Mike Sommers to Bring HICK IN THE HOOD to Town Hall Theater, 3/30
Mike Sommers remembers being on the 1983 MUHS state champion basketball team - sort of.
"Rob Hamlin and I combined for 46 points!" he says. "Which one of us scored 42? I forget."
Sommers left Middlebury to become a full-time actor, sharing the stage and screen with stars such as Cate Blanchett, Eric Roberts, Robin Williams and Christopher Walken. Since he's returning to his hometown to take part in the festivities surrounding Green Mountain Upset, the documentary about the 1983 championship that premiers at THT on March 29, Doug Anderson at Town Hall Theater asked him to reprise his one man show, Hick in the 'Hood, as part of the celebration.
"Mike was in town a couple of years ago and we cleared our schedule so he could do this show at THT," says executive director Anderson. "It's an incredible tour-de-force that had the audience howling with laighter. At the end of the show most of the full house stayed to shake his hand and reminisce about his years in Middlebury. It was just a great night."
Hick in the 'Hood, originally titled A Vermont Boy in West Rutland, tells the true story of Mike's post-divorce problems and his decision to buy a house in one of the poorest and toughest areas of West Oakland, California. "All I could afford was in the middle of a pretty rough neighborhood," he says. In the one-man show, Mike plays every character - his friends, family, and especially his new neighbors, who frighten him at first but end up being good neighbors and even good friends.
Hick in the 'Hood will be presented for one performance only on Sunday, March 30, at 2 pm. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at www.townhalltheater.org, 802 382-9222, at the THT Box Office (daily except Sunday, noon-5 pm) and at the door, if available.
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