Theatre Tuscaloosa, one of the city’s longest standing theatre companies, will debut their 2012-2013 season, Rockin’ and Rollin’ in the Aisles, with “The Dixie Swim Club.” The performance will run Oct. 5 to 14 in the Bean-Brown Theatre on Shelton State’s Martin Campus.
“The Dixie Swim Club” follows five women from North Carolina who meet once a year for a long weekend in August to renew their friendship, which started on their college swim team.
Adam Miller, Theatre Tuscaloosa’s managing director, will make his directorial debut, directing Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Woote’s “The Dixie Swim Club.”
“I would say that casting was the most difficult part,” Miller said. “I’ve been very fortunate to cast five very talented women. For me, it has been more coaching in the right direction. They have such good instincts.”
Miller, a UA graduate, chose this play because of the positive response to Theatre Tuscaloosa’s “Dearly Departed,” written by the same author.
“It’s got a southern flair to it,” Miller said. “It’s a really funny play. There’s a lot of great humor in it, and it fits with this season’s theme of all comedies and musicals.”
Theatre Tuscaloosa holds open auditions for each production that usually span over a few days so that anyone in the community who wants to come can have the opportunity.
“We had a lot of good choices,” Miller said. “It’s hard when you have a lot of good talent. Just about every member of our cast is attached to UA.”
It is not unusual for Theatre Tuscaloosa’s productions to be speckled with UA students and faculty. In TDSC, three of the five cast members, Tina Turley, Jenny Ryan and Lauren Wilson, all hold degrees from the University.
Ashlyn Lambert, a sophomore majoring in theatre, has been a stage manager for multiple Theatre Tuscaloosa productions, including TDSC. Lambert began volunteering and ushering after taking a theatre appreciation class at Shelton State.
“I’ve danced and been around theatre my whole life,” Lambert said. “I just really like the technical aspect of the theatre.”
Lambert said being around theatre is a great escape from the routine of classes and homework, and said she loves Theatre Tuscaloosa’s sense of family-like community.
“‘The Dixie Swim Club’ is a funny show,” Lambert said. “There are some great emotional moments – some sad, some happy. You will laugh, and you will cry; it’s just an all around great show.”
Tickets are $12 for students and can be purchased online at theatretusc.com or through the box office by calling (205) 391-2277.
The final dress rehearsal is Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public as a “pay-what-you-can” event. All proceeds from the production will go toward the Charlie Dennis Memorial Scholarship, benefitting Shelton State theatre students.
