The ever-popular “Smoke on the Mountain” returns to the Andy Griffith Playhouse this week. The show opens on Saturday Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. and additional presentations are Sunday at 3 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m.
The show is set in 1938 on a Saturday night in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. The Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe has invited the Sanders Family Singers for a Saturday Night Sing. The audience acts as the congregation while two dozen traditional and original hymns weave together with stories of witness from family members. Though the Sanders family want to appear perfect and professional, they cannot help but reveal their honest, imperfect, and often hilarious, natures.
“Smoke on the Mountain” is directed by John Adams, whose previous shows at the Surry Arts Council include “A Christmas Story,” “Love Letters” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” He has directed “Smoke on the Mountain” previously and is delighted to be back: “Growing up in Southwest Virginia and being the grandson of a Southern Baptist preacher really gives me an appreciation of Smoke on the Mountain. These are the songs and the people I knew as a child. I love this play and my terrific cast and crew, and cannot wait for opening night.”
Allen Nichols, who stars as Burl Sanders, is the musical director. He has played this role several times.
The cast includes: Seth Dowell-Young as Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe and Jane Tesh as Vera Sanders. They are joined by Joey Marion (Stanley Sanders), Susan Lawrence (June Sanders), Jamie Dowell-Young (Denise Sanders), and Alex Whitley (Dennis Sanders). The remainder of the cast are musician cousins Jennie Lowry Caudill, Mack Collins, Jack Holt, and Myron Simmons.
Tickets are $15, plus tax, and can be purchased online at www.surryarts.org, by telephone at 336-786-7998, or at the Surry Arts Council office at 218 Rockford Street in Mount Airy.
