The Winnetonka Theatre Department opens its Spring Season with Dearly Departed, a comedy, on April 6, 7, and 8 at 7:00PM in the Winnetonka Arena Theatre. Admission is $5.00.
THE STORY: In the Baptist backwoods of the Bible Belt, the beleaguered Turpin family proves that living and dying in the South are seldom tidy and always hilarious. Despite their earnest efforts to pull themselves together for their father's funeral, the Turpin's other problems keep overshadowing the solemn occasion: Firstborn Ray-Bud drinks himself silly as the funeral bills mount; Junior, the younger son, is juggling financial ruin, a pack of no-neck monster kids, and a wife who suspects him of infidelity; their spinster sister, Delightful, copes with death as she does life, by devouring junk food; and all the neighbors add more than two cents. As the situation becomes fraught with mishap, Ray-Bud says to his long-suffering wife, "When I die, don't tell nobody. Just bury me in the backyard and tell everybody I left you." Amidst the chaos, the Turpins turn for comfort to their friends and neighbors, an eccentric community of misfits who just manage to pull together and help each other through their hours of need, and finally, the funeral.
Not since STEEL MAGNOLIAS has a more colorful and dysfunctional group of Southern eccentrics gathered below the Mason-Dixon line. When the patriarch of the Turpin family keels over dead in the first scene, the struggle to get him buried involves the whole clan, including the not-so-grieving widow who wants to put "Mean and Surly" on the tombstone.
CAST
Raynelle – Ryann Hill
Raynelle Understudy – Kirsti Greene
Bud – James Long
Ray-Bud – Jackson Mattingly
Ray-Bud Understudy - James Long
Marguerite – Katie Marshall
Understudy - Caroline Foster
Royce – Joe Bell/Cameron Daniel
Royce Understudy - Trenton Kauzlarich
Lucille – Kylee Zerbe/Riley Neighbors
Lucille Understudy – Rosie Rodriguez
Jr – Randall Jackson
Jr. Understudy – James Long
Suzanne – Maddie Fields
Suzanne Understudy – Makayla Cambiano
Children of Jr and Suzanne – Max and Miles Hinkle, Tristan Young
Delicious – Eskah Allen
Delightful – Mariah Hinkle
Rev. Hooker – Christian Martindale
Rev. Hooker Understudy - Owen Garoutte
Joy of Life Singers
Lead Singer/Choir Director - Jessica Olive
Kirsti Greene
Caroline Foster
Anna Braman
Nadine – Maegan Foster/Anna Braman
Juanita – Madison Mayes/Rosie Rodriguez
Veda – Serina Middaugh/Kirsti Greene
Norval – Trenton Kauzlarich
Clyde – Joe Bell/Cameron Daniel
Bernice Talbot – Makayla Cambiano/Rosie Rodriguez
Rebel – Jake Skinner
Merline Depew – Ashtin Holman
Funeral Goers
Cousin Billy Bob - Preston Trinqual
Aunt Lula Belle - Hannah Thomas
Aunt Sallie Mae - Inga Hüremund
Next Door Neighbor - Madison Coonce
Royce’s Current Girlfriend - Helen Adair
Royce’s Ex – Jessica Olive
Royce’s Other Ex - Kylee Zerbe/Riley Neighbors
Cousin Ada May - Ashley Smith
Cousin Cordelia Lou - Erica Burnett
Clyde’s # 1 Mechanic – Owen Garoutte
Production Management Team
Student Directors – Taylor Smith/Derrick Lewis
Technical Director – Danielle Dodd
Stage Manager – Landon Dowell
Assistant Stage Manager – Jay Morris
Costumes – Taylor Smith/Randall Jackson
Hair and Make-Up – Kali Holman/Maddie Fields
