who wish to have a drink.
The event will take place at the Banquet Hall of the Civic Complex & Ice Arena, starting at 6 PM. This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy a delightful evening of entertainment, food, and drinks with friends and loved ones.
Don’t miss this chance to experience Love Letters and indulge in a delicious meal with great company!
➡Deadline to register: June 15th ➡For students 6-18 ➡Tuition: $400 for two weeks + Tshirt, sibling discount available ($50 deposit due upon registration) ➡Camp dates are June 19-23, 2023 and June 26-30, 2023 ➡Classes will meet between 9am – 3pm ➡Location: Restore Campus, 128 Market Center Dr, Alabaster, AL 35007
Over the course of two weeks, your child will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of theatre classes including acting, singing, dancing, and improv. Our experienced instructors will teach them all the tricks of the trade and help them develop their skills. The camp will culminate in a showcase performance where your child will have the opportunity to show off their new skills and perform in front of family and friends. But it’s not just about the performance. Participation in theatre has been proven to have many benefits for children. It helps to build confidence, improve public speaking skills, develop social skills, and foster creativity.
So what are you waiting for? Sign up your child for our theatrical summer camp and watch them grow in confidence and creativity!
Thursday’s April 20 performance has been cancelled. The two performances on April 21 & 22 at 7:30 pm are available at the special rate of $10 each. https://www.southcitytheatre.com/get-tickets/ for tickets.
Seven letters. Two people. One vanity plate. Kathleen, a Scarsdale socialite, wants something Harry, a short-order cook from Brooklyn, already has. Harry has his reasons for refusing to exchange plates. Kathleen resolves to use her feminine charms and her checkbook to make Harry fork over the goods. But nothing is simple, and what begins as a ridiculous squabble over a seemingly unimportant matter turns into a poignant, funny, and bumpy ride toward the mending of two broken lives. A MUST SEE!
Directed by Clay Boyce and starring Alan Ashman, David Gauntt, Patrice Headington, Keith Ngo, and Elane Barlow.“This sentence by Edmond Rostand, the author of “Cyrano de Bergerac” describes our show perfectly: panache: “A little frivolous perhaps, most certainly a little theatrical, panache is nothing but a grace which is so difficult to retain in the face of death, a grace which demands so much strength that, all the same, it is a grace … which I wish for all of us.” says director Clay Boyce.
Please note that this show contains adult themes and may not be suitable for some audiences.
In 2019, South City Theatre produced the heartwarming and hilarious musical, “Smoke on the Mountain.” The show was such a success that audiences clamored for more; so we are answering the call with a sequel, “Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming!”
It’s October 1945, and the gospel‑singing Sanders Family is back together again. The war is over, and America’s years of prosperity are just beginning. But there’s another kind of rite of passage at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, where Reverend Mervin Oglethorpe is giving his last service. He’s been called to preach in Texas, and he’s already bought a ten‑gallon hat and is preparing to ride into the sunset with his wife, June, who is eight months pregnant. Tomorrow morning, young Dennis Sanders takes over as Mount Pleasant’s pastor. Join the Sanders Family as they send Mervin and June off in style, with hilarious and touching stories and twenty‑five toe‑tapping bluegrass gospel favorites, including Rock of Ages, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms; Unclouded Day; and Do Lord.
AUDITION INFORMATION
Some of the performers from our original production will repeat their roles: Jim Billings, Ryan Gerrells, Clint Neville, Michael Wilbanks, Amy Self, and Rhonda Ray.
Open roles include:
JUNE– non-soloist. Female. 30s-40s. Excellent physical comedy timing. June “signs not sings”. Unfortunately her signing is quite literal and absolutely hysterical.
DENISE – 20s-30s. Female. Married with rambunctious children who are offstage, Denise is always dealing with chaos. Soprano. Soloist.
VERA – 50s-60s. Female. The matriarch of the Sanders family. Vera quotes the Bible often–especially to the pastor. She loves her family, but also loves to be right at all times. Alto. Soloist.
Ability to harmonize a must!
Also looking for performers who play instruments in the blue-grass style, especially guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, fiddle, etc. If you can play, be prepared to audition with your instrument. Will consider adding musicians to the cast who don’t have specific roles or lines.
