Events

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Jul 18) 3 days. Jul-17th to...

    

    Wed, Jul 18th - Barter Theatre  Arts & Culture, Family & Education 0

   Adapted from C.S. Lewis by Joseph Robinette Rights granted by Dramatic Publishing Join the Barter Players in a magical world where anything can happen. When the four Pevensie children slip through the old wardrobe and into the wondrous land of Narnia, they face a dangerous White Witch and her evil spells. It will take all of the children’s bravery and the love of a Lion named Aslan to help save themselves and the land of Narnia. Cast & Credits Cast: Lucy: Morgan Haney Edmund: Jake Dailey Susan: Zoë Velling Peter: Phillip Rast Aslan: Sarah Van Deusen White Witch: Libby Zabit Dwarf: Luke Walker Mr. Beaver: Garrett T. Houston Mrs. Beaver: Hahna Kaleigh Bowyer Tumnus: Shaan Sharma Fenris Ulf: Tyler Cramer Centaur/ Elf: Marissa Marcus Unicorn: Rusty Allen White Stag/ Father Christmas: Katherine Lyle Collaborators: Director: Barrett Guyton Set Designer: D’Vaughn Agu Costume Designer: Shea O’Neil Costume Intern: Erin Teaster Props Designer: Megan Pressley Lighting Designer: Mackenzie Mulligan Sound Designers: Barrett Guyton/ Matt Green Fight Choreographer: Jake Dailey Fight Captain: Shaan Sharma Stage Manager: Sarah Buck Associate Director of The Barter Players: Barrett Guyton Artistic Director of The Barter Players: Katy Brown Corporate and Individual Sponsors: Dr. Paul & Beckie Armstrong Berry Home Centers Abingdon Smiles Media Sponsor: CW Photos

2. Sister Act (Jul 18) 34 days. May-18th to Jul-18th

    

    Wed, Jul 18th - Barter Theatre  Arts & Culture, Food & Drinks, Family & Education, Church & Ministry 0

   Music by Alan Menken Lyrics by Glenn Slater Book by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner Additional Book Material by Douglas Carter Beane A heavenly surprise, filled with powerful gospel music, outrageous dancing and a truly moving story, this feel-good comedy smash will have you jumping to your feet with excitement and joy! A woman hiding in a convent helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she rediscovers her own. Make a joyful noise and join us for this musical comedy smash based on the hit film starring Whoopi Goldberg. “’Take Me to Heaven’ and ‘Spread the Love Around’ bloom into full-throttle disco epics, the latter building up to an ecstatic finale.” –NY Post Director's Notes “MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE” It was a time of great change in the world, the years of my youth. The nuns in my life embraced that change and led the way in getting others to embrace change. I grew up with nuns. In grade school starting in third grade, when the catholic school was built as part of our church, and throughout my high school years at the seminary, my education was filled with nuns. Even in college, I had the honor of being involved in social work and work with poor families and homes for the aging in which nuns were involved. I had and still have great love for these nuns, who in many ways helped shape my life. Unlike some unfortunate experiences that I have heard from others who had nuns as teachers in school, the nuns that I grew up with were patient, kind, encouraging, excellent teachers, nurturing, open to the world and everything the world would bring to them, unwavering in their religious beliefs, and were filled with the joy of life. They were the epitome of Christianity in every way. And they were also lots of fun! The nuns in SISTER ACT, are very much like the nuns with whom I grew up. They are full of joy; devout in their commitment to their religion, and willing, when asked, to accept anyone into their family without judgment or question. They do not look to convert; they look to help. Even Mother Superior, who seems resistant to the request to shelter Deloris, does not do so out of judgement or out of rigidity, but more out of protection for her family of nuns for whom she serves as the matriarch and protector. In the end, the story of SISTER ACT is one where diverse parties grow and are transformed by each other. Deloris finds herself to be a new and better person. The nuns break out of their cloistered selves to renew their commitment to the betterment of the world around them. Mother Superior remembers the reason she took her vows and learns to trust her family and herself. In the end, I would say that they find their real calling, which had been lost or buried in the struggle of everyday survival. They are better because they touched each other’s lives. The world is better because they unleash themselves. May we have such moments in our own lives. May we allow ourselves to give such moments to the lives of those around us. For that is our job on this earth: To discover our voices and to help others discover their voices, so that we call all fill the world with song. Make a joyful noise! Richard Rose, director of SISTER ACT. Cast & Credits Cast: Mother Superior: Tricia Matthews Announcer: Rick McVey Deloris Van Cartier: Raven Flowers Michelle: Sarah Laughland Tina: Hannah Ingram Curtis Jackson: Nick Koesters Ernie: Andrew Hampton Livingston Joey: Rick McVey Pablo: Sean Maximo Campos TJ: Tyler Chandler Cop: A ndrew Hampton Livingston Eddie Souther: Justin Tyler Lewis Hookers: Michaela Nicole, Paris Bradstreet Sister Mary Patrick : Kim Morgan Dean Sister Mary Robert: Hope Quinn Sister Mary Lazarus: Paris Bradstreet Sister Mary Martin-Of-Tours: Michele Burdette Elmore Sister Mary Theresa: Mary Lucy Bivins Sister Mary Celeste: Rusty Allen Sister Mary Irene: Sarah Laughland Sister Mary Vincent: Hannah Ingram Sister Mary Thais: Zacchaeus Kimbrell Sister Mary Bernadette: Joylene Taylor Sister Mary Priscilla: Katherine Lyle Sