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Carey Dinner Theatre presents “Waffle House: The Musical”
Carey Dinner Theatre will celebrate its 50th anniversary this summer with an original play – “Waffle House: The Musical.”
Performances will be July 11-27, Tuesdays through Saturdays, in Joe & Virginia Tatum Theatre on William Carey University’s Hattiesburg campus. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. and the performance follows.
“Waffle House” is a musical comedy set in America’s favorite diner. It features a cook, waitresses, and regulars everyone will recognize. Just like a real Waffle House jukebox, the music ranges from country, southern rock and R&B to doo-wop and hymns. Songs include “Scattered, Smothered and Covered,” “Ballad of Skedaddle,” “Mama’s Kitchen,” and “I’ve Eaten Everywhere.”
“Cody Stockstill came up with the idea for a Waffle House musical. Cody works for Carey Dinner Theatre as scenic designer and technical director. I’ve mentioned it to students and friends for years. We would laugh and bat around ideas, but it never went anywhere,” said Tim Matheny, WCU’s chair of Theatre & Communication.
This year, Matheny pitched the idea to Obra Quave, CDT’s founding director.
Quave was all for it: “I think it’s wonderful to revisit the idea of writing a musical to celebrate our 50th anniversary. Back in the early days of Carey Dinner Theatre, all the shows were written by our own company members.”
Three CDT staffers collaborated to write the musical: Tim Matheny; Jeanna Graves, an adjunct instructor in the theatre and English departments; and Tae Yong Hong, an assistant professor at Winters School of Music.
“When Tim Matheny told me about the project, I was excited but nervous. I had never written songs before, and poetry is not my forte. But I loved the story-telling of comedians like Jerry Clower when I was a child. Their humor felt familiar and safe because it gently poked fun at people and situations I knew very well,” Graves said.
Waffle House makes Tae Yong Hong think of his first night in the U.S.
“I went from the airport to a hotel in Hattiesburg. There was a Waffle House right across the street. I ate my first meal in America at that Waffle House. I thought eating breakfast food at night was strange, but I liked it,” Hong said.
Set crews are already at work. The cast of seven actors arrived June 25 and rehearsals are under way at Tatum Theatre.
“Waffle House is going to be a fun ride. Songs range from silly to poignant. I think people will find themselves or people they know in these characters,” Matheny said.
The box office opens July 1. Theatre-lovers can call Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tickets are $40 and include the show, buffet, and sales tax. For reservations, call (601) 318-6221.
MageeNews is the online news source for Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi and beyond.
