Jackson's Dance & Theatre Co Presents Regional Premiere of TERMINAL CAFE

A strong ensemble grounds the borderline slapstick comedy and high stakes drama in this tale of love, loss and the inevitable changes that come with progress in the regional premiere of Terminal Café opening June 5 at Jackson's Dance & Theatre Co.

"There is comedy, there's drama and there's a whole lot of action," producer and lead actor Jack Foltyn said. "It's kind of exhausting, but in a thrilling sort of way."

Foltyn plays Ben, the leader of the miners, and is the Artistic Director of Jackson's Dance & Theatre Co.

'Inspired by the real town of Madrid, New Mexico, Terminal Cafe is a gripping and touching look at the life and death of a very small town and its inhabitants. In the tiny town of San Gabriel is the Terminal Cafe where the locals hang out complaining about life, each other and the food while dreaming about something better. Ultimately the play is about surviving in changing times as progress leaves victims in its wake. About all San Gabriel can offer, besides the cafe, is a coal mine, which barely keeps the town alive. But after Pearl Harbor is bombed, and World War II becomes a grim reality, the town's mine becomes important both to the War effort and to the mysterious goings on at Los Alamos (where the Manhattan Project is based). The interest in the mine is a blessing to some and a curse to others who see beyond the immediate revitalization the town. At first, everything seems good and even the Terminal prospers, but greed, corruption and mismanagement get a stranglehold on the town as the testing of The Bomb, silently, deadly, has its own effect on it too.' (from the playwright Jon Tuttle)

Jackson's Dance and Theatre Co. is producing 13 shows this season- from dance to music to theatre. The theatre's mission is to encourage new playwrights, directors and those who have works worthy of production as well as putting on well- known classics so to reach a wide audience.

Director Chris Edwards chose Terminal Café for his directorial debut after reading it in college and falling in love with the story. Foltyn agreed to produce it after Edwards' successful run as an actor in Murder at the Howard Johnson's, which Foltyn directed in March.

"(It's a story about) the simplicity and nobility of a people who work really hard, but money and corruption run over them," Edwards said. "This is a story that persists. We see shades of BP and Haliburton and these places where we put business and profits ahead of people. And war is a business. Why does this story matter? What do these people have to say? A lot. It's the rights of the individual verses the collective profit."

Enlisting the help of Professional Fight Choreographer Ashley H. White of Stage Combat Dallas, Edwards opted for a lot of physicality sprinkled throughout- from fist fights to a four foot whip- in order to support the storyline.

Opposite of Foltyn is veteran stage actor Laura L. Watson as Kate, the town spitfire, Ben's love interest and staunch opponent to the business of the mine.

"When I read about how she chases her husband with a whip and then interrogates him, I was immediately hooked," Watson said. "This show is a riotous comedy in the first act and then becomes a tragedy akin to Hamlet by the end of the second. It's a journey I wasn't expecting to take, but I am so glad I am."

Terminal Café runs June 5-27 with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sunday matinees on June 14 and 21st at 2pm. Opening Night's (June 5) $25 ticket includes a Taco Buffet before the show with a dessert and champagne toast with the cast and crew after. All other evening performance tickets are $20, and matinees are $12. A Pay What You Can Preview Performance is Thursday June 4. Tickets can be reserved by calling 972-964-5225 or purchased at the box office the night of the show.

Jackson's Dance & Theatre Co is at 6205 Coit Road, Plano 75024, in the shopping center at the corner of Coit and Spring Creek Pkwy.

More information, including videos and photos, can be found at www.jacksonsdanceandtheatreco.net and the Facebook event invite, https://www.facebook.com/events/470578783092474/.

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