Special Saturday show added when play proves too popular for regular run
By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
Even before the stage was lit and dress rehearsals were underway, Carmel Community Players’ (CCP) production of Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice was destined to be a hit. Tickets are selling so well, CCP has added an extra matinee performance on the final weekend of the run.
The show stages from Feb. 28 through March 8 at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, Carmel, and you should probably either go online to carmelplayers.org or call (317) 815-9387 to get tickets before you read the rest of this article. These seats are selling FAST.
Go on. This article will be waiting for you when you get back.
The Reporter spoke with Director Samantha Kelly about the show and what audiences can expect from CCP’s presentation of this classic story.
“I have loved Pride and Prejudice basically my whole life,” Kelly said. “I saw the movie when I was 9 because that’s when it came out. Then I watched the miniseries and finally was like, okay, I come from a family of readers, so obviously I have to read the book.”
Kelly read the book, then discovered the script for the play.
“I really liked the way that Kate Hamill wrote the characters because it’s not the stiff upper lip Austinian characters that you see,” Kelly said. “It’s more of a down-to-earth, like I can relate to these people type of situation. I really liked the way that it was done.”
Kelly said she has been involved in theater most of her life, and has been doing so professionally since graduating from college in 2009.
“Within the last year, post-COVID kind of dove back in, and this last year I think I worked nonstop for about eight months,” Kelly said. “I did a show every month.”
Kelly brings that passion for theater to not only her direction of this classic, but also to the look of each character.
“I am also a costumer, so I just decided to take the leap and costume it myself,” Kelly said. “Bridgerton, the TV show, is definitely one of my huge inspirations. I love the show. I’ve seen every episode. I really liked the way that the women were dressed in the TV show. We have Regency-era dresses and each girl has a color palette attached to them. You can get a sense of their personality just from the get-go. It all seamlessly flows in, and you can see the transition between each person and how each couple comes together. It’s going to look really cool.”
In addition to the costumes, the minimal set design is also something Kelly is very pleased with.
“My set designer is Jared McGowan, who is the technical director at North Central High School,” Kelly said. “He came up with a really, really cool set design. We have it on three rotating platforms. They all will rotate over the course of the show to show different locations so that we can travel to these different places without actually having to push a whole bunch of set pieces off and a whole bunch of set pieces on. And it really works within the space of The Cat.”
In addition to her fine cast and her set designer, Kelly noted that this show would not be nearly as good without the contributions of Assistant Director Chloe Van.
“She’s kind of been attached at the hip with me this entire process,” Kelly said. “And this being the first time that I’ve ever directed professionally, it’s been really nice to have somebody there to bounce ideas off of and to basically stop me from having a complete and total mental breakdown whenever I get stressed out. I could not have done this process without her.”
You can see Pride and Prejudice on stage at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, Carmel, from Feb. 28 through March 8.
For those of you who read the whole article before pulling the trigger on this decision, go online to carmelplayers.org or call (317) 815-9387 to get your tickets.