After a year of rehearsals and playing "on the road," the 2009 United Kingdom Troupe returns home to the Rogers Children's Theatre to present ten performances of The Mark Twain Show, adapted by Kathryn Schultz Miller from the works of American writer Samuel Clemens. This is the presentation that the Troupe will carry to England and Scotland this coming August, and it's also the third show of the 2008/2009 season in the Rogers.
The 22 Troupe members, whose ages run from junior high through college, have each learned one principal role and several shadow roles in the six segments from Twain's writings. Audiences will enjoy cuttings from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Diaries of Adam and Eve, and the lesser-known, witty fable, "The Kingdom of Sagenfeld." The show opens and closes with Twain interviews.
Director DeAnna Hargrove has interpolated a musical interlude with "river" songs from Roger Miller's Big River, George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and Jerome Kern's Show Boat. Sarah Goodwin, who was a member of the 2007 London Troupe, taught the 2009 Troupe members American Sign Language so they could sign as well as sing the songs.
The Troupe members auditioned and were cast in January 2008. Each participated in the April 2008 LAMDA examinations. With their families, they have been fundraising for more than a year to pay for the summer trip, which will include workshops at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Globe Theatre. The Troupe includes five sets of siblings: Donna and Kat Cloos of Tyler, Audrie and Kaylee Nagel of Winona, Grace and Hannah Root of Tyler, Matthew and Paul Ruark of Chandler, and Bret and Elissa Thompson of Tyler. 2009 U.K. Troupe members Jared Clayton of Tyler and Andrew Goodwin of Frankston are younger brothers of 2007 London Troupe members Heath Clayton and Sarah Goodwin.
Other 2009 U.K. Troupe members include Shanna-Kaye Betts of New Harmony, Alan Cannon of Whitehouse, Zac Carnes of Chandler, Kenny Davis of Tyler, Jesse Holt of Tyler, Tara Moore of Lindale, Timothy Priest of Whitehouse, Julia Runge of Tyler, Austin Sheridan of Whitehouse, and Hayley Spires of Hideaway.
Sherri Priest is stage manager, with Windy Cannon and Frances Whiteside as producers.
The Mark Twain Show has five segments: The Interview, Tom Sawyer, Sagenfeld, Sherburn-Boggs, and Adam and Eve, plus a musical segment in which several Troupe members participate.
