On Highlands Stage

Written By: Mary Jane McCall | Issue: March 2024

L to R: Diandra Mundy, Julie Harris, Dannyale Williams, Lorine Spencer, Ricky Siegel, April Getz, and Cathy Meyers.

Run, don’t walk, to get tickets to the Highlands Cashiers Players’ upcoming production of “Always A Bridesmaid” which will run Thursday, May 9, through Sunday, May 12, with evening performances at 7:30 P.M. and a Sunday matinee at 2:00 P.M, and again the next weekend, May 16 through May 19, at the Highlands PAC.

HC Players represent the best in community theater featuring local talent, and this year they have more newcomers than ever joining their ranks, two of whom are featured in this play.

This hilarious comedic romp by Jones Hope Wooten is directed by Ricky Siegel, who has directed five plays for the Community Players and acted in 11 productions. Anyone who has witnessed his previous works knows that comedic romps are right up his alley. Newcomer Cathy Myers, hailing from New Orleans, will be his assistant director.

This is a tale of four high school friends who vowed on the night of their senior prom that they would be in each other’s weddings come what may, and here they are 30-some-odd years later keeping those nuptial promises.

Their story is told in flashbacks when Kari Ames, played by newcomer to the Highlands stage, Dannyale Williams, addresses the crowd at her wedding. A little more champagne and more stories of the other’s marriages unfold.

Kari’s Mother, Libby Ruth Ames, one of the steadfast four friends is played by Lorine Spencer. Libby Ruth is the glue that holds this group together. An eternal optimist, she’s the group’s success story, happily married all these years, and determined that her friends will also find their wedded bliss.

Monette Gentry is played by Diandra Mundy and if you saw her in the recent performance of “Squabbles” you’ll know that she has real stage presence and is perfect for the role of the self-absorbed, thrice-married spitfire of the group.

Jamie Haselhurst plays Charlie Collins, the earth mother aging hippie of the group, content with her single status up till now, and seriously getting cold feet on the day of her wedding. Will her friends talk her into walking down the aisle or will there be a runaway bride?

Deedra Wingate, played by Julie Harris, is a headstrong high-powered Judge whose rock-solid marriage turns out to be anything but when she discovers her husband has wandering eyes and hands.

Sedalia Ellicott, the eccentric owner of the wedding venue where Charlie’s wedding is taking place is an outspoken force of nature who always has business on her mind, is played by April Getz, another newcomer to the Highlands stage.

This laugh-out-loud journey of four friends navigating the choppy waters of marriage proves that through all life’s ups and downs, true friendships can last a lifetime.

For ticket information visit highlandsperformingartscenter.com or call
(828) 526-9047.