Where: Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, 858 Kent Dairy Rd, Alabaster, AL 35007
Audition Dates: Sunday, May 7, 3-5 p.m. and/or Monday, May 8, 7-8:30 p.m. You don’t have to attend both audition dates.
Rehearsals will be at churches in Alabaster.
Performances: Touring to area churches on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights July 13-22 at 7:30 p.m. Additional Sunday afternoon or evening performances may be added during that time frame, as well.
Director Sue Ellen Gerrells–South City Theatre Musical Director William Harper (Choir director at First United Methodist Church, Alabaster)
For more information, email director at sueellengerrells@gmail.com
South City Theatre will be hosting auditions for Don Gordon’s Panache. The production is directed by Clay Boyce.
Auditions will be held at the theatre on February 4, 2023, from 2:00 – 4:00 PM, and February 5, 2023, from 11:00 – 1:00 PM.
What could possibly have motivated Kathleen Trafalgar to get into her Mercedes SL 450 one afternoon and drive to the inner city to track down a rough-edged, hard-drinking, fry cook named Harry Baldwin? A six by twelve-inch piece of tin issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to anyone who pays the fee. It seems they both applied for exactly the same personalized license plate – PANACHE. Kathleen is married to a man she regards as a dashing, eloquent, Renaissance Man personified, and she wants to put it on his Bentley. Harry already has the plate on his Ford truck. For both of them this seven letter word holds special meaning. The play becomes an intellectual battle ultimately exposing the irrelevance of social status and the needs of two lonely people – an unusual love story.
All roles are available (character descriptions below). Sides are attached below.
Harry Baldwin – an artist who works nights as a fry cook, can be played anywhere from 40 – early 50s.
Kathleen Trafalgar – chic, wealthy, attractive, cultured, fashionable dresser, perfect manners, can be late 30s – late 40s.
Irwin Alcott – clean cut, fragile, scholarly, age 20.
Laura – poised, soft-spoken, her beauty is equal parts innocence and sensuality, about age 24.
Jumbo Dombroski – a large, intimidating man – tattoos, muscular, dresses and acts as if he owns the street, 40s – 60s.
Performance dates are April 14-16, 2023 and April 20-22, 2023.
Contact info@southcitytheatre.com for more information
We just can’t help falling in love with the cast of Elvis People! Show dates are February 3 – 11, 2023.
Nancy Estes, Harper Upchurch, Trey Woodrow, Dale Jones, Katy Walker, Alan Ashman, Kathy Scruggs, Madelyn Harbison, Donna Balsley, Sally Montgomery, Steven Ross, and Donna Willamson.
Thank you to everyone who came out to audition and made this such a difficult decision. Auditions for our next show, Panache, will be announced very soon. We hope to see all of you then.
Make a resolution to try something new in 2023: Directing for Community Theatre!
The workshop will be held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons–January 28 and 29, 2023 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. The first session focuses on beginning directing skills: working through the process from choosing a play, holding auditions, scheduling rehearsals and performances. The second session will focus on more advanced skills such as creating characters by working with objectives and tactics, staging meaningful pictures through blocking, and working with different types of personalities using leadership and collaborative techniques. A question and answer period will follow at the end of each session. The cost is $10 per session, per person, payable at each session
Workshop Leader Sue Ellen Gerrells is an award-winning actress and director whose career spans some sixty plus years and three continents. She is the former Artistic Director of South City Theatre and the retired Executive Director of the Alabama Conference of Theatre.
Now that your bellies are full of food and your hearts are full of gratitude, don’t forget that Christmas is a few weeks away! Wouldn’t it be great to have something fun for the whole family to look forward to? Look no further: A (Not So) Retro Christmas Variety Show will feature professional musicians: Alan Ashman and Ron Bourdages: Carol Burnett skits, a kids’ program; and a holiday sing-a-long! Directed by Lisa Ponder, Donna Williamson, and Jess Smyly. Join us on December 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17 at 7:30 p.m. or December 11 at 2:00 p.m. There’s no better way to get into the Christmas spirit–get your tickets at www.southcitytheatre.com today!
