What’s the buzz? Tell me what’s a happenin’

All has been quiet on the Spartanburg Little Theatre front for the past few months. After the one two three four five punch of "Peter Pan", "The Jungle Book", "Noises Off", "The Elves and the Shoemaker" and "The Santaland Diaries" (all within a span of 4 months mind you) we've all taken a much needed break to cool our heels and gear up for what promises to be a jam packed Spring.

So what's on tap?

The Spartanburg Youth Theatre is first on the bill and is currently in rehearsals for "Wiley and the Hairy Man" which runs publicly February 13 and 14 (school time shows are February 11 and 12). Directed by Betsy Kneisley, this may not be the most well-known children's play, but it certainly is one of the best, with an excellent script and talented group of Spartanburg youth including Kyle McIntyre who you may remember as "Michael" in this season's "Peter Pan". Come out and support the 2nd oldest Youth Theatre in the state of South Carolina and the ONLY "by youth--for youth" Youth Theatre program in the entire state.

On Monday evening I was lucky enough to meet with the cast of our next Spartanburg Little Theatre production, the jam up extravaganza "Thoroughly Modern Millie". Just looking out at the cast, I was amazed at the talent that has come together to work on this show. Directed by John Fagan, with music direction from Ed Connolly and choreography by Peggy Magarahan, this show is in good hands. In fact, I believe this is the Upstate premiere of "Thoroughly Modern Millie". Mark the first two weekends of March out on your calendar and we'll see you there.

The Spartanburg Youth Theatre is also gearing up for its third round of classes. Matt Giles, the Artistic Director of the Youth Theatre has revamped the entire curriculum with new levels and longer classes. We're really excited to see some changes happening across the board.

And finally, we have a new coordinator for "Imagine That", our teen improv theatre group. Her name is Sterling Kenny and I know she has a lot of fabulous ideas for "Imagine That". If you've never seen "Imagine That" perform, it really is something, tackling hard to talk about issues with teens and youth.

So that's the haps folks. Now take a deep breath Jay and jump on in....