Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
‘Five Tellers Dancing in the Rain’ at Dalton Little Theatre
In “Five Tellers Dancing in the Rain,” playwright Mark Dunn mines two notable attributes of Southern women: charm and sass.
The play will be presented the next two weekends at Dalton Little Theatre, which has staged four previous titles by Dunn, including the world premiere last season of “Happily Ever After, a Wedding Comedy.”
Ron King has directed three of those previous efforts and has assumed those duties a fourth time with “Five Tellers,” which he describes as funny, serious and full of Southern charm.
Set in the breakroom of a small Mississippi bank, the play follows the lives, loves and losses of five tellers over six consecutive weekday mornings as they share laughter and tears over lots of coffee. Whether they are dealing with broken arms or broken hearts, the tellers find strength and self-respect through the friendships of those who have been down the same road.
“People should come see this show because they have either gone through, are going through or know somebody in these situations,” says King.
“Five Tellers Dancing in the Rain” premiered at Theatre on Broadway in Denver, Colo., on June 25, 1993, and opened at the Thirteenth Street Repertory Company in New York City on Nov. 12, 1993.
The Dalton cast features Vicky Quinn as Dolores Bogatin, Amanda Havelin as Betina Embree, Katie Johansson as Twyla Tobias, Nikki Sloan as Lorene Lee and Alana Sane as Jennifer Duck.
King says “Happily Ever After” has been picked up by a publishing company, so the names of the local actors “will forever be in print.” The playbook will credit Dalton Little Theatre as the world- premiere venue and list the DLT cast.
The theater is set to premier another of Dunn’s plays next season. The theater also previously produced “Belles,” “Cabin Fever: A Texas Tragicomedy” and “Sand Pies and Scissorlegs.”