Submitted by the Huntsville Theatre Company
The Huntsville Theatre Company (HTC) is back at Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area for the final show of their 2018/2019 season. Anna in the Tropics is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play that delves into the relationship between tradition and change, between love and loss, and between hope and despair.
Director Veronica Leonard has said that the importance of performing this play cannot be understated.
“Written by a Pulitzer Prize winning Latino playwright, not only does this play celebrate latinx culture, but it does so in a way that removes any and all aspects of stereotype through its portrayal of relatable characters, regardless of their ethnicity. HTC has always promoted an environment of diversity and inclusion. It is my honour to be directing this show for HTC, as a representative of my beloved culture,” said Leonard.
Set in 1929, Anna in the Tropics takes place at a Cuban family-owned and operated cigar factory in Ybor City, Florida. As has been the tradition for many generations of cigar factory owners, the family hires a lector to read to them while they work. This unusual lector chooses to read from Anna Karenina and, as the play unfolds, we begin to see parallels drawn between the story that the lector is reading and the lives of the family.
The cast consists of Shayne Lebrun, Caroline Heyblom, Amy Wallace, Veronica Leonard, Lauren Saunders, Nickolas Kulchar, and Mark Rodrigues.
Opening night is Thursday, May 16th, 2019 and the show runs until Sunday, May 19th, 2019. There are three evening performances at 7:30 p.m. and two matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.huntsvilletheatre.org or at Castle Antiques in downtown Huntsville. Please note that this show is 14+ due to adult content.
“I would like our audience to have felt immersed in the story—to have felt the heat inside the cigar factory, to have cried with us and laughed with us, to have felt as though they were part of the workers in the factory,” said Leonard. “In short, to have felt as though they were part of our familia.”
Upcoming HTC workshops
Are you an artist looking to expand your technical skills? Are you an audience member who is interested in the processes that bring everything you see on stage to life? The Huntsville Theatre Company (HTC) is continuing to offer three-hour workshops this month.
Introduction to Technical Design, Thursday, May 16, 5-8pm (with John A. MacDonald)
Introduction to Stage Management, Tuesday, May 28, 5-8pm (with Cydney Jones)
All workshops take place at the Algonquin Theatre. Each workshop costs $15 per participant. To register, visit www.algonquintheatre.ca.
For more information, email HTC production manager Mark Rodrigues at [email protected]. Stay updated on all artists workshops at www.huntsvilletheatre.org.
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This sounds amazing! It’s a shame that HTC’s productions aren’t a little better attended. Since they moved from Chaffey Hall, their new venue is even more intimate; feeling almost like theatre in the round. I sincerely urge everyone to come out and support this incredible community ensemble. Since The Rocky Horror Picture Show last year, I have only missed one show (when on vacation). Community theatre is a luxury: It is not a given that it will always be there.