If you go
› What: “Smoke on the Mountain.”› When: Friday, June 3-Friday, July 29 (showtimes vary).› Where: Cumberland County Playhouse, 220 Tennessee Ave., Crossville, Tenn.› Admission: $25 adults, $23 seniors, $20 groups and military, $12 students.› Phone: 931-484-5000.› Website: www.ccplayhouse.com.
For 23 consecutive years, no summer has gone by at the Cumberland County Playhouse without a visit from the Sanders family in “Smoke on the Mountain.” This year’s edition of the bluegrass/gospel music, debuting Friday, June 3, features several new faces in the cast.
“It’s truly an honor to direct this perennial favorite,” says director Weslie Webster. “And this year I’m thrilled to welcome five new cast members, all of whom are wonderful actors and musicians.”
This year’s cast is anchored by Playhouse “Smoke” veterans Daniel Black and Lauren Marshall as Burl and Vera Sanders. Marshall is also the show’s music director.
Joining them are Jensen Crain as June Sanders, along with Playhouse newcomers Ross Griffin and Hannah Hays as twins Dennis and Denise Sanders and Paul Gary as Pastor Mervin Oglethorpe. Rounding out the Sanders family is Joseph Wilson as Uncle Stanley.
The musical is set on a Saturday night at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in rural North Carolina. Reverend Oglethorpe, the enthusiastic new minister, has invited the Sanders Family Singers to provide an uplifting evening of song, though some in the church are skeptical about the whole notion of a Saturday Night Sing.
Once the “service” begins, the audience becomes the congregation as two dozen traditional and original hymns weave together with hilarious stories of witness from family members.
“Smoke on the Mountain,” rated G, will continue through Friday, July 29. Also playing is “Southern Fried Nuptials,” rated PG, which runs through Friday, June 10.