MIRA MOMENTS
Alice Ross catches up with Mira Players cast member Sherry MacSween.
At 64 years young, Mira Players cast member Sherry MacSween has gone from mom and girl next door roles to being cast as the attractive, predatory nymphomaniac, Haley Harrington, in the laugh-a-minute, sidesplitting comedy “Hotbed Hotel” hitting the Marion Bridge Rec Hall stage in May.
MacSween explains that she got involved with the theatre group 28 years ago because she was shy and needed to build her confidence by trying something different. A concept that I can totally relate to.
“It makes me chuckle,” says MacSween, nicknamed the “Barracuda” in Hotbed Hotel. She was also cast as “sexy, mancrazy” Honey Rae Futrelle in the Player’s Christmas production “Dashing Through the Snow.”
But this grandmother of five has some sage advice: “sexy is not about age, it’s about your attitude and how you feel about yourself.”
“Hotbed Hotel,” by all standards, is considered a bit risqué for community theatre. MacSween says: “Mira Players has grown over the last 30 years. Most of our audience has been there along the way. We were ready to step out of our comfort zone. Things change. We needed the challenge.”
Director Kelly Lynn Kirk couldn’t agree more: “Challenging the actors and the audience can be good.”
All of this comedic action takes place in the Florida Keys at the one star (and often one guest), Turtle Beach Hotel that owners Terri (played by myself) and Brian Cody (played by Harvey Pyke) are trying desperately to sell.
There is one prospective buyer from New York, a Mr. Lewis, played by Doug Wrathall, who arrives much earlier than expected with Ashley, his wife (or so we think), played by Krista Church. And so, the chaos begins! Since there is only one paying guest, Major Ponnseby (Bob Lewandowski), Terri is forced to come up with a plan and hatches the idea that the staff will masquerade as guests to convince the potential buyer that the hotel is full and prosperous. But the plan is on shaky ground when the owners are forced to rely on the drunken handyman Hopkins (Allen White) and the scatterbrained young maid, Maureen, played by Jule Ann Hardy.
All the while, an Arab sheik, that strongly resembles the Major, expresses an interest in buying the hotel. The Barracuda is creating havoc, while Ashley is unable to find her clothes and remains in a permanent state of undress and at some point, the entire male hotel guests end up in bed together.
The production ends with an unforeseen twist, but not before the “old battle axe” Dorothy, played by Joan Wilson, arrives and throws a wrench into Mr. Lewis’ plans.
The Mira Players have been bringing community theatre to this area for over three decades. Just in time for Mother’s Day, this dinner theatre production will hit the Marion Bridge Rec Centre stage May 5-6, May 1213, at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Mullins Rite Stop, the Marion Bridge Rec Centre on Monday and Wednesday nights between 7-9 p.m. as well as Thursday nights at Chase the Ace. For more information, call Beth at 902-727-2325 or visit the Mira Players Facebook page.
All proceeds shared with the Marion Bridge Community Recreation Cetre.
There are very few tickets remaining for the Mira Gala Pub Crawl, taking place Saturday, April 29. Registration will take place at 4 p.m. with the bus leaving the Marion Bridge Rec Hall at 5 p.m. The route will include stops at the Bateston Athletic Club and Grand Mira South Community Hall before returning back to the Rec Hall where there will be live entertainment until 12 a.m. Tickets are $20 per person. Please contact Rob MacPherson at 902322-2545.
Some fast facts:
- Codfish supper and dessert, 4-6 p.m., Zion-Wesley Church, Gabarus. Tickets $13.
- Mira Boat Club’s Spring BBQ, 6:30-8 p.m, $25 per person, entertainment to follow by Harbor Town.
- Fashion show and lunch, Mira Centre, May 6, 11 a.m. to
1 p.m.
- Roast beef dinner, Union Church Hall, May 6, 4-6 p.m.
- Mira Community Market, Mira Centre, Friday, May 12, 4-6:30 p.m.
- Mother’s Day Breakfast, Grand Mira Community Hall, May 13, 8-11 a.m.
- Treats and Treasures, Mira Centre, May 20, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more info on the area’s Chase The Ace draws, please visit Marion-bridge.ca.