Current Playbill – South City Theatre

Historical Playbills can be viewed by clicking here.

South City Theatre

Presents

THE COTTAGE

Setting
June 4, 1023 at the Van Kipness Family Cottage
in the London, England Countryside

Original Broadway Production Produced by Broadway Beyond Theatricals, Cornice Productions, Martian Entertainment, Paige Price, Scott Mauro, Malcolm Gosling/Dan Gottfried, Gayle Seay/Tony Nation, Cornice Productions Fund 1, Michael Saperstein, Rick Costello, Jonathan Demar, PaulJungquist, Tom &Judy Kleinman, Marjorie Morrissey, Mark Reardon, Shapiro Jensen Productions, Nina Tassler, Dale & James Young, and 7Sennotts LLC

THE COTTAGE is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)

Made possible in part by a grant from Alabama State Council on the Arts.

THE VIDEOTAPING OR MAKING OF ELECTRONIC OR OTHER AUDIO AND/OR VISUAL RECORDINGS OF THIS PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTING RECORDINGS OR STREAMS IN ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING THE INTERNET, IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, A VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR(S)’S RIGHTS AND ACTIONABLE UNDER UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW.

CAST

Sylvia	Sydney Alison Batten
Beau	Jacob Call
Marjorie	Robin Rushing
Clarke	Bill Allen
Dierdre	Casey O’Brien
Richard	Holt Thomas

CREW

Director	Pat Yates
Assistant Director/Stage Manager	Michael Eaton
Set Design	Clay Boyce
Set Crew	Clay Boyce, Vicki Boyce, Ron Rabun, Steven Ross, Tony Camanitti
Sound and Lighting Designer/Operator	Clark French
Intimacy Coordinator	McKenzie Ramey
Dialect Coach	Christian Mouisset
SCT Photographer	Steven Ross
Headshots	Lisa Ponder
Box Office Manager	Michael Wilbanks
Poster and Playbill Designer	Delaine Derry Green
Online Program Design	Lisa Ponder
Reception Committee	Donna Williamson, Michelle Vercher, Katy Walker, Jon Curren , and Jane Rabey

Cast and Crew Bios

Sandy Rustin (Playwright) is an actress and award-winning playwright named by American Theatre Magazine as one of the “Most-Produced Playwrights of the ’22-’23 season.” Her stage adaptation of the film Clue is one of the most-produced plays in the U.S., with over 3,000 productions worldwide. Her original comedy, The Cottage, premiered on Broadway in July 2023 at The Hayes Theatre (Jason Alexander, director). Other works include: the concert adaptations of Dear World and I Married an Angel for New York City Center Encores!, Mattel’s American Girl Live!, The Suffragette’s Murder (upcoming premiere), Rated P for Parenthood (Off Broadway/ABC-TV), Houston (New American Musical Award), Always Something There for Primary Wave Music, and many others. Sandy serves on the Board of Camp Kesem, helping children through a parent’s cancer diagnosis. She lives in Maplewood, NJ with her husband and two sons. www.sandyrustin.com INSTA: @sandyrustin_ https://www.sandyrustin.com/

Casey O’Brien (Dierdre) is making her debut at South City Theatre since moving to the Birmingham area from south Louisiana. She has been acting within her community for years now and has no plans to stop. What else is she supposed to do with her free time? Some of her favorite roles in the past include in Into the Woods (Rapunzel), Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Trisha), and Rock of Ages (Waitress #1). Casey would like to thank her wonderful boyfriend, (probably fiancé by now!) Christian for the unwavering support, and she hopes everyone leaves feeling sore from laughing until their sides hurt from this hilarious show and cast.

Holt Thomas (Richard/William) is back at South City once again. He started his community theatre run here with a British dialect in Dracula: A Comedy of Errors and last season was in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Max Prince). He was also recently in Hueytown Arts Council’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Reverend) and Moonlight and Magnolias (David O. Selznick) with Montevallo Mainstreet Players. He is so happy you came to this show, and hopes you continue to support the wonderful and plentiful theatre scene in the greater Birmingham area.

