Photo courtesy of Tommy Wooten
WADESBORO — Ansonia Theatre’s best-selling musical, “Smoke on the Mountain,” will be returning this Friday after six years of requests for its return.
“We’re bringing it back,” director and actor Tommy Wooten said. “We did it in 2017, and it’s, to this day, our biggest selling show ever. A lot of people have been begging for it to come back.”
The musical comedy follows the Sanders family, a family that lives in Mt. Pleasant, NC, in 1938, as they prepare for their first “Saturday Night Sing” event at their Baptist Church.
“They run a little filling station and grocerette in Mt. Pleasant, and have their first sing in five years,” Wooten said. “They’ve been off the gospel circuit for five years, and so they come to sing at Mt. Peasant Baptist, and it’s really just the hilarious story of the family and their witness and their stories and their relationships. It’s just a good time, it’s so much fun.”
The audience can expect to see returning and new actors on the stage for this year’s performance.
“We’ve got five actors back from the 2017 cast and then we’ve got three newcomers; Donald Perkins, Kimberly Smith, and Terra Medlock,” Wooten, who plays the father, said.
Not only will there be new actors, but the audience will also be included in the ensemble piece, serving as the members of the church. They’ll be with the cast, who will be on stage throughout the entirety of musical.
“It’s an ensemble piece. We’re all on stage the entire time,” Wooten explained. “There is no fourth wall because we’re playing through the audience. The audience members are members of Mt. Pleasant Baptist. They’re apart of the action.”
The musical following the family through their preparation leading up to the Saturday Night Sing will be perfect for groups of all kinds and ages, with humor and references that circles North Carolina.
“This is the perfect show for groups, like Sunday School groups” Wooten explained. “This is a fun show to bring the whole family or a whole group. Everyone’s going to love it. It’s infectious, in a positive way.”
Tickets can be purchased on the Ansonia Theatre website for the weekends of the March 3-5 and 10-12. Friday and Saturday shows will begin at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday showing will be at 3:00 p.m..
“This show is,” Wooten began, “jump out of your chair funny.”