Press Room:
Dearly Beloved

Cast Listing
Photo Gallery

Concord, CA.  March 15, 2007 – The Willows Theatre Company is proud to present the West Coast premiere of Dearly Beloved, the first in a trilogy of southern-fried comedies from the co-author of Dearly Departed, a Willows audience favorite from 1992.  The wacky Futrelle/Dubberly family has gathered for the wedding day of Tina Jo. With a Gone With the Wind-themed wedding, a reception catered by Clovis Sanford's House of Meat (with potluck sides), and a missing bride and groom, what could be the worst wedding day in the history of Fayro, Texas, turns out for the best as new love begins, old sparks are reignited, and the family comes together to celebrate both.

Dearly Beloved premiered in 2005 at Asheville Community Theatre in Asheville, North Carolina.  The three co-playwrights have impressive backgrounds in theater and entertainment media:  Jessie Jones co-authored the play Dearly Departed (with David Bottrell), as well as its screen adaptation, Kingdom Come;  Nicholas Hope won the Texas New Playwrights Festival for his first play, A Friend of the Family, and was Director of Casting for ABC Television in Los Angeles;  and North Carolina native Jamie Wooten has written and produced nearly 400 episodes of network television, including For Your Love, Half & Half, and four seasons on the classic series The Golden Girls.   All three playwrights were born and raised in the pre-Wal-Mart South and cherish their heritage.  Scenes from their hometown experiences stuck with each of the scripters, compelling them to recreate the outlandishly colorful characters they'd grown up with.

Willows Theatre Artistic Director Richard Elliott will direct the show, which opens April 13th and runs through May 13th, 2007, at the Willows Theatre, 1975 Diamond Boulevard, Concord, CA.  Preview performances begin April 9th.

The Futrelle Sisters - Frankie, Honey Raye, and Twink - are throwing a wedding.  Frankie has almost made herself sick with elaborate preparations for her daughter Tina Jo's antebellum-inspired wedding and the rumor mill in their small town of Fayro, Texas, is working overtime.  No surprise there; the Futrelle Sisters have never been strangers to gossip.  After all, they did survive the scandalous breakup of their almost-famous gospel singing trio, The Sermonettes.  But Twink's desperate attempts to get her boyfriend of fifteen-and-a-half years down the aisle, Frankie's ongoing conversations with their dead mother, and Honey Raye's tendency to race to the altar at every opportunity have kept tongues wagging for quite a while.  In spite of her own marital problems, Frankie has held steadfastly to the hope that she can pull off one "final Futrelle occasion" with elegance and style with the help of the cantankerous wedding coordinator, Miss Geneva, who runs the local floral shop/bus depot.  But on the day of the nuptials, Frankie's hope begins to dim when she discovers Twink's alternative solution to an expensive catered wedding dinner is a potluck supper sponsored by Clovis Sanford's House of Meat.  When the prodigal Honey Raye arrives at the church in skintight gold lamé, consumed by hot flashes and a steely determination to right old family wrongs, Frankie's hope is shaken.  It is lost completely when word reaches the church that Tina Jo and her fiancé have disappeared.  The sisters ultimately pull together to find ways to keep the unsuspecting guests in the pews while a highway patrolman races off to track down the runaway bride and groom.  As a last resort, and to the delight of the citizenry of Fayro, The Sermonettes reunite and sing again.

THE CAST

Caroline Altman* (Nelda Lightfoot/Patsy Price) - Ms. Altman (El Cerrito) is making her debut at the Willows.  She has appeared locally at 42nd Street Moon, Cal Shakes, S.F. Opera, and Playhouse West.

Katie Anderson (Tina Jo Dubberly/Gina Jo Dubberly) - Ms. Anderson (San Francisco) appeared at the Willows last season as Poppy in Noises Off.  She has also been seen recently at Calaveras Rep. and Dragon Theatre.

Diana Boos (Twink Futrelle) - Ms. Boos (Berkeley) returns to the Willows having appeared in The Odd Couple last season.  Other Bay Area credits include Center Rep, Woman's Will, and Cinnabar Theater. 

