GCCC Theatre Opens New Season with Classic Comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest”
[Garden City, KS] September 13, 2024 – Garden City Community College Theatre, as part of its second season under new direction, will perform Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest from November 14-16 and 21-23 at 7:00 PM in the KCB Bank Auditorium, located in the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building on the Garden City Community College campus.
“We’re so excited to be presenting such a beautiful, funny, family-friendly show for the opening of our new season,” says Director of Theatre Dr. Joshua Kelly. “This play is a beloved standard and presents intriguing opportunities for design, as well as excellent roles for our students and prominent community members.”
The Importance of Being Earnest, which premiered in 1895 and has been performing with all-star casts in world-renowned theatres ever since, follows friends Jack and Algernon, who find themselves in love with sharp and discerning ladies—both of whom have a bizarre need to marry fellows named Ernest. A classic array of hijinks involving fake dead brothers, last-minute christenings, and revealed mysterious births—all overseen by the imperious and unflappable Lady Bracknell (played by community actor Roger Syng in his return to GCCC Theatre)—create a hysterical evening of love, laughter, and lost handbags. Earnest has long been celebrated for its Wildean wit, lush costuming and language, and absurd aristocratic humor—a night of “Bunburying” for all audiences!
Continuing a new standard of collaboration from last year, GCCC Theatre has increased its showcasing of the talents of other departments for the upcoming comedy. The set design, which will operate like a large metal carousel or pinwheel, will transition scenes by rotating metal sculptural flats around a central pole, creating the effect of scenery flipping like pages in a book, and is being co-designed and built by welding instructor Norman Wyatt. In a new partnership, GCCC Theatre has enlisted new faculty member Meredith Owings as resident hair and makeup designer, who is putting together a team of cosmetology students to learn the period hairstyles of late-Victorian England and will operate as a professional makeup and styling team for actors during production. As well, GCHS director and costume designer Robyn Hilt will return to her role as costume designer for GCCC’s production of Earnest, after her GCCC debut on the costumes for I Hate Hamlet last spring.
“We couldn’t be happier to get such a talented array of actors, technicians, professionals in other departments, and community members together to create this show,” Kelly says. “We’re particularly excited for the return of Roger Syng, who I’ve learned was beloved by audiences when he performed in so many shows with my predecessors years ago. His performance as Bracknell is going to be something special.”
The cast includes returning sophomores Ryan Pilosof and Razel Quintero as Algernon and Jack, respectively; incoming freshmen students Phybee Madlangbayand as Cecily and Noel Santana as Merriman/Lane; returning community member Stacie Hahn as Miss Prism and incoming community member Steve Ziegler as Reverend Chasuble; GCHS senior Veronica McCallum as Gwendolyn, and Roger Syng as Lady Bracknell. New GCCC student Alyssa Santana will serve as the show's assistant director and stage manager.
The Importance of Being Earnest is a show appropriate for all ages and will perform in the KCB Bank Auditorium November 14-16 and 21-23 at 7:00 PM. All tickets are FREE and seating is general admission. Questions or comments about the show, the program, or other GCCC Theatre inquiries can be sent to Dr. Joshua Kelly at joshua.kelly@gcccks.edu.
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Garden City Community College exists to produce positive contributors to the economic and social well-being of society.
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