Take a Peek Behind the Curtain

    (originally published 12/30/21) Getting involved in your community theatre comes with the utter joy of meeting a whole bunch of like-minded people all with the same goal of putting on an excellent show. Individuals that start off as acquaintances (or sometimes competition) soon become endearing friends that you couldn’t live without. In so many ways it can become like a family. Many times here at HCT we even have actual families participating together. This story from Lauren is a perfect example. Lauren first joined us in 2009, working backstage on our production of Titanic the Musical. Since then she’s racked up an impressive list of credits, working on a half dozen or more shows every season. She’s even taken a couple of turns on stage, most recently in the ensemble of  Something Rotten . I asked her to share her experience and what HCT means to her. This is what she wrote. “Hickory Community Theatre has been a large part of my life for the past 12ish years. Th...

   (originally published 12/25/21)   Here it is, the day we have been counting down to for the last month (or since before Halloween if you work in retail.) Here at the Hickory Community Theatre this has always been a special time. It’s when we pull out more than the usual number of stops to bring especially festive productions to the stage. One that I remember fondly is  White Christmas . It’s a holiday classic that was very popular with our audiences, and it was also the first time Dorothy Best, who had been a patron for several years, appeared on the HCT stage. I asked her to share her story with you and this is what she wrote. “I have been involved in the entertainment industry in one way or another for most of my life. My parents were in vaudeville before we started putting,on our own plays in rural Wisconsin. We moved to Los Angeles when I was seven and I continued to perform as a child actress in television shows, but mostly in theatre productions like  T...

   (originally published 12/21/21) I t’s officially the first day of winter, and Christmas is just around the corner. It’s a special time of year and traditionally one of the busiest for us at Hickory Community Theatre. One evening last week we had literally every space in the building full of activity. There was  Bugsy Malone  in the Jeffers Theatre and  The Color Purple  in the rehearsal hall.  Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells  was in the council chamber and the Holiday Cabaret was setting up in the Firemen’s Kitchen. It’s usually like that during the period from mid-November through Christmas and we love it! I say "usually like that" because, of course, last year was different. One difference was that we couldn't put on a Christmas show for school field trip groups. This year though, we got to bring back Junie B. Jones  and it was so delightful to see hundreds of first and second graders get their first taste of live theatre a...

  (originally published 12/14/21) “The theatre is the place people  come to see the truth about life   and the social situation” Stella Adler At the Hickory Community Theatre, we are blessed to enjoy a company of wonderful volunteers and supporters like you. Together, we work to create a very special place. A story we recently heard from Paul, one of our volunteer actors, is a testament to just how special HCT is, and what it can do.  When joined us as part of the ensemble in  Les Misérables , in 2014, Paul had never done theatre before. His involvement up to that point had been as a supportive husband to his wife, Emma Lee. She first joined us in 2010 as part of the cast of  She Loves Me. “My wife encouraged me right then to get involved, but life as a pastor and in the Air Force reserves kept me too busy. I remember telling her though that if HCT ever did Les Miz, then I’d be right there.” He was indeed, but after  Les Misérables  wrapped up it...