Natchez Little Theatre, Mississippi’s oldest community theater celebrating 83 years of entertainment is proud to become a repertory theater for the 2015 Spring Pilgrimage.

NLT will present Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” and the 1950s romantic comedy about Natchez and the Pilgrimage, “Southern Exposure.” “Little Women” will run every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. from March 6 through April 3.

“Southern Exposure” will run every Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. from March 7 through April 4. Tickets for all performances are $15 for non-members of NLT.

To open the Pilgrimage, NLT will begin with “Little Women,” Louisa May Alcott’s internationally beloved classic. Set during the American Civil War, “Little Women” gives the female perspective on war as they deal with the deprivations war can bring to the homes of those who have gone to serve their nation. Renowned because it was written by a woman in the mid-19th century, it became the great American novel with women as the main characters and has been translated into every language. It is a story that will never grow old because it deals with the greatest of human emotions: a mother’s love for children and their appreciation of it and her.

Creating the roles for the March women are Courtney Taylor as Marmee; Hannah Hargis as Meg; Camille Taylor as Jo; Katie Borum as Amy; Adair Carey and Ashleigh Johnson as Beth; and Sarah Carey as Aunt March. The male characters are portrayed by Dusty Giamanco as Theodore ‘Laurie’ Lawrence; Dwight Williams and Derek Braswell as John Brooke; myself as ‘Father’ March; and Joe Wild as Professor Bhaer.

This will be the 54th year NLT has presented “Southern Exposure” for the delight of the community and its numerous tourists.

Making its premier at NLT in 1951 after its short Broadway run, “Southern Exposure” has been an annual part of the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage since 1964, with more than 1,500 performances for audiences totaling close to half a million people.

As the curtain goes up on “Southern Exposure,” its azalea season at Mayweather Hall, the ancestral home of Penelope Mayweather played by Yvonne Murray and Laurie Williams, and the tourists are swarming through the historic mansions.  Penelope facing financial ruin, takes in a boarder named John Salgoud aka Jonathan Douglas, played by Tyler Brown and Lee Dellinger, an infamous Yankee writer of a book banned in Natchez

Penelope’s frantic efforts to keep him hidden from her family are frustrated when her cousin, Carol, played by Arden McMillin and Kaytlyn Walker, comes to spend the night. When Carol’s parents Avery and Emmeline Randall, played by Rusty Jenkins, Charlie Vess, Morgan Mizell and Corky Vess, discover she has spent a second night, scandal looms.

This chaotic slapstick comedy will have you rolling in the aisles even for those who have seen it numerous times. Rounding out the cast are Morgan Baskin and Alisha Solano as Penelope’s trusted housekeeper, Australia; Olivia Bridewell as Mary Belle Tucker, the tour guide; Bo Allen and Don Vesterse as John’s New York Publisher, Benjamin Carter; and the flock of tourists that continually descend on Mayweather Hall played to hilarious effects by Bo Allen, Morgan Baskin, Dusty Giamanco, Kaitlyn Lees, Rachel Lindsey, Morgan Mizell, Tia Moore, Karlyn Ritchie, Ann Sternberg, Don Vesterse, Michael Ware and Tam Winston.

It has been several years since I last directed “Southern Exposure,” and I am happy to be back directing it again along with “Little Women.” It would not have been possible without my able assistant director on both plays, Michael Ware. Don Vesterse has again created my set design and breathtakingly decorated the March Home/Mayweather Hall. Many thanks go the tech crew of Jamie Hargis and John Borum for helping me run the lights and sound on both productions and the cast and crew for their hours of preparation to entertain you.

Reservations are highly recommended. Call NLT at 601-442-2233 or 1-877-440-2233 or purchase tickets on-line at natcheztheatre.org to avoid long box office lines. I look forward to celebrating the Pilgrimage with you at NLT.

 

Layne Taylor is the artistic and executive director of NLT and director of “Little Women” and “Southern Exposure.”