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The Wetumpka Depot Player's production of The Fantasticks took top honors at Southeastern Theatre Conference on Saturday, March 9 in Mobile, Alabama. Competing against eleven community theatres from across the south, the Wetumpka Depot Players were named Best in Show. The production also took top regional awards with Best Direction, Best Lighting Design and Best Set Design. The musical, a romantic journey of two young people finding true love, featured a company of 15 cast, crew and musicians from the River Region.
Kristy Meanor, Depot executive director and The Fantasticks director said "Just being invited to attend the conference and represent Alabama was a huge honor. Participating in a festival is really a craft that we have cultivated with our past experiences at state, regional and national festivals. I knew The Fantasticks would make a great competition piece. It's a classic show and we were fortunate to have an extremely talented cast. However, not only do you have to present an excellent show, you also have to assemble a complete set that fits in a 10X10 square in ten minutes. It took a talented and creative crew as well to accomplish that. Our design work is improving at the Depot and we were so delighted to be recognized in those areas as well."
Wetumpka City Councilwoman Rebecca Thornton, said, " There was no doubt that that the group would do well at SETC. Their talent deserves to be recognized. We are so delighted for the Wetumpka Depot Player's many recognitions and that they continue to be great ambassadors for Wetumpka."
Meanor said, "This experience was our third time to travel a show to the regional level. The Wetumpka Depot Players have also traveledAll I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten and Second Samuel to regional competitions. Audience favorite Second Samuel also went on to represent the southeast at the national community theatre festival in 2011. National festival years alternate, so this year the competition was complete at SETC. We look forward to future festivals for our organization because we know that each experience serves as an investment to make our future productions even stronger for our local audiences. We appreciate so much the donations and participation in our fundraisers that make it possible for us to attend festivals."
Cast and crew members for the award winning production include: Lee Bridges, David Brown, Ed Drozdowski, Patty Holley, Jeff Langham, Kristy Meanor, Mary Katherine Moore, Bill Nowell, Tom Salter, Marilyn Swears, Jimmy Veazey, Sherida Black, Carol Heier, Cheryl Jones, Alison Rouse, Elizabeth Bowles, Layne Holley and Stephen Dubberley.
The SETC Annual Convention is a gathering of over 4,000 actors, professional company representatives, design and technical professionals, theatre educators, students from universities and high schools, commercial exhibitors, university representatives, community theatre producers and participants coming together to celebrate and learn more about theatre. Since 1949, SETC has been hosting the nation's largest theatre convention each year during the first week of March.
