MERIDIAN, Miss (Queen City Newsfeed) – The McCain Theater at Meridian Community College has transformed into the bustling street of New York City for Stage 2’s production of Guys and Dolls.
The cast is made up of 28 teenagers from all over the area who have come together for this fun and over-the-top musical comedy.
“We have kids who are home schooled. We have kids from the private school in Meridian. We have people all the way from Whynot or Enterprise who drive 45 minutes in to come to Stage 2 every Wednesday night, and when we do our summer show they drive every single day to come to play practice because they love this organization so much,” said Production Management Assistant and Intern Virginia White.
White said putting this show together was no easy task.
“They have come in day, after day, after day when everybody else could have been going to the pool, playing soccer, doing anything else with their summer. They have given up beach trips. They’ve given up making memories with their friends to make memories with our Stage 2 cast,” said White.
The show follows two gamblers, Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson, who are trying to find a place to host their floating craps game.
“I get to be this sneaky gambler with these people that I’ve known for a really long time, and it’s really funny. The whole situation that we get ourselves into is funny and we get to interact with each other and bounce these jokes off of each other,” said 18-year-old and recent West Lauderdale graduate Brayden Alford.
Stage 2 is a non-profit organization focused on community outreach and theater.
“Theater has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my life, so far, and I would love if my performance of stage would inspire a little kid in the crowd to go out and tryout for a school play,” said 17-year-old Cooper Lansier.
Ransier said he was once that little kid in the crowd.
“Whenever I saw a friend of mine in one of MLT’s shows, Meridian Little Theater, I did it the next year, and I did their Center Stage program, which is big, up until 5th grade. Then, I really just started doing shows at Lamar, which is where I go to school, and then I started doing them at MLT and MCC, and that’s when I joined Stage 2 because I knew some friends that were here, and since then, it’s just been a great experience,” said Ransier.
Alford said Stage 2 isn’t just about acting.
“We, we’re bigger than that. We build things. We built this show together. We worked together. So, I want them to see that Stage 2 is just capable of doing really great things, and if anybody has any kind of inclination to get into theater, like Cooper said, I will be incredibly proud to be responsible for somebody to get into what we have together,” said Alford.
Guys and Dolls will have another performance Saturday night at 7 p.m. and again Sunday at 3 p.m.
If you’re interested in joining Stage 2, click here.
