The Division of Performing Arts at Lees-McRae College has been rehearsing for weeks to prepare for the challenging Tennessee Williams play, Summer and Smoke. Come and see this 
interesting and entertaining show that runs Oct. 31 through Nov. 4.
Not known as well known as other Tennessee William’s works, Summer and Smoke is set in 1916 in the Deep South, and
is a provocative love story about a Preacher’s daughter who is obsessed with the “bad boy” Doctor next door. She is attracted to his good looks and free spirit; he is attracted to her soul. In true Tennessee Williams fashion, the results are never neat and the journey is ultimately complex.
Many people believe that Williams used his own familial relationships as inspiration for many of his plays. Tennessee’s own mother, often compared to characters with in his works, allowed doctors to perform a frontal lobotomy on Tennessee’s sister Rose, an event that greatly disturbed Williams who was the caregiver for Rose throughout much of her life. The family shown to us within Summer and Smoke is anything but normal, and the relationships are interesting to figure out – which makes for a great production!
On February 24, 1983, Tennessee Williams choked to death on a bottle cap at his New York City residence at the Hotel Elysee. He is buried in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to twenty-five full length plays, Williams produced dozens of short plays and screenplays, two novels, a novella, sixty short stories, over one-hundred poems and an autobiography. Among his many awards, he won two Pulitzer Prizes and four New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards.
For the Division of Performing Arts production Adrienne Bergeron plays Miss Alma, a woman who struggles to create a connection with the man she has always loved – the handsome son of the town’s respected doctor, John Buchanan Jr. played by Brandon Samples. Additional cast member are Lucy Geouge (Mrs. Winemiller), John Warrick (Rev. Winemiller), Heather Leupold (Nellie), Angel Whigham (Rosa Gonzales), Takema Howard (Mrs. Basset), Bruce Bradberry (Vernon), Tonya Patterson (Rosemary), Nick Donchak (Dr. Buchanan) Charles Dagenhart (Roger Doremus), Jake Sheffer (Mr. Gonzales), and Mason Weaver (Archie Kramer).
Join us for a night of fireworks, fountains, angels and symbolic meaning! Summer and Smoke will be held in Hayes Auditorium on Lees-McRae College’s campus in Banner Elk, NC. Tickets are general admission and are available at the door; box office opens an hour before show time – there is plenty of seating available. Tickets are $12 for Adults and $5 for Students with any student ID accepted. Show times are Wednesday, October 31 through Saturday, November 3 at 7:30p.m. and Sunday, November 4 at 2p.m. This show is appropriate for mature High School students and up. For additional show information please visit: www.performingarts.lmc.edu or call (828)898-8721.