THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509140161
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
THEY'RE back.
The Theatre of Dare is holding auditions for the first production of the 1995-96 season Tuesday and Wednesday.
First-time director Eric Hause is looking for a few good men and women for Horton Foote's ``The Trip to Bountiful.'' There are five male roles, three female roles and four extras.
The play, set on the Texas Gulf Coast in the '50s, tells the story of Carrie Watts, an aging widow who lives with her son and daughter-in-law, but yearns to return to her childhood home in Bountiful.
Lillian Gish originated the role on Broadway in the 1950s. Geraldine Page played the role to perfection in the 1985 movie and snagged a long-overdue Academy Award.
On the long bus ride to Bountiful, Watts meets a young military wife named Thelma. The two women form an immediate friendship, sharing stories during the journey.
When they arrive at the bus station in Bountiful, the sheriff is waiting for Mrs. Watts. Her son wants her picked up and taken home. But the kindly sheriff agrees to take her to her former home.
But things have changed in Bountiful: The friends of her youth have either died or moved away, and her precious house is on the verge of collapse.
It doesn't matter. She plunges her hands into the earth, feeling the power of home. When son Ludie and daughter-in-law Jessie Mae arrive to take her back to Texas, she consents quietly.
Hause says ``The Trip to Bountiful'' is a stretch for the theater group.
``All of our productions have been good,'' he says. ``But they relied a lot of the set. We plan to use a minimalist approach to the set design for this. This is really an actor's play.''
Auditions will be held at the Baum Center in Kill Devil Hills Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. Anyone auditioning will be asked to read from the play's script.
``The Trip to Bountiful'' will be performed at Manteo Middle School Nov. 2-4 and 10-12.
Call Eric Hause at 255-2073 or Kathy Morrison at 441-3088 for more information.
Surfing the airwaves
The new voice on Bill Ray's morning show on WCXL-XL 104, belongs to Gem Meyer. Meyer was most recently the operations manager and morning man at WVOD, 99.1.
Out at WNHW-Carolina 92 is longtime Outer Banks newsman Greg Clark, who is leaving to devote more time to his public relations/marketing business.
At WVOD, sales manager Mary Ann Williams has left after seven years. She is working on a number of projects, most notably her 1-year-old ``Outer Banks Restaurant Guide.''
WVOD program director Lee Lovingood is bringing back ``The Radio Shack Midnight Snack.'' The preview ran on WOBR before its format change two years ago. ``The Midnight Snack'' showcases cuts from the latest CDs. The weekly feature re-debuts with Morrisey's ``Southpaw Grammar'' on Sept. 22.
Catching the blues
Now, this makes sense. The Outer Banks' best blues singer, Laura Martier, heads the lineup for the 6th annual Blues Fest Sept. 24. Also slated to appear are national recording artists Southern Culture on the Skids.
The Blues Fest, sponsored by Avant-Garde Hair Studio, benefits the Dare County HIV Task Force. The outdoor concert at the Dare Center in Kill Devil Hills will feature at least two other blues acts.
Tickets for the noon-to-6 p.m. Blues Fest will be sold at the gate. For more information, call 480-3379.
Shifting Sandman
Stage hypnotist Dan Sanders, who bills himself as ``The Amazing Sandman,'' hits the road. Sanders, who had a successful summer run at Miller's Waterfront Restaurant in Nags Head, has lined up shows in Atlanta, Charlotte and Milwaukee. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Geraldine Page, right, portrays Carrie Watts, and Rebecca DeMornay
is Thelma in 1985 film, ``The Trip To Bountiful.''
by CNB