If you’re going
“Street Scenes — A Mardi Gras Musical Variety Show” is set for 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15 for children and seniors, $20 for adults. The Cumming Playhouse is at 101 School St.
Contact: www.playhousecumming.com.
“Street Scenes — A Mardi Gras Musical Variety Show” is set for 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15 for children and seniors, $20 for adults. The Cumming Playhouse is at 101 School St.
Contact: www.playhousecumming.com.
Mardi Gras is marching into Cumming.
“Street Scenes — A Mardi Gras Musical Variety Show” features five musical acts with a soulful New Orleans theme.
The show premieres Friday night at the Cumming Playhouse, with performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon as well.
Producer and director Linda Ledbetter expects it will start with a bang.
The group with which she performs, the Dazzling Dames, will open the show with “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
“When you start off a show marching and clapping and singing and dancing with the audience, I think the audience is really going to enjoy it,” Ledbetter said.
The Dazzling Dames are a nonprofit singing and dancing group of women age 60 and older who are former Ms. Senior Georgia pageant contestants.
The group travels throughout the state performing at nursing homes and hospitals.
Other acts include pianist Danny Lee Pendley, entertainment group the Sophisticated Ladies, the Tony Waters Jazz Band and the Cumming Playhouse Singers.
All the professional groups have worked on their acts separately, though they will come together for the finale.
Audience members can also expect beads at the door, New Orleans decorations and Mardi Gras costumes and masks, Ledbetter said.
The former county commissioner got the idea for the show when reflecting on the New Orleans theme of the 2009 Ms. Senior Georgia pageant, which she won.
“Mardi Gras is a big thing in New Orleans and we don’t do much about it here,” she said. “We’re going to try to import the Mardi Gras [spirit] here to Cumming and do this every year.”
In the years to come, the plan is to hold auditions and attract a more diverse group of entertainers, said Linda Heard, executive director of the playhouse.
“This is the first year and there was much to learn about such a presentation, but we are confident it will be successful and grow as the years pass,” Heard said.
Mardi Gras shows and celebrations are uncommon in Georgia, Heard said, but she’s sure the high energy and audience involvement will make the variety show a hit.
Van McCollum, director of the Cumming Playhouse Singers, said the production is something new for his group, which usually performs in a more traditional chorus fashion.
“This is more of an entertainment setting, so there’ll be a little more costume to it, which will be fun for us and the audience as well,” he said.
The singers will lead the grand finale with a choral rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
The song will be performed in many different ways throughout the show, McCollum said.
“Street Scenes — A Mardi Gras Musical Variety Show” features five musical acts with a soulful New Orleans theme.
The show premieres Friday night at the Cumming Playhouse, with performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon as well.
Producer and director Linda Ledbetter expects it will start with a bang.
The group with which she performs, the Dazzling Dames, will open the show with “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
“When you start off a show marching and clapping and singing and dancing with the audience, I think the audience is really going to enjoy it,” Ledbetter said.
The Dazzling Dames are a nonprofit singing and dancing group of women age 60 and older who are former Ms. Senior Georgia pageant contestants.
The group travels throughout the state performing at nursing homes and hospitals.
Other acts include pianist Danny Lee Pendley, entertainment group the Sophisticated Ladies, the Tony Waters Jazz Band and the Cumming Playhouse Singers.
All the professional groups have worked on their acts separately, though they will come together for the finale.
Audience members can also expect beads at the door, New Orleans decorations and Mardi Gras costumes and masks, Ledbetter said.
The former county commissioner got the idea for the show when reflecting on the New Orleans theme of the 2009 Ms. Senior Georgia pageant, which she won.
“Mardi Gras is a big thing in New Orleans and we don’t do much about it here,” she said. “We’re going to try to import the Mardi Gras [spirit] here to Cumming and do this every year.”
In the years to come, the plan is to hold auditions and attract a more diverse group of entertainers, said Linda Heard, executive director of the playhouse.
“This is the first year and there was much to learn about such a presentation, but we are confident it will be successful and grow as the years pass,” Heard said.
Mardi Gras shows and celebrations are uncommon in Georgia, Heard said, but she’s sure the high energy and audience involvement will make the variety show a hit.
Van McCollum, director of the Cumming Playhouse Singers, said the production is something new for his group, which usually performs in a more traditional chorus fashion.
“This is more of an entertainment setting, so there’ll be a little more costume to it, which will be fun for us and the audience as well,” he said.
The singers will lead the grand finale with a choral rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
The song will be performed in many different ways throughout the show, McCollum said.