Conway Community Arts to present Almost, Maine

Pete, played by Saxon Whitehead, and Ginette, played by Darby Burdine, gaze at the stars in this scene from Almost, Maine, which will be presented by the Conway Community Arts Association and The Lantern Theatre beginning Friday. Pete and Ginette like each other but are shy and afraid to express their true feelings.
Pete, played by Saxon Whitehead, and Ginette, played by Darby Burdine, gaze at the stars in this scene from Almost, Maine, which will be presented by the Conway Community Arts Association and The Lantern Theatre beginning Friday. Pete and Ginette like each other but are shy and afraid to express their true feelings.

CONWAY — Love is in the air — the cold, frosty air of northern Maine in a place called Almost.

Almost is “almost” a town — it is unincorporated.

Almost is “almost” in the United States; it is also “almost” in Canada.

And love does abound — “almost.”

The Conway Community Arts Association and The Lantern Theatre will introduce patrons to this unusual community, with the aurora borealis as its backdrop, in an upcoming romantic comedy, Almost, Maine, by John Cariani.

Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Feb. 18-20; and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 14 and 21 at The Lantern Theatre, 1021 Von Ronkle St. in Conway. The play is rated PG-13.

Tickets and reservations can be made online at www.conwayarts.org. Tickets are $15 each.

Liz Parker of Conway directs the local production. Stage management is by Christa Davis of Conway, who is director of parent engagement at Hendrix College.

“Trent [Reese] brought this play to our attention,” Parker said. “He had done it at his college.

“We looked at it, and I liked it,” she said. “It’s a romantic comedy. It’s a series of 10-minute scenes, all on a Friday night in Almost, Maine.

“It’s all — gotten love, lost love — gained and regained,” Parker said. “It’s a perfect valentine show. That’s why we chose it for this time slot in our season.”

Patrons familiar with the actors at The Lantern Theatre will notice several new names in the cast list of Almost, Maine.

“We have lots of new people in the cast,” Parker said. “We are so excited about that.”

Parker is a longtime supporter of Conway Community Arts, both as an actor and director. She serves as treasurer of the CCAA Board of Directors.

Making their debut with Conway Community Arts in Almost, Maine are the following:

• Chad Fulmer of Conway plays three characters — Easton, Lendell and Chad.

Fulmer was born in Austin, Texas, grew up in North Little Rock and graduated from Vilonia High School. He is a 2014 graduate of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where he minored in theater. He is a substitute teacher for the Conway School District, a writer and an actor.

“I try out for any parts I can get my hands on,” he said, laughing, when asked how he became involved with the local community theater group. “I also work for The Agency Inc. in Little Rock, which is a talent agency.”

Fulmer said the three characters he portrays in Almost, Maine are “totally different people.”

“They are all pretty likeable characters,” he said. “I maybe like Chad the best. He’s more enjoyable, more energetic, more likeable.”

• Erin Henderson of Conway portrays two characters — Marvalyn and Rhonda.

Henderson is a respiratory therapist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. She graduated from Conway High School in 2002. She attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and graduated from the respiratory therapy program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

“I’ve been acting since I was a kid,” she said. “I’ve lived in various places, in various states. I saw an audition notice in the newspaper and thought I would try out for a part in this play.”

“I like Rhonda best,” she said of her characters. “She is more interesting but a little awkward. She is not very ladylike. There’s more leeway with her. I’m having a good time with this play.”

• Molly May of Conway plays the waitress.

Originally from Kansas, May graduated from Labette County High School in Altamont, Kansas. She received a degree in public relations from UCA in 2014. She is the marketing manager for a local newspaper.

“All of my theater experience comes from high school,” she said. “I’ve been in over 20 productions and participated in some competitive theater while in high school, as well. This is one of my favorite shows,” May said of Almost, Maine. “I’ve seen four different productions of it, and I was very excited to hear that CCAA was putting on the show.

“My favorite part of the show is hard to say, but I do love the comedic style John Cariani wrote throughout the piece.”

May said her character in the play “does have a name, but it gives away the scene, so I have to keep it under wraps.”

• Saxon Whitehead of Conway appears as two characters — Pete and Steve.

Whitehead is a graduate of Huntsville High School and attends UCA, where he is studying speech pathology.

“I love acting. I’m having a great time with this,” he said.

“I was looking for auditions in the area and saw this one. I was in a one-act at UCA, but up until then, it had been two years since I acted in anything. I thought it was time I got back into it,” he said.

“Pete is a regular guy,” Whitehead said of his character. “He is oblivious to a lot of things, whereas Steve has some more developmental issues. Steve can’t feel pain, but it’s not like you feel sorry for him; it’s not very realistic.”

Veteran cast members in Almost, Maine include the following:

• Darby Burdine of Conway plays Ginette.

