A cabaret-style musical will be served up when Camp Washington-Carver’s Family Homestyle Dinner Theater Series presents its first show of the 2002 season on Saturday, July 20, 2002, with the Charleston Light Opera Guild’s production of “Tintypes.” The dinner buffet begins at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.
This family-friendly production takes the audience on a tour of life in America around 1900. The growing pains of a nation are chronicled in this grand pageant of pre-World War I. With songs like “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “A Hot Time in The Old Town Tonight” and “You’re A Grand Old Flag,” the show is a nostalgic nod to a slower-paced and less-complicated America, when optimism and ingenuity ran high.
The cast includes Pam Kessler as Anna Held, a soprano music hall star and wife of Flo Ziegfeld; Cheryl Plear as Susannah, a first-generation free-born African-American; Sallie Sheridan as Emma Goldman, an outspoken socialist leader; Tim Harper as Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States; and Bob McCarty as Charlie, a Charlie Chaplin-like Russian immigrant.
“Tintypes” is directed and choreographed by Nina Denton Pasinetti. Musical direction and piano accompaniment are by Mary Ellen Logsdon. Tom Pasinetti provides technical direction. The play, which originally was produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., was conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle. The musical and vocal arrangements are by Marvin. Orchestration and vocal arrangements are by John McKinney.
The dinner buffet includes a selection of entrees, vegetables and bread. Iced tea, soda and coffee also will be served. At intermission, playgoers will be treated to homemade cobblers and ice cream.
Seating is limited. Reservations are required. Tickets are $20 per person for dinner and the performance. Children five and under are admitted free. Camping is available at the additional rate of $15 per site with electric and $10 per site without electric.
The second Family Homestyle Dinner Theater Series production of the season will feature the Not-for-Profit Players’ production of the acclaimed off-Broadway comedy “The Foreigner” on Saturday, Aug. 24. For more information about the Family Homestyle Dinner Theater Series or to make reservations for either show, call (304) 438-3005 or e-mail terry.hackney@wvculture.org.
A beautiful retreat listed in the National Register of Historic Places and operated by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, Camp Washington-Carver serves as the state’s mountain cultural arts center and nurtures the cultural heritage embodied in the site since its dedication in 1942 as a 4-H and agricultural extension camp for West Virginia’s African-Americans. The camp is located adjacent to Babcock State Park just off Route 60 (Midland Trail) on Route 41 in Clifftop, Fayette County.
The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Department of Arts, Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
The Charleston Light Opera Guild has provided a showcase for local musical talent for more than 50 years. It began in 1948 as a non-profit group that produced popular operettas. In 1960 the Guild opened its season with “Oklahoma!”— ushering in the era of the Broadway musical. It has maintained a rich history of mainstage spring and fall musicals at the Charleston Civic Center Little Theater and summertime musicals at its own Guild Theater on Charleston’s west side. In addition to “Tintypes,” the Guild’s latest productions include “42nd Street” and “Annie.” The group will present “Footloose” in July and August.
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