Coming home for the holidays is a tradition for many families. For Mill Mountain Theatre, the upcoming production of 42nd Street will bring back to Roanoke and to our stage two actors whose professional careers began at MMT.
The returning actors in the 26-person cast of 42nd Street are: Mary Hannah Garber, a graduate of Cave Spring High School and Virginia Intermont College, whose performance credits include Sweet Charity, Me and My Girl, Grease and The Tempest. She now lives in New York City and has recently appeared in a Ziegfeld Follies tribute at Lincoln Center.
Richie MacLeod, also lives in NYC where he recently was in the casts of The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Reefer Madness and Annie Get Your Gun. When he was a student in Roanoke he was in MMT’s production of Big River.
The link between MMT’s education programs and opportunities to be part of a professional cast is a unique strength of regional, professional theatres and especially MMT, Poole said. “I call it ‘growing our own’ because students who take seriously the training they get in conservatory classes are those who also learn about teamwork and respect for fellow actors that builds successful professional careers.” At MMTC there is an emphasis on understanding how many different skills it takes to operate a professional theatre and the interrelated roles of those who act, those who design the various technical elements and those who support the organization, she said.
42nd Street’s cast is about a third of the actors who have been part of MMT’s previous casts, a third who are professional actors living in the Roanoke region and a third who will come to Roanoke just to be in this show.
The quintessential backstage musical comedy classic, 42nd Street is the song and dance fable of Broadway with an American dream story and includes some of the greatest songs ever written, such as “We’re In The Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off To Buffalo,” “Dames,” “I Only Have Eyes For You” and, of course, “42nd Street.”
The production runs December 2 to 20 on the Trinkle Main Stage in the Wells Fargo Auditorium at Center in the Square. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are available from the Center in the Square box office, by calling 540-342-5740. Three tiers of seats mean there are affordable tickets for every show.
MMT distributes free tickets to clients of several local non-profit organizations that serve low-income children and families. Sponsors of our Share the Magic fund underwrite those tickets: Benefit Plan Administrators, Inc.; Fee-Only Financial Planning; PlasticsOne and Union Bank.
