Wearing a gold pin representing the traditional happy and sad masks of theatre, Ezell told the crowd — a third of which was comprised of girls of about ten years old — that she was going to walk through the basics of theatric production — from beginning "to the bitter end."
Ezell recalled being part of her first production many, many years ago, in a small play put on in former sheriff Lurline Humphries house, where fellow Trigg on Stage member Paul Fourshee now lives.
Admission then, Ezell said, was five cents.
"Sometimes when that theatre bug bites you, you itch for a long time," she said.
A member of the Hopkinsville Community Theatre and the Southern Kentucky Independent Theatre, the theatre bug certainly bit Ezell good.
Ezell explained that the three-year grant that is making the workshops possible — along as the production of "Seussical the Musical" this June — is meant to encourage others in the community to allow themselves to be bit by the theatre bug.
As Ezell explained the very basics of theatre production — from mapping out a basic budget of the play to diagramming the behind-the-scenes production staff —the young girls in the audience proved eager to stand before the bright lights of the Little Theatre (and the lights will be bright in June — the school system has agreed to replace the original lights in the theatre by the performance, at a cost Paul Fourshee estimated to be about $20,000).
"Will we get to sit in a chair and put make-up on?" one asked, whose purse featured a chain dangling from the side reading 'Princess.'
"What do we do first?" quizzed another.
First, Ezell said, is more workshops, although attendance is not mandatory to participate in the auditions (scheduled for March 23 and 25) for "Suessical the Musical."
Ezell said the play will feature a large cast, hopefully of about 100.
"The more the merrier," she said.
For the rest of this story, please see this week's edition of The Cadiz Record.
