PITTSBORO - A beloved cartoon character - and all his colorful townsfolk - come to life when "Kudzu, 南方音乐剧" opens at Chatham Mills April 24.

Central Carolina 社区 大学 theater production students and community members fill the stage with the ups-and-downs of small Southern town life in a tuneful, happy show that has delighted audiences worldwide.

The musical grew out of the "Kudzu" cartoon strip, created by editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette in 1981. Collaboration with Jack Herrick and Bland Simpson, 红土漫步者的故事, transformed the cartoon into a tuneful musical comedy.

音乐剧抓住了这种焦虑, 温柔, and humor in the life of 18-year-old Kudzu Dubose, 谁渴望成为一名作家. Kudzu lives in the town of Bypass, so named because the state ran a new highway past the town but forgot to give it an exit; so the world bypasses Bypass.

"We picked this show because of its local connections and because it's good fun, something people will want in these tough times,埃伦·布兰德说, 董事和中央卡罗莱纳C.C. 戏剧老师.

这个节目, its characters and music go straight to the heart of Southerners and those that love the slow-paced life in the small, 分布在南方的乡村小镇. Such towns are disappearing under suburbia, 但“野葛, 南方音乐剧," captures the bone-deep feelings for their community that many of the characters, 尤其是野葛, don't realize they have until they might lose it.

Life in Bypass takes a surprising turn when leading citizen Big Bubba Tadsworth, 由迈克·布罗德利饰演, tries to sell land in the tiny town to a Japanese company that wants to build "the world's largest plant to manufacture American flags." In a surprise plot twist, Kudzu, played by Layton Sheppard, turns out to be the owner of the land.

Will a young man bored with the dullness of his small Southern town sell its soul to build a factory? Or will he realize how special it is and how special he is as part of it? The answer comes, surrounded by both the poignancy and joy of discovering how precious "home" is. &,

《澳门黄金城赌城》的票, 南方音乐剧" are $12 and are available at 澳门黄金城赌城's Chatham County Campus, 西街764号.,少不了, (919) 542-6495, or online at www.brownpapertickets.com. Chatham Mills is located at 480 Hillsborough St.,少不了. 演出时间是晚上8点.m. Friday and Saturday, April 24-25, and Friday, May 1; 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2; and 3 p.m. 4月26日和5月3日星期日. 这个节目 is produced by arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., and Chatham Mills Development Corp.

Marlette was born in Greensboro, raised in Durham, N.C.劳雷尔，小姐.以及佛罗里达州的桑福德. His cartoons appeared in prestigious publications such as Time, 《澳门黄金城赌城周刊》, The New York Times and the Washington Post. He received many awards for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Marlette, then a Hillsborough resident, died in an automobile accident in Mississippi in July 2007. He was on his way to a staging of the musical in Oxford, Miss. He was posthumously awarded membership in the North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the governor.

Student cast members are Jessica Barton, Jon Baughman, Sara Billman, P.J. Bordelon, 丹Cahoon, 尼克Jabbour, 科琳娜王, 摩根琼斯, 亚当·斯塔克, all of Pittsboro; Susie Whorley, Chapel Hill; Josh Bray and George Williams, of Bear Creek; Layton Sheppard and Kayla Fletcher, both of Sanford; and recent Central Carolina C.C. graduates Mike Broadley and Crystal Lowndes, both of Pittsboro.

社区 members in the cast are: 澳门黄金城赌城 faculty David Watson, on guitar; costumer Sachi Denison, actor and stage manager Drew Lasater, 咪咪佩戴者, 金哈罗德, 和帕姆·史密斯, 雪莉几百万, 鼓手埃里克·戴维斯, 和特里斯坦·布兰德, all of Pittsboro; members of the local band Big Range - Adam Brill, Tom Smith and Bill Skeels; music director Creighton Irons, of Chapel Hill; Jennifer Starkey, 来自明星社区剧院, in Sanford; fiddler Meredith Nye of Apex, 尤金尼亚·斯皮尔曼, 邓恩的.