RCP opens the season with nine actors

The River City Players will open its 2012 season with one of the largest casts in recent memory. Nine actors will breath life into the play "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."

"The original version had 11 casting spots to fill and the script that I read was based off of the movie version and only needed nine," director Kyle VanPool said. "It made it a little easier to get the spots filled but it was still very challenging to get enough actors rounded up."

VanPool, a first-time River City Players director, has wanted to bring this play to life since he became interested in theater.

"I remember watching the 1982 film version when I was a child and completely fell in love with the story," VanPool said.

He said he has wanted to tell the story his way after watching Cher's, Sandy Dennis' and Kathy Bates' characters deal with some of the issues in the story.

The play was originally written in 1976 by Ed Graczyk and performed at the Players' Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. It quickly became highly acclaimed and just a few years later filmmaker Robert Altman directed both a Broadway version and a film adaptation.

The play is set on Sept. 30, 1975. An all-female fan club called The Disciples of James Dean meets at a Woolworth's five-and-dime branch in McCarthy, Texas, to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of Dean's death and mull over their lives.

"It's full of great one-liners. The lead character Mona played by Andrea Shovan has a very demanding script as well as intricate dialogues," VanPool said.

Flashbacks in the play called for a young Mona, which Shovan helped provide.

"The younger version of Mona in 1955 is actually played by Shovan's real-life daughter Hannah," VanPool said.

The majority of the participants in the River City Players work day jobs and use the community theatre as an extracurricular activity. VanPool said it's difficult to get everyone's schedules in sync but that everyone has persevered and it's going to be a great show.

"The actors are extremely excited about it, and you can tell that they have grown to have a personal investment in the story and the way they tell it," VanPool said.

The River City Players will perform "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," today, Saturday and March 2 and 3 at the Yacht Club above Port Cape. Dinner starts at 7 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m. The club will hold a show-only performance at 8 p.m. Thursday. Dinner show tickets are $35; show-only tickets are $15. Call 334-0954.

The play contains some adult situations that may not be suitable for all ages.