'Rumors' has it: Show starts Friday

Feb. 18—"Rumors" say that the cast for the upcoming production of the same name are raring to go as the first curtain will draw soon.

The timeless classic written by famous American playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon, is being directed by Sampson native Clay Boney. The show debuts at the Sampson Community Theatre located in Clinton next weekend and runs from Feb. 24-26. Friday and Saturday shows will be at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinees is at 2:30 p.m. There will be an encore performance the following weekend from March 3-6 with performances that run at the same times. All tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the theater box office.

Todd Weeks, Angela Martin, Garrett Whipkey, Mary Thompson, BJ Bass, Jonathan Daniels, Alison Carr, Felesia Buczynski, Seth Wise and Clay Boney are the 10 names starring in "Rumors".

If any of those names are familiar, it's no surprise, as many of the cast members are from within Sampson County and have graced the Sampson Community Theatre stage in the past.

While some haven't put on a performance in years they've returned just for this production and shared what's it like being back.

"I love it, I started in the theater here when I first moved to Clinton in 2007," Carr said. Fresh out of law school, it was an excellent way to get to know the community and still have little cards from ladies who came and saw my plays and said what a great job we did. I love to treasure those memories."

"I had my son in 2017 and so I had sort of eased off the community service things before that, since he's been born, I've just been riding that mama wave," she said. "Now he is five and I'm back on stage and he's planning his first show in June. So we're looking forward to that one, making it a family affair."

"It's incredible, I was a theater addict when I was in high school here in Sampson County," Whipkey said. "I did more plays that I can even count both backstage and onstage. Since I'm more of a musician when I went to college and moved away for years and years, I didn't really do much theater period. I haven't been on stage in probably, I think, actually 10 years. The Wizard of Oz was my last play in 2013."

"It's incredible, the amount of talent we have right here in Sampson County volunteer theater, it's amazing," he added. "So like Alison said, working with this cast has been so easy and so fun. When you work with people who are so dedicated to this for free and so dedicated to doing a good job; it really gives you a lot of room to just have a lot of fun."

"It honestly feels amazing, it's been 10 years since I've been in a production here and that's when I was in high school," Thompson said. "I went to school with Garrett and Angela taught me so there's just so many different connections on the stage. It's just kind of like a family reunion."

Each of them then touched on what they felt the most exciting part of the production has been.

"What I love about it is the cast, because I'm back on stage with people like Garrett, who was my first love interest in my first show 'Little Women,' when he was 15 and I was 25," Carr said with a laugh. "So many of the core people in the Sampsom Community Theatre are here and they make the shows great."

"Also being directed by Clay — I've been in shows with Clay before but never been directed by him — so it's fun to be both his wife in the play and to get to be in the play that he's actually directing."

"(It's) just bringing a high quality production to people in Sampson County," Whipkey said. "People might assume since this is community theater it's not high quality or whatever, but it really is. We have people here who are theater teachers, music teachers, we have people who really know what they're doing."

"It's really exciting to see the script come alive," he said. "And so, it's really a great opportunity for a great price for people in the community to see so I hope everyone comes to see it."

"I love the chaos of it," Thompson said. "I've always played roles opposite of my personality so I'm pretty mellowed out down here but on stage I am very whiny, chaotic and bitchy. So that's probably the thing I look forward to the most, just kind of really stepping out of my comfort zone and to let people see a whole different side of me."

For all those wondering if going to see "Rumors" is worth the trip, cast members weighed in.

"So many people pass by these plays over the musicals," Carr said. "The Musicals are always really well attended and it seems like the script plays don't get quite as much attendance but they will be missing out if they don't come to the show. I kind of hope that we're going to have full houses, at least by the second weekend because it's just hilarious. It's just a fun, clean night out, you can go get dinner then come down here to see the show and enjoy it."

"I would just reiterate the same thing from earlier," Whipkey said. "It's an amazing value for your money and this play is hilarious. Not only is it really well written, it's hilarious and the fact that a lot of people probably know a lot of the cast will make it even funnier. With the level of quality in this cast, plus how funny the script is, it is definitely not one that they're going to want to miss. So please come see it."

"I'd tell them if they literally want to laugh for two hours that they should come see this," Thompson said. "It is probably one of, if not the funniest production, I've been a part of. I live two and a half hours from here in Greensboro so I've dedicated a lot of time to this because I truly love it. It's so funny and anyone who doesn't come out and see it is missing out."

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.