Feb. 12, 2004 – Caribbean Community Theatre on Friday opens the first production in its new home in Orange Grove — "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
The theater is located behind the Pueblo supermarket and the new St. Croix Animal Shelter flea market, between St. Croix Insurance and Long Reef Condominiums.
The plot of the musical comedy centers on a crafty slave who in order to obtain his freedom struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan for his master. The action takes place on a spring day in Rome, around 200 B.C.
"It's a really funny play," CCT board president Richard Mackay said.
Acclaimed writer Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and music from the book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart.
David Richards is directing the production, with Eileen Des Jardins as producer and Bill Griswold as stage manager.
The cast includes Terry Alden, Michael Armendariz, Linda Lane Baxter, Barbara and William Butler, Yanely Del Rosario, Yvette Eugene-Morton, Bill Gibbons, Griswold, Cati James, Tyler Jowaisas, Walt Julio, Janice Lee, Charlene McGowan, Marty Merrick, Leslie Reed, Zydmarie Sanes, Claudia Serrano, Khnuma Simmonds, Christine Thomas, Frank Weatherwax and Glen Wells.
Sponsors of the production are Bank of St. Croix, Business World, Christiansted Apothecary Hall, Crucian Gold, Dipster PC & the Boys, Barbara and Charles Gachot, Island Heritage Insurance Company Ltd., Tish Mercier, Manal Al-Juburi Missar, Mongoose 104.9/Isle 95/Sunny FM 99.5, Pan American Distributors, Tropico Management, Vacation St. Croix Villa Rentals, and V.I. Cargo. The project received grant support from the V.I. Council on the Arts/National Endowment for the Arts.
After mounting productions for several years in the Sidney Lee Theater at Island Center for the Performing Arts, CCT wanted a place with a long-term lease so it could make improvements that suited its productions, Mackey said.
It has a 15-year lease on the new venue, which provides "a 50 percent increase in the stage size," he said.
Performances of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" are set for 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday plus Feb. 20-21 and Feb. 27-28, and 4 p.m. Feb. 22. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $8 for students.
To get to the theater, turn by the Subway shop and Paradise Gym, or enter by the Easterly Building. To make reservations, arrange assistance for the handicapped or obtain further directions to the theater, call 773-7171.
For more information about the company, visit the CCT Web page.
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