"The Trip to Bountiful" cast profile: Katina Black

Katina Black rules the roost as Carrie Watts's bossy daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae, in "The Trip to Bountiful"!

GCP Girl: Tell us about some of your previous shows.

KB: I've done everything from Shakespeare to "Rocky Horror Picture Show." But my absolute favorite is Shakespeare. I think my favorite role I ever played was Ophelia in "Hamlet." The director actually had me "fling" myself off the ship! The landing was a little rough, but it was so fun!

GCP Girl: Why did you audition for "The Trip to Bountiful"?

KB: I had never auditioned in Gainesville before, so I thought this was a good place to start. The show seemed really interesting, and when I got to read bits of the script, I found it had a lot of depth.

GCP Girl: Tell us about your character.

KB: Jessie Mae is an interesting one. She is always floating in the clouds, and only cares about one thing, herself. She is a dreamer, but very out of touch with reality. I, personally, believe she loves her husband, but is so worn out from living with her mother-in-law that she has lost the ability to show affection and love towards him.

GCP Girl: What is your favorite scene or line in the show?

KB: "I said, furthermore, I had told her the truth when I remarked that the beauty parlour must have seen her coming a long way down the road when they charged her good money for that last permanent they gave her...". It really shows how shrewish and gossipy she is!

GCP Girl: What do you hope audiences take away from "The Trip to Bountiful"?

KB: That we all have our own Bountifuls. And live everyday to the fullest and love the people around you, because one day they won't be there.

GCP Girl: What does community theatre mean to you?

KB: The chance to meet new people.

GCP Girl: Tell us something about yourself you'd like everyone to know!

KB: That I am NOTHING like Jessie Mae. However I am a little flighty sometimes... haha.

Thanks, Katina! "Bountiful" got a great review this week - that means you should go see it!!

xo xo GCP Girl

"The Trip to Bountiful" review!

Congrats to the cast and crew of "The Trip to Bountiful," which got a great review in the Gainesville Sun! Go see it!

"Anything Goes" cast list!!

Congratulations to the cast of "Anything Goes"! We can't wait to see this show!

Reno Sweeney - Leannis Maxwell
Hope Harcourt - Erin Silverman
Evangeline Harcourt -Angela Jonas
Lord Evelyn Oakleigh - Ken Foote
Elisha Whitney - Matthew Sherman
Billy Crocker - Thomas Sanders
Moonface Martin - Steven Butler
Erma - Erin Kleim
Luke - Michael Tremaine
John - Jay Pryblski
Ship's Captain - Malik Grady
Angels - Theresa Hanson, Lauren Robinson, Calypso Meyers
Sailor Quartet - Howard Anderson, Kevin Anderson, Dan Christophy, Peter Romberg
Fred - Tammy Meyers
Henry Dobson - Jessie Lancaster
FBI Agent - Ian Isom
Old Lady in Wheelchair - Beverly Turner
Chorus - Gerri Sterne, Olivia Turpening, Kelley Addis, Shawen Ilaria, Elizabeth Bryant, Samantha Fundenburg

(Apologies if I misspelled your name! Let me know and I will fix it.)

"The Trip to Bountiful" cast profile: Shetiquea Davis

Shetiquea Davis makes her GCP debut as a ticket agent who helps Carrie get back home in "The Trip to Bountiful," opening tonight at the Vam York!

GCP Girl: Tell us about some of your previous shows.
SD: I've only done one other show which was a short, one-act play titled "At the Punch Bowl," so I'm a new kid on the block. :-)

GCP Girl: Why did you audition for "The Trip to Bountiful"?
SD: I think a drama is more my style rather than true comedies or farce-type productions. But really, I'm open to auditioning for just about anything. It's all about gaining experience in a theatre setting in any way that I can right now.

GCP Girl: Tell us about your character.
SD: Miss Ticket Agent No. 1 is a little over the top. She's a no-nonsense type of gal but still polite in all her southernness. :-)

GCP Girl: What is your favorite scene or line in the show?
SD: I have a few. I always like when Mrs. Carrie Watts talks to Thelma about her son telling her not to argue with Jessie Mae because nobody ever wins an argument with her, then she looks away and says "And I guess that's right." Jennie's delivery is funny.

GCP Girl: What do you hope audiences take away from "The Trip to Bountiful"?
SD: I hope audiences enjoy the range of emotions that this play takes you through. Parts will make you laugh, others will make you sad, but in the end, Mrs. Watts gets all that she wants, which comes with a sense of triumph and peace, so I hope audiences will feel joy as they experience her journey with her.

GCP Girl: What does community theatre mean to you?
SD: Wow, I'm new to community theatre and I wish I'd gotten involved with it years ago. It's been a great experience and I can see myself being a part of it far into the future. I think I'm hooked!

GCP Girl: Tell us something about yourself you'd like everyone to know!
SD: I'm actually kind of shy sometimes but people say they don't see it on the stage. I think that theatre allows me to strip away the inhibitions a little bit, which has been fun. :-)

Thanks, Shetiquea! Yay for opening night!!

xo xo GCP Girl

Check out the "Bountiful" preview article!

The Gainesville Sun preview article for "The Trip to Bountiful" is posted!

Author Spotlight: Horton Foote

Horton Foote (1916-2009) is the playwright who wrote "The Trip to Bountiful," which opens this week at the Vam York Theater. Originally from a small town in Texas, many of his themes involved the people and places near where he grew up.

In "Bountiful," Carrie Watts escapes living with her son and his wife to embark on a trip back to her own Texas hometown.

"My first memory was of stories about the past — a past that, according to the storytellers, was superior in every way to the life then being lived," Foote wrote in 1988. "It didn't take me long, however, to understand that the present was all we had, for the past was gone and nothing could be done about it."

"Bountiful" premiered on Broadway in 1953, starring screen icon Lillian Gish. The film version was released in 1985, with Geraldine Page winning an Academy Award as best actress.

Foote himself won two Academy Awards, one for best adapted screenplay in 1962 for "To Kill a Mockingbird" and one for best original screenplay in 1983 for "Tender Mercies." He received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for his play "The Young Man From Atlanta." Foote also served as the voice of Jefferson Davis in Ken Burns's documentary "The Civil War."

The preview performance is tomorrow, so get your tickets when the box office opens at 7 p.m.! See you there!

xo xo GCP Girl