Bright Star

“The sun is gonna shine, again the sun is gonna shine.”

That message of hope is at the heart of the musical “Bright Star” which was presented last weekend by the Medford Area Community Theatre.

Bright Star is set in rural North Carolina, in 1946 with flashbacks to 23 years years earlier and tells the story of life and loss and how sometimes liars make good storytellers.

It is hard not to be impressed by the acting and musical talents of people within our community. From the lead actors to those in the ensemble, they were all part of bringing the story from the pages of the script to life.

What I especially enjoyed were the scenes where cast members in the background were going about their lives, seemingly oblivious to the main characters, whether it be gossiping at the book store, in the backgrounds at a community dance, the arrival platform of a railroad or having a night out in a tavern. These background characters help add depth and a sense of reality to any play. They are a reminder that we are all the main characters in our own stories.

This does nothing to take away from the truly amazing talents of the lead players. Shelly Johnson in the role of both the young and older Alice Murphy nailed the role and brought the audience to tears as she begged to be able to keep her baby. Likewise Brad Paff, Sam Porten, Buzz Mahner, Lauren Gierl, Josh Ognenoff, Nancy Campbell-Kelz along with all the other actors and actresses in large and small parts did amazing jobs in bringing the characters and their story to life.

The efforts of all the cast members becomes even more noteworthy when you think about the sheer amount of guts it takes to stand up in front of your friends and neighbors and act and sing. There is a special sort of bravery to be able to take to a stage and take on a character and make a role your own.

Many of us have still have occasional nightmares about being called out to speak by teachers. My personal nightmare is being back in my 9th grade English class where we were all reading “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens with students called on to read a section while everyone else was supposed to be following along in their textbook. My nightmare is reliving being called out to take my turn after being caught daydreaming about the pretty girl in my math class.

I have a great deal of respect for people who can stand in front of a crowd of friends and strangers and become someone else, at least for the few short hours while the play is going on.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also praise director Mackenzie Flynn and technical director Mason Bunkelman who had the vision and skill to bring these talents together. Credit also goes to all those who worked outside the spotlight in order to make the play a success.

I look forward to every local theater performance from the student productions in the spring and fall to Medford Area Community Theatre’s winter and summer productions.

The Medford community is lucky to have people willing to share in their talents and passions and bring their dreams to life for all of us to see.

One of the great things about being in this area, is the amount of different activities and events that are going on every week. From last week’s play and the Old School Street Dance, to this week’s busy schedule with the Taylor County Fair, Rumblefest Car Show, Lublin Days, Lion’s Rubber Duck Race and other events there is something to satisfy just about everyone’s interests.

I challenge anyone who says there is nothing to do in Taylor County to look at the schedule of events on any given summer weekend. This is credit to the people working to make them possible.