SPOTLIGHT
on shows
S RLT. Real. Live.Theatre
Pass A bimonthly newsletter for Rome Little Theatre and Friends of the DeSoto members and contributors
R OME L ITTLE T HEATRE
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014
BACKSTAGE PASS AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014
The Adventures of Michael Hillman By Wendell Barnes
o you thought Tom Sawyer had lots of great adventures! Just wait until you read about the adventures that led Michael Hillman to become the director of RLT’s latest production, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”! This is Michael’s second directorial effort at RLT, but he has been involved in theatre through many adventures during the years both behind the scenes and onstage. His first directorial task at RLT was taking over the job of director of last season’s “Frankenstein,” when Holly Moore became too ill to carry on. Michael was in the cast playing Metz, one of the villainous graverobbers, when, unfortunately, Holly had to drop her vision for the project. Michael stepped up to the role and stayed in his brief acting role too, taking on double duty. The play was a resounding success, and even added on a special performance in honor of Holly on Halloween, Holly’s favorite holiday. She passed away just after the strike when the show was over, almost as if she wanted to be sure that the production was completed before she left us. Her spirit is still with us always in the make-up room where she spent so many hours donating her considerable talents in hair and make-up. Lauren Jones also came to the rescue to help Michael out in that show as assistant director, and filled one of the roles that became vacant as well. Lauren has been by his side for this production as well. His invaluable producer for this show is the always dependable and resourceful Neal Brackett, who this time also designed and ensured that the sets were built. Michael has also been involved in productions at Calhoun High School, where he teaches English, and for Calhoun Little Theatre. He has made well over ten appearances on the RLT stage as an actor, including the Woody Allen lead role in “Play It Again, Sam,” and has been nominated and won Roman Awards. Michael as a performer is comfortable in dramas and comedies, and especially loves the horror stories as well. Michael says that the audiences can expect to see the familiar scenes of the Tom Sawyer adventures, such as the fence painting scene, the friendship between Tom and Huck Finn, the scariness of Injun Joe, and the scene of Tom, Huck and Injun Joe at their own funerals. But his goal for this production is to convey the “tall tale” qualities of Mark Twain, who wrote this novel as a “boy’s adventure,” and not as a drama with any great obvious moral, so he is
directing this show with an emphasis on the broad and sentimental qualities, lighter than the misanthropic qualities that Twain usually is known for in his writing. Twain was conveying this quality in the scene when the crowd is eager to lynch Muff Potter, presenting humanity in a negative way. But Muff, played by Jacob Faile, is the emotional anchor of the play who is falsely accused of killing Doc Riverson, when all along Injun Joe is the murderer. This adaptation by Charlotte Chorpenning, a famous adapter of plays for families, is written in four acts, which will be presented at RLT as two acts in two scenes each. Michael’s joys and frustrations have come in working with this wonderful cast of young actors: watching them as they develop their characters, and working individually with those who do not know the basic theatre skills. Michael has been one of the movers and shakers behind the development of RLT Jr., including teaching in the workshops at school breaks and in the summer, and it has helped that many of those who joined the workshops auditioned for the show. The workshops are filling a great void left by the late Sherri Bacon when she suddenly passed away several years ago, and there was nowhere for young actors to go to get basic theatre training. RLT has long benefited from the training Sherri provided, and now her legacy is carried on in the Young Actor’s Workshops and RLT Jr. Michael will continue as one of the instructors for the workshops, and he would like to see the annual children’s season opener for RLT become an RLT Jr. production in the near future and be separate from the regular RLT season, a dream of many of us. So come see what may be the last children’s production of RLT, and make way to support the new RLT Jr. as they continue to provide workshops and productions to develop our young people into actors that will grace the adult productions one day! One last adventure Michael is excited about for this production: on Sunday, August 17, RLT and the Coosa River Basin Initiative sponsored a “Tom Sawyer Day on the River.” Participants enjoyed a grilled out lunch and paddling on the Oostanaula River from the Ridge Ferry Park Pavilions to Heritage Park, to celebrate the upcoming production. More adventures in Michael’s life to come: each of the six productions August 22nd-31st, and many more sure to follow in this talented young director’s life! The Adventures of Michael Page Hillman will continue! «1