Play photos, review

      Here are some photos of the play's set and one of my lovely cast. Then you can read the review from the local newspaper. The play closed today after a good run.









(From the Ada Evening News, May 20, 2007)

By Pru Simmons
Guest writer

The opening night crowd at ACT II’s production of "Daddy’s Dyin' Who's Got The Will?" was treated to a funny and moving experience. The play is another jewel in this unusually strong theater season.

There were several standout performances in this uniformly good cast.

Nancy Cheper, who plays the feisty and funny Mama Wheelis, was a joy all the way through the play. While Mama Wheelis isn't as nuanced as the character she played in "The Vigil," she still manages to let us feel the soul of this woman who has out-lived her daughter and now must contend with her headstrong grandchildren.

Kyra Childers, who plays the big-haired and big-hearted Sara Lee, steals the show with her sharp retorts and facial expressions. Childers has a scene with her on-stage father that illustrates her impressive acting skills. If you have any empathy at all, it will bring tears to your eyes.

Mama Wheelis and Sara Lee have their hands full with wild child Evalita Turnover, portrayed by Melissa Wall. This is Wall's second role with ACT II, and I hope it's the beginning of a long career on the Norris Center's stage. Wall deftly shows us Evalita's zest for life, her pitiful vulnerability and her selfish immaturity.

Both Marlene (Penny Johnson) and Lurlene (Abbey Black) do excellent jobs, rounding out the female members of this Texan dysfunctional family. The audience will root for Marlene as she tries to find a way out of her unhappy situation. I greatly admire Johnson's ability to handle a difficult role. And Black shows us a religious woman who is both strong and capable, using her faith as a pillar of her life.

The men in the cast mostly circle in the orbits of the women, but Chuck Perry's "Buford" was charming and touching. You could see the man he was before the stroke and sense his struggle to maintain his dignity. TL Cox as Harmony Rhodes and Sterling Jacobs as Orville Turnover complete this talented cast. Cox and Jacobs give solid performances, but the play is carried by those crazy, unbridled Turnover girls.

The stage is superbly decorated, and the technical aspects of the play are competently handled. Director Stephen Bagley has done an excellent job with this play and should add it to his list of first-rate productions.

I strongly urge you to make time to enjoy this production. It runs through Sunday at the Norris Center.

      And that concludes that production. Talk to you tomorrow.