Darcy Brown-Martin* (Frankie Futrelle Dubberly) - Ms. Brown-Martin (Oakland) is appearing for the first time at the Willows.  She was seen most recently as Helga in M. Butterfly at TheatreWorks. Other Bay Area credits include Cutting Ball Theatre and Theatre Q.

Brian Levy (Wiley Hicks) - Mr. Levy (El Cerrito) is making his debut with the Willows. He most recently appeared as Lyle in the New Conservatory Theatre’s Farm Boys and on film in David Janssen’s Buyout.

Nikolai Lokteff (John Curtis Buntner) - Mr. Lokteff (Oakland) makes his first appearance on the Willows stage.  Local credits include Shotgun Players, Valley Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, and Napa Valley Rep.

Lorraine Olsen (Honey Rae Futrelle) - Ms. Olsen (San Francisco) returns to the Willows, having appeared in Funny Girl and Auntie Mame.  She has also appeared locally at Berkeley Rep and S.F. Playhouse.

Ryan Tasker (Justin Waverly) - Mr. Tasker (Hayward) most recently appeared in The Forest War with Shotgun Players.  This is his first production at the Willows.

Margaret Taylor (Geneva Musgrave) - Ms. Taylor (San Francisco) returns to the Willows, where she played Marguerite in Dearly Departed in 1992.  She has also appeared locally with Ross Valley Players.

Michael Ray Wisely* (Dub Dubberly) - Mr. Wisely (Richmond) has performed at the Willows in Over the Tavern, Treasure Island, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Foxfire.  Most recently, he appeared with Aurora Theatre Company in Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party.

*Member, Actors' Equity Association

PRODUCTION TEAM

As artistic director of the Willows since 1986, director Richard Elliott has overseen the company's growth from a small community theater to a nationally recognized professional LORT theater company, recipient of two NEA grants for the commission of new outdoor drama, and has overseen the development and production of more than 15 new plays and musicals.  Elliott has directed over 100 productions, garnered two Shellie awards, and won the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle director's award for the West Coast premiere of Brimstone.  He has produced and directed the acclaimed musical John Muir's Mountain Days, based on the life of environmentalist John Muir, and is currently overseeing the development of a newly commissioned piece, Sacagawea.  Mr. Elliott is a past recipient of the Arts Recognition Award from the Arts & Cultural Commission of Contra Costa County.  He holds a B.A. in Theatre from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master's of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, where he was a guest director in 2005.

The design team for Dearly Beloved includes Shaun Carroll (Properties and Set Dressing), John Wai-Keung Lowe (Lighting), Tom Benson (Scenery), Christine Crook (Costumes), and Sean McStravick (Sound).  Allison Ward* is Stage Manager.

Ticket and Schedule Information

Tickets are $33-$38 with discounts for students (6-18), seniors (65+), groups (10+), and Preview performances.  To purchase tickets call (925) 798-1300 or visit the Willows Theatre Company Web site at www.willowstheatre.org.  Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., with matinees Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m.

The Willows Theatre is located at 1975 Diamond Blvd. next to CompUSA and REI in the Willows Shopping Center in Concord, across the street from the Concord Hilton and one block east of the Willow Pass Road exit off Highway 680.

The Willows Theatre Company daytime box office is located at 1425 Gasoline Alley, Concord, at the corner of Bisso Lane, one block north of Concord Avenue.  The daytime box office hours are Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Sunday Noon-5 p.m.  The theatre box office and will-call window, located in the theater lobby, opens one hour prior to each performance. For more information call (925) 798-1300 or visit our Web site at www.willowstheatre.org.

Recipient of the 2002 Cyril Award of the San Francisco Business Arts Council for Nonprofit Arts Excellence, the Willows Theatre Company is led by Artistic Director Richard Elliott and Managing Director Andrew Holtz. The Willows Theatre Company 2007 sponsors are Rocco's Pizzeria of Walnut Creek, Industrial Lumber of Martinez, Contra Costa Newspapers, Alphagraphics of Walnut Creek, Best Western John Muir Inn, and US Bank (student/teacher discount ticket sponsor).

Archives

The Secret Garden
Nunsensations!
Woody Guthrie's American Song
The Odd Couple
1776
Noises OFF
Cabaret
Oliver
Deathtrap
2005 John Muir Summer Festival
Over the Tavern
Judgment at Nuremberg
AIDA