Barbara Rucker stars in THE HALLELUJAH GIRLS opening at Towne Centre for 11/19-12/11 run

Barbara Rucker, who enjoyed a successful career as an actress in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles before making her way to Tennessee, leads the cast in Towne Centre Theatre's holiday season production of the latest Southern-bred comedy from Jones/Hope/Wooten, The Hallelujah Girls, which opens at the Brentwood theater Friday night, November 19, continuing through December 11.

Directed by the peripatetic Johnny Peppers, The Hallelujah Girls "is about redemption, reclamation and recovery from the past to forge ahead to a brighter future. It's a heart-warming and hilarious peek into the lives of six women in their 50s, who embrace the idea that it is never too late to be the people they were meant to be! We are so fortunate to have an incredibly talented cast, led by a woman who has more stage, screen, and television credits than I have ever had the pleasure to work with at our community theater," he says.

Rucker moved to Nashville 8 years ago, and fell in love with the country and its loving people. "I decided to stay here because Nashville has been my healing place," she explains.

As one of the original Stepford Wives in the iconic 1975 film, Rucker may be better known for her soap opera roles on As the World Turns, One Life to Live, and Texas. In her 20-plus year career, Rucker's resume boasts multiple television credits, magazine covers, hosting two of her own talk shows, and serving as a spokesperson in more than 2,000 national commercials.

In The Hallelujah Girls, Rucker plays Sugar Lee Thompkins, "a woman ready to put her doomed marriage behind her and start fresh. Sugar Lee buys an old church and turns it into a day spa for the women of Eden Falls, Georgia. Her purpose is for women to come there and get their lives back on track and pamper their hearts, but Sugar Lee doesn't comprehend that her past may be the one obstacle that she cannot overcome to save her small business."

The cast also includes Linda Sparks, Lynn Yates, Pat Street, Jean Hoogewind, Sharon Hallingdal, Jim Anderson and W. Preston Crook.

The Hallelujah Girls runs November 19-December 11, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees (November 21, 28, and December 5) at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, and $16 for students. There is a special Thursday price for the purchase of four tickets (online only). For more information, visit www.townecentretheatre.com or call (615) 221-1174. The theatre is located at 136 Frierson Street in Brentwood.