Jacob Call (Beau) upon recommendation of friends, Jacob moved to South City Theatre for the winter. Recent shows include Willy Wonka (Willy Wonka), Gent’s Guide to Love & Murder (Monty), Fine by Mourning (Atticus), and Young Frankenstein (Dracula). Off-stage, he’s Director of Student Activities at Jeff State. He’s excited to be on stage again.

Michael Eaton (Assistant Director) is a Birmingham native who recently returned to the area, after living in Vermont for 14 years. There he discovered a love of theater, performing in The Fantasticks (Huck) and in Mornings at Seven (Carl Bolton). Other credits include Mamma Mia, Second Sight, Love/Sick, Lysistrata, and Urinetown (Old Man Strong). He is excited to work from the other side of the stage. He would like to thank the cast and crew, especially Pat Yates for her guidance. Most of all, he thanks his husband, Chris, who always loves and supports without hesitation!

Robin Rushing (Marjorie) is happy to be back onstage at the wonderful South City Theatre. She counts herself lucky every time they let her return! Robin thanks Pat for the wonderful opportunity to work with her again. She thanks Michael for keeping everyone straight, Christian for the dialect lessons (she hopes they do you proud), Lisa for the photos, Sally for her beautiful dress, and her fellow castmates for the hard work and fun. They have been cracking up at this script since the read-through! Robin thanks the crew and whomever else that we don’t yet know will help us bring this show to life. Most of all, she thanks YOU, for supporting community theater. She hopes you will relax, escape to the 1920s English countryside, and enjoy this screwball comedy!

Sydney Alison Batten (Sylvia Van Kipness) is an actor, producer, and director who is delighted to be back on stage at South City Theatre. She thanks Pat and this stunningly talented cast and crew for bringing this show to life! Previous credits include Becky Nurse of Salem (Shelby), The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Abridged (Jess), and Waiting for Godot (Lucky).

William Allen (Clarke) previous roles include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka), Annie Get Your Gun (Frank Butler), The King and I (The King), Noises Off (Lloyd Dallas), Harvey (Dr. Sanderson), Anastasia (The Tsar) and Young Frankenstein (The Hermit). By day, Bill works as an Electrical Engineer for US Pipe and Foundry, living proof that even Engineers can participate in the arts.

Board of Directors

Artistic Director	Donna Williamson
President	Lisa Ponder
Vice-President	Steven Ross
Secretary	TBD
Treasurer	John Chain

Members at Large

Dianne Rowe, Michael Wilbanks, Thomas Robinson, Trey Woodrow, Jim Billings, Michelle Vercher, Marlene Wallace Berndt, and Mike Gerrells

Director’s Notes

Welcome, everyone, to the madness: infidelity, sibling rivalry, a morning of spilled secrets, a slightly loaded gun, an epic false alarm, and powerful women.

I have had grand fun directing my first British comedy—thanks to a wonderfully talented cast and to Michael, my AD and Stage Manager extraordinaire. This fun-loving, witty little group has a great sense of humor, yielding lots of laughs throughout the process.

Thanks to our audiences for killing two birds with one stone—enjoying a good laugh while supporting community theatre.

Pat Yates

Special Thanks

Ashley Douglass, Chad Douglass, Ashton Blair, Grayson Blair, Sally Montgomery, Melanie Thomas, Diane Faulkner, The Community Arts Council of Blount County, Dian McCray, Lisa Ponder, Ed Yates, Julie Meadows, The Lingerie Shoppe of Mountain Brook Village, Crumpets by Lori Mercer, Trial by Fire Baking, The Alabama Council on the Arts, The Alabama Tag Grant Program, and Five Star Lumber. A heartfelt thank you to Clay & Vicki Boyce for spending their date nights ensuring the Van Kipness brothers have a quaint little cottage for all their shenanigans. As always, thank you to Minuteman Press for their continued support.

Coming Soon

Registration Now Open for ActingUP! Summer Camp

Visit https://www.southcitytheatre.com/kids-programs/ for more information and to register

Sponsors and Advertisers

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The mission of the Pelham Beautification Entertainment & Arts Team, Inc., a non-profit corporation, is to support, nurture and promote the arts, cultural organizations, community beautification, entertainment, and artists in the City of Pelham, Alabama, enhancing the quality of life for residents and visitors and promoting economic growth.