“My character is shy and awkward,” Burdine said with a grin. “I don’t feel it’s too much of a stretch for me to play this character.”

Her character, Ginette, appears with Pete, played by Whitehead, in three short scenes at the beginning, middle and end of the play. They have been dating for a while, but they are both shy and introverted.

Burdine has a master’s degree in English from UCA and works in public relations at World Services for the Blind in Little Rock.

She last appeared in the CCAA production of The Rocky Horror Show.

“I also did the sound for A Tuna Christmas,” she said. “That was neat. That was the first time I had ever done the sound for a production.”

• Chris Harris of Conway portrays two characters — Phil and Dave.

“Phil and his wife have hit a rough period, and they are trying to find out where the spark has gone,” Harris said.

“Dave is kind of the opposite,” Harris said. “The scene is about a guy who has

feelings for a girl that he’s been friends with for years, and he finally makes those feelings known.

“I really enjoy this play because of all the different stories, and you can see yourself in a lot of these situations, so it’s easy to relate to. Plus, there is a whole new cast of talented actors and actresses who are new to The Lantern, and they are incredible to watch. This is going to be an amazing show.”

Harris is a graduate of Morrilton High School, an Army veteran and is self-employed. He has appeared in several CCAA productions, including, most recently, The Rocky Horror Show.

• Dana Kordsmeier of Conway plays two characters — Gayle and Sandrine.

“They are both very different from my own self,” she said. “I like Gayle the best. She gets to be really mad in the scene ‘Getting It Back,’ but she cools down.”

This makes the second CCAA production Kordsmeier has appeared in; she made her debut with the local acting troupe in 2009 when she appeared in Del Shore’s Daddy’s Dyin’: Who’s Got the Will? Recently married to Jonathan Kordsmeier, she was Dana Clark when she was in that play.

“Theater is something I’ve always enjoyed doing,” she said. “I did it in high school. Now that I’ve finished Hendrix and dental-hygiene school, I have more time for it. Plus, I have a lot of support from my husband.”

Dana Kordsmeier is a graduate of Conway High School and Hendrix College.

• Jake Rivers of Conway appears as Daniel Harding and Jimmy.

“Jimmy is a heat and air-conditioning technician and a bar patron who comes across ‘the girl who got away’ one night at the local hangout and finds out some shocking news as he tries to rekindle the flame,” Rivers said. “The other character, Daniel Harding, is a man who has seen better days both emotionally and physically. He’s been plagued over the years by a question he never received an answer for.

“My favorite character would have to be the hard-working and love-hurt Jimmy, as I find a lot of common ground with him. I guess you could say I’ve been in similar circumstances.”

Rivers said what he enjoys most about the show is “getting to learn from and work with a cast as talented as this one and the emotional

roller coaster that I believe the crowed will receive. It’s going to be both very funny and sad,” he said. “I can’t wait to experience the reactions from the crowd.”

Almost, Maine is the third play that Rivers has done with The Lantern Theatre; he

appeared in These Shining Lives and Sordid Lives. He graduated from Conway High School in 2005 and works at Rock-Tenn in Conway.

• Wendy Shirar of Conway plays Marci.

“My scene — ‘Where Did It Go?’ — is a bittersweet story of a couple who have apparently been married for some time and, like a lot of couples in their situation, have ‘lost that loving feeling,’” Shirar said.

“I like what I have seen so far of the show because it offers a little bit of something for everyone,” she said. “Each scenario is different. It’s funny, sad and sometimes a little too realistic.”

Shirar works in the human resources department at Acxiom Corp. She has appeared in numerous local productions and is a member-at-large of the CCAA Board of Directors.

• Trent Reese of Conway plays Randy.

“I actually directed Almost, Maine when I was a student at the University of Central Missouri,” said Reese, who graduated from there in 2012. “It is now the most popular show for regional and educational theater. I think Hendrix College and UCA Theatre have both done it.

“It’s a fun show,” he said. “It’s super short and sweet. It does have some punch to it here and there.”

Reese said his character, Randy, and Chad [played by Chad Fulmer] are best friends in their scene called “They Fell.”

Reese has been involved with Conway Community Arts for several years and is vice president of its board of directors. He will direct the organization’s next Late Night at the Lantern production, Other Desert Cities, in March. He is employed part time at Barnes & Noble in Little Rock and is production stage manager at Blackbird Academy.

• Elizabeth Williams of Conway portrays two characters — Hope and Glory.

“They are not exactly similar, but the way they respond to some things is,” she said. “And they both like to talk — just like I do. It seems Liz [Parker] likes to cast me as talkative characters.”

Williams works at the Faulkner County Library in Conway. She is also the assistant theater director at Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock. She graduated from Hendrix College in 2013 with a degree in theater. She is secretary for the CCAA Board of Directors and has been in several local productions.

Upcoming Events