ASH Theatre to perform 'The Color Purple' at International Thespian Festival on Juneteenth

Alexandria Senior High School (ASH) Theatre director Tyler Price was shocked, but in a good way, when he read the email from the International Thespian Festival. He found out that their musical production of “The Color Purple” had been accepted. ASH is among 7 high schools from around the country selected to perform on the festival's main stage at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., June 19-23.

“The Color Purple” musical is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker. The story is about Celie, a Black woman in Georgia who suffers abuse at the hands of her stepfather and later on her husband Mister. She is is able to triumph over the difficulties she faces in her hard life.

“When we found out, we were in a fundraiser meeting and all we could see was Mr. Price looking at his computer, he was like shocked. He stopped a minute,” said junior Kayden Shelmire who is a student in the program. She also portrays Doris, one of the church ladies.

Then, he told the students the good news.

Special, exciting moment for students

“We just start screaming and everything. We're just jumping for joy. It was a moment. It really was,” said Shelmire.

“I don't even know where to start it was very exciting. It's a crazy thing that happened and we were all just so happy, filled with joy. It's really hard to describe. It's just all emotional, you know,” said senior Faith Martin. She plays the part of Shug, a beautiful, confident singer who is the lover of both Mister and Celie.

Jaylon Williams who portrays Mister said he is excited because it's not everyday that a kid from Central Louisiana gets this kind of opportunity.

"I feel very special very, very blessed, very thankful for opportunity,” said sophomore Jaylon Williams, who portrays Mister.

Looking for a place to submit production

Price was looking for a place to submit their production because he felt it was special and worthy of recognition. It was while looking at the Educational Theatre Association website that he found out about the festival.

“I typed in ‘high school production festival’ or something like that, and I saw the Main Stage application,” said Price. But it was due in five days and there were so many things he had to do before submitting the application.

“I emailed them and I was like, “Hey, can we get in this extension? I have this really, really great production, just need to get like logistics done.’”

He was given an extension, submitted a video of the production in October 2022 and waited. Then on March 1, they got the answer they were looking for, and they’ve been celebrating ever since.

That’s quite a feat considering “The Color Purple” was a replacement for “Dreamgirls” which they were originally going to perform but didn’t have everything they needed for a performance, Shelmire explained.

Why do they think their production of “The Color Purple” was chosen for the festival?

Shelmire thinks it’s because it’s different and high school theatres typically don’t produce shows like it.

Performing "The Color Purple" on Juneteenth

But what will make this performance even more meaningful and special is that ASH Theatre will be performing the production on Juneteenth which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It started in Texas after Union Troops arrived in 1865 and told the slaves they were free due to President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The date was June 19th. The words were merged into "Juneteenth."

“We’re going to be able to promote diversity in the class and Black power through our production of ‘The Color Purple’,” said Williams. “So we're going to let it all out on that day so we can show what it really, really means to have a strong group of Black young individuals doing something good for the community and letting out their emotions.”

Students who attend this festival take theatre very seriously and may be looking at it as a career path, said Price.

“It's very important for them to even be exposed to this holiday at all. But then to see a classic piece of African-American literature being interpreted for the stage on Juneteenth, it's incredible,” he said. "Juneteenth is a celebration of the abolishment of slavery, which in ‘The Color Purple’ you hear a reference of someone saying, ‘Oh well, my great grandfather was a slave and when he was freed, he bought this land,' and this is what's coming out of it. So it's just going to be really cool to perform ‘The Color Purple,’ educate people about Juneteenth but also show them this classical piece of African-American art so it's really nice. It's really cool.”

Getting the love nationally from other theatre people

The night after they found out, Price went home and watched a copy of the video he submitted.

“I just started to cry because for a long time, I've been one of the only people who's been really enthusiastic about telling these kids like how talented they are and how special they are and how much they are going to mean to the theater community.”

He said the association is very excited about the ASH production and the talent level of the students in the program.

“It was really nice because sometimes we really don't get that love locally. To get that love nationally and from people who do theatre and theatre professionals, to see them finally feel that confirmation, that overwhelmed me with emotion. We're so excited and so blessed that this is happening to us.”

Price said to be on the lookout for a revival of “The Color Purple” in Alexandria but they don’t know the exact dates yet since they have to book a venue since the ASH auditorium is under renovation.

Raising funds to go to the festival

The students are getting ready to start rehearsals for the festival and they have a huge online fundraiser that is going on right now, said Martin.

“We're trying to raise $50,000 to get everyone to go so we have a Rally Up. It's on all of our social media,” said Price.

The address is go.rallyup.com.

They are also accepting check donations made out to the Alexandria Senior High School Theatre Department mailed to the school address: Alexandria Senior High School Theatre Dept.; 800 Ola Street; Alexandria, La. 71303

“As long as they just mail it into our address, we'll know that it's for the International Thespian Festival,” said Price.

I’m very excited,” said Shelmire. “And I know the whole cast, we're going to do amazing. We’re going to do it. You know they're not expecting us, but we're going to come. We're going to hit hard with it. I can't wait.”

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: ASH Theatre to perform 'The Color Purple' at International Thespian Festival on Juneteenth