
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 22, 1995                   TAG: 9504260032
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

AN ENCORE FOR 'LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE'

Showtimers brought an old favorite back to the stage Thursday night with the opening of Rick Besoyan's 1959 musical comedy hit, ``Little Mary Sunshine.''

Laban Johnson, who directs the show and appears in it, also performed in the Showtimers' 1964 staging of the play.

Johnson said the play is still ``lots of fun ... especially if you have a frame of reference for it.''

``Little Mary Sunshine,'' set in the Colorado woods in the 1890s, spoofs the Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy operettas. Replete with forest rangers (dressed as Canadian mounted police) and a chorus of finishing-school girls, it was a huge hit in New York and London.

Originally scored for two pianos in order to save on production costs, the play was re-scored for full orchestra when it became a success. The Showtimers production returns to the original two-piano orchestration.

In addition to Johnson, Sam R. Good - another veteran of Showtimers' '64 ``Little Mary'' production - appears in the play in a character role. Jayne Vest plays the title role and D.C. Patterson appears as Gen. Oscar Fairfax, retired.

The play will run tonight and Sunday and for the next two weekends (Thursday-Sunday evenings) at the Showtimers theater on McVitty Road Southwest. For more information, call 774-2660.

by CNB