VALDOSTA — Sonny Shroyer has played Bear Bryant in “Forrest Gump” and Enos in “The Dukes of Hazzard” and his own television series. Now, the Hollywood actor who makes Valdosta his home is performing live in Theatre Guild Valdosta’s production “And Then There Were None.”
Shroyer says it’s been 24 years since he last performed in a live, stage production. He admits he’s a little nervous.
“It’s not like a movie or a TV show,” he says standing on the stage of The Dosta Playhouse. “There’s no one going to yell ‘Cut’ here if something goes wrong. I’ll just have to keep going.”
Shroyer plays General Mackenzie in the popular play based on the Agatha Christie book. Show director Mary Helen Watson had cast someone else in the role, but that person deployed to Afghanistan with the military, she said. Shroyer had expressed an interest in the past to participate in a Guild play. Watson called him and he accepted.
Shroyer joins a cast composed of rising Guild regulars and newcomers. Casting wasn’t so much the challenge for Watson as keeping the story fresh.
Even though the title has been changed by Christie’s estate from “Ten Little Indians” to “And Then There Were None,” the story will be familiar to many viewers.
The Guild synopsis: “‘And Then There Were None’ takes place on an island off the coast of Devon, England, in the late 1930s, where eight people of different social classes journey to the Soldier Island mansion, having been invited there by a Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen. Upon arriving, they are told by the butler and his wife, Thomas and Ethel Rogers, that their hosts are currently away. Each guest finds a slightly odd bit of statuette of an Indian and a framed copy of the nursery rhyme ‘Ten Little Indians’ hanging on the wall. Throughout the course of the weekend each guest meets his unpleasant end until ‘there were none.’”
Watson’s challenge: Does she keep the show traditional or make it fresh?
“I have tried to find a middle ground,” Watson says. “We have all the stock characters, but they may look and sound a bit different than usual. However, the fun of the who-done-it is still there with all its little quirks and twists and turns.”
THE CAST: Byron Vance, Brenda Brunston, Ryan Stillings, Nikia Forbes, Terrell Hart, Butch Fussell, Ted Bilak, Sonny Shroyer, Mike Glasscock, Katheryn Smith, Edward Van Peenen.
DIRECTION, PRODUCTION: Mary Helen Watson, director; Grant Brown and Becky Mullican, assistant directors; Mary Helen Taylor, stage manager; Pauline Player, costumer; Catherine Bradley, props mistress; Robert Brabham, sound design; Grant Brown, set design; Grant Brown, Mike Glasscock, Jerry Ellis, Clay Lee, Mary Helen Watson, Pauline Player, Mary Ann Green, set construction; Marge Pruden, Becky Mullican, toy soldiers.
Showtime
Theatre Guild Valdosta’s “And Then There Were None.”
When: Show plays 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m., Oct. 22-24.
Where: The Dosta Playhouse, 122 N. Ashley St.
Ticket: $12.
Reservations, more information: Call 24-STAGE; or visit
www.theatreguildvaldosta.com
Local News
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The cast of Theatre Guild Valdosta’s ‘And Then There Were None’ are ready for the shocks and surprises of this Agatha Christie mystery opening this week. Sonny Shroyer, end right, makes his first stage appearance in 24 years with this show.
Discussion
‘And Then There Were None’
Sonny Shroyer takes stage in Theatre Guild show
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