Oak Ridge Today

Junior Playhouse performs ‘Gingerbread: Hansel & Gretel’ in February

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The Oak Ridge Playhouse in Jackson Square is pictured above on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)


“Gingerbread: A Hansel and Gretel Story” will be performed in early February by the Oak Ridge Junior Playhouse Youth Theatre for Young Audiences.

The performance of the season-closer will be at the Oak Ridge Playhouse in Jackson Square on February 4 and 5.

“The Oak Ridge Junior Playhouse has cooked up a tantalizing morsel for young audiences to gobble up!” a press release said. “The candied scent of molasses and cinnamon, paired with the warm smell of ginger and clove can only mean one thing—gingerbread! However, this sweet and spicy temptation is anything but nice.”

It’s based on folklore by the Brothers Grimm, with a new adaptation by Playhouse Director Reggie Law. [Read more…]

Guest column: Don’t miss ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’; show ends this weekend

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Ain't Misbehavin'

By Gene R. Dunaway

It opened April 25 at the Oak Ridge Playhouse and closes Sunday, May 11, and “Ain’t Misbehavin'” is a production to miss at your peril! A show of almost two hours of non-stop music, dance, and jive, I found myself struggling to remain seated and not jump up and join in the fun.

Go through the lobby doors, and you have time traveled back to Harlem during World War II. The smoky haze of a late-night club envelopes you. A lone piano player, Wendel Werner, is stroking the keys.

Presently, he is joined on stage by Alexis Tidwell, Lar’ Juanette Williams, Amy Coleman, Dann B. Black, and Tony Williams II. This ensemble, backed up by an intimate house band, explores the heights of a full-blown party to the depths of love gone wrong.

Along the way, we are treated to exceptional solos, duets, trios, quartets, and quintets. The dancing is contagious and choreographed by resident artistic director Reggie Law (a man of many talents). [Read more…]

Letter: Witness ‘intense conflict of forces’ in Playhouse drama

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To the Editor:

In the early days of black-and-white television, there used to be a game show entitled “I’ve Got A Secret” hosted by Garry Moore. On it, a panel tried to determine a contestant’s “secret”: something that was unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or humorous about that person. It was entertaining in a jocular fashion. Presently appearing on the stage at the Oak Ridge Playhouse is “Other Desert Cities,” also a show built around secrets that are revealed with gut-wrenching emotion. One program would give you the urge to buy toothpaste. The other will give you the urge to seek a storm shelter.

I was privileged to watch the final dress rehearsal on Thursday evening. The pedigree and jist of the play, while important, are recorded elsewhere. I wish to share with you, the reader, what I experienced with the hope that—at the curtain call—you, too, will be engulfed with a myriad of emotions. You are going to witness a prime example of ensemble acting. The seasoned actors are Ashley Peck (Brooke Wyeth), Leo LaCamera (Trip Wyeth), Karen Brunner (Mrs. Polly Wyeth), Steve Fitchpatrick (Mr. Lyman Wyeth), and Laurel Williams (Aunt Silda). While each possesses talent in his or her own right, collectively they are a super nova of stagecraft. For approximately two and a half hours, what you will see and hear is real! They are brother, sister, and aunt that have their own take of the family secret; and a mother and father who know the truth but have refused up till now to reveal it. These are not thespians but an actual family embroiled in a crisis that goes beyond the worst holiday dinner you have ever had. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Playhouse welcomes back ‘Annie,’ this weekend through Dec. 8

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“Little Orphan Annie” may have disappeared from the comic pages of American newspapers, much like newspapers themselves, but her spirited message of hope lives on thanks to Broadway and the beloved musical that bears her name. To kick off the holiday season, she returns to Oak Ridge Playhouse once again.

Boasting one of Broadway’s most memorable scores, including “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” and the ever optimistic “Tomorrow,” the original Broadway production of Annie opened in 1977, winning Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Now produced all over the world, it is ranked among the top 20 longest running shows in Broadway history, and continues to be one of the most successful musicals ever. [Read more…]

‘The Wiz’ opens at Oak Ridge Playhouse tonight

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The Wiz

‘The Wiz’ opens at the Oak Ridge Playhouse on Friday, Nov. 16, and runs through Dec. 2. (Submitted photo)

For more than a century, Frank L. Baum’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” has been a celebrated story that has inspired dozens of iterations, adaptations, and re-imaginings, from the beloved MGM film starring Judy Garland, to animated versions, to current Broadway hit “Wicked.”

But in the 1970s, “The Wiz” came seemingly out of nowhere to hit Broadway like a gale force wind and swept Broadway audiences off their feet with a hip, soulful mix of R&B, disco, and gospel-type music. With its central themes of home, self-reliance, and courage, “The Wiz” is fairly true to the original storyline, but with a style all its own.

The Oak Ridge Playhouse production is going a step further and embracing that 1970s style by conceiving Dorothy’s trip to Oz as a disco fantasy with a pulsing light show and groovy costumes and wigs by Virginia Baldwin and Sandra Herrera.

“If you love ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ you will love this show,” says Managing Artistic Director Reggie Law. “And if you would love a fresher take on ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ you will love this show.”

The production was a landmark in the 1970s for being the first big Broadway blockbuster featuring an entirely African-American cast and quickly was sent into production as a feature film starring major recording artists and actors like Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, and Lena Horne.

Perhaps because of the show’s origins, there is a popular belief that “The Wiz” must be cast all with people of color. Law doesn’t think that holds as true these days.

“Over time the culture of music has really mixed. Plus, I believe in non-traditional casting except where race is a plot point,” he says. “In ‘The Wiz,’ it isn’t. So, we have a great mix of performers and artists in our show.”

Directed by Reggie Law, with musical direction by Sheryl Howard, and choreography by Tony Williams, the impressive and diverse cast is led by Playhouse newcomer Alexis Tidwell as Dorothy, whose powerhouse voice is packed into a petite body. Other principal roles include Tony Williams as the Scarecrow, Kirk Hoxie as the Tin Man, Cavanaugh Mims as the Lion, and Evelyn Jack, who knocked Playhouse audiences out of their seats as Motormouth Maybelle in last season’s “Hairspray” returns as Glinda, the Good Witch.

Presented by CapitalMark Bank & Trust, “The Wiz” opens Friday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m., followed by a performance on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m.

There will be a Thanksgiving night performance on Thursday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. as well as shows on Friday, Nov. 23, and Saturday, Nov. 24, at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee on Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. Final performances are Friday, Nov, 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m., and a Sunday matinee on Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.

For more information, log on to www.orplayhouse.com or call (865) 482-9999. Tickets range in price from $16 to $22 depending on performance date. This production is also made possible through support from WUOT 91.9 FM and the Tennessee Arts Commission.