Musical Set this Weekend
Under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Mike Newton, Jasper County High School is resurrecting a tradition which was once a mainstay of Jasper County’s spring activities: its musical.
For the past few months, several high school and middle school students have been working diligently to bring that beloved tradition back to the county via the production Smoke on the Mountain, a lively musical conceived by Alan Bailey. The book was written by Connie Ray, and music is by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick. The musical is performed with special permission from Samuel French, Inc.
The musical features gospel music arranged and performed in a country and bluegrass style, and the story line features the Sanders Family Singers from Siler City, N.C. The family is leading worship at the first-ever Saturday night singing at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, and each character reveals portions of his or her character through song and testimony.
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In addition to featuring JCHS and JCMS students in the speaking roles, the JCHS production will feature a choir made up of several teachers and members of the Jasper County community, all of whom have cheerfully practiced with the students on Sunday afternoons for the past month.
JCHS art students assisted in set production, and community members shared major set pieces and assisted with set construction.
To help prepare for their upcoming production, students and adult leaders attended a performance of the same production last month at the Theatre in the Square in Marietta.
Students attending the production included high schoolers Jesca Fortunato, Jesse Wilkerson, Destiny Lytle, America Strickland, and Quindarius Cobb, and middle schoolers Emma Jacobs, Gavin Jacobs, and Luke Vaughn, along with adults Cheryl Jacobs and JoAnn Sauls and JCHS musical directors Bobbi Sauls and Lianna Nix.
Students were treated to a lively post-production visit with members of the cast, who happily welcomed the Jasper County students for conversation and hugs and who promised to follow up to see how the JCHS production went.
The JCHS cast will be performing their version of Smoke on the Mountain on Saturday, April 29, at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday, April 30, at 3 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the high school in advance ($5 for Jasper County students, $12 for adults) or on the day of the show ($8 for Jasper County students, $15 for adults).
Cast members shown above include (left to right) Luke Vaughn (eighth grade) playing Burl Sanders, Destiny Lytle (11th grade) playing Vera Sanders, America Strickland (10th grade) playing June Sanders, Jesse Wilkerson (12th grade) playing Pastor Mervin Oglethorpe. Quindarius Cobb (ninth grade) playing Stanley Sanders Emma Jacobs (eighth grade) playing Denise Sanders, and Gavin Jacobs (eighth grade) playing Dennis Sanders.
