Christa Zook (Alice Murphy) and Marcus Runion (Jimmy Ray Dobbs) rehearse a scene from “Bright Star,” the most recent production of Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy. The musical will be staged at the academy’s Greenwood home from April 27 to 30.
SUBMITTED PHOTO | COREY BENTZ
In the mountains of North Carolina, tragedy blossoms into redemption.
Love is found and lost, while lives are knocked off course and regain their footing. Add in doses of wry humor, bluegrass-inflected music and a twisty story, and you have the musical “Bright Star.”
“The story is deeper than other shows we’ve done. There is deeper content, and the music is really beautiful and fun. It’s been nice to do something different,” said Bella Hyman, a Franklin resident and one of the cast members of the show.
Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy brings that world to life in “Bright Star,” a musical created by legendary comedian Steve Martin and famed singer-songwriter Edie Brickell. Audience members are pulled into a world of folk tales and mountain music, following the heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting story.
“I hope people see the grace and redemption that occurs at the end of the show,” said Mark Landis, executive director of Creative Grouds and director of the show. “Even when things don’t seem right in the moment, God can still use it, and still use you as you travel from that moment into the next.”
Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy is a nonprofit youth mentorship program for students and adults of all ages, specializing in musical theatre with students ages 7 to 18. In Studio One, their home performance space, the troupe has put on a variety of shows, ranging from “Frozen Kids” to “Les Miserables.”
“Bright Star” is a departure from some of the other shows they’ve done, both in tone and in structure, Landis said. The musical was written by Martin and Brickell after the two collaborated on a Grammy Award-winning bluegrass album, “Love Has Come for You.” The musical was inspired by the true story of the Iron Mountain Baby, lifting elements from the folk tale and weaving a story spanning decades in the lives of characters living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
The plot leaps between main character Alice as a teen girl in the 1920s and as an adult in the 1940s. Though filled with a Shakespearean level of turns and plot twists, the story follows young Alice as she falls in love, becomes pregnant and then has that baby taken away.
As an adult, she ruminates on her lost child and what her life would have been if he wasn’t taken from her, motivated by encountering a young soldier back from World War II.
“It has some extremely deep, emotional moments. You’ve got the search for her baby, other aspects as characters realize what’s happened,” Landis said. “But it also has a lot of Steve Martin’s humor in it — one-liners, things like that.”
Because of some of the themes and humor in the show, Landis warns that it’s not really for audience members younger than 12, unless their parents have viewed or know what the show is about.
“Even cast members, at the end of a certain scene, when they leave the stage they’re in tears, just because of how powerful the emotions are on the stage,” he said. “We want to make sure kids are ready for that emotion.”
Zoe Lowe is one of the actors portraying Alice, both as a young girl and as a young adult. In tackling such an emotional role, she takes the character from a fun-loving one with little care for the tragedies of the world, to one who realizes how her actions have consequences.
“For me, it was channeling my fun-loving spirit at first, and then realizing the seriousness of having a child ripped from her arms,” she said. “I don’t know what having a child is like — I’m 15 years old. So it’s been a lot of listening to other people’s stories about it.”
The cast brings together Creative Grounds’ usual collection of talented young actors with a host of adult performers — the first time the troupe has used adults so much, Landis said.
“It helps us to build the community we want with younger students and adults,” he said. “We chose to do this show as one of the first purposefully done student and adult productions. So it’s really a community theater production.”
In the process of rehearsing and getting the show ready, it’s been rewarding to see the different generations of actors interact and grow, Landis said.
“It’s been really neat to see the kids working alongside the adults, and those adults taking the kids under that wings in some aspects,” he said.
Hyman plays one of the Spirits — musical narrators who help guide the audience through Alice’s emotions. She says the experience has been a very positive one for since starting work on the show in January.
“It’s been really cool. I love working with everyone, that’s one of my favorite parts — getting to know everyone as I play the character,” Hyman said.
“Bright Star” opens April 27 and runs through April 30, with five total shows scheduled. Those involved with the performance realize the story is a complicated and at times difficult. But like the characters woven into it, they hope the audience see the good that can come from life.
“We want people to take away that no matter how destructive something can be, there can always be healing. And there’s always hope in a situation,” Lowe said. “Love will always find its way back to you.”
IF YOU GO
“Bright Star”
What: A Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy performance of the Broadway musical written by comedian Steve Martin and singer Edie Brickell.
When: 7 p.m. April 27, 28 and 29; 2 p.m. April 29 and 30.
Where: Studio One at the Greenwood Park Mall, 1251 U.S. 31 N. No. 160, Greenwood
Tickets: $10 adults, $8 students
Information: onthestage.tickets/creative-grounds-fine-arts-academy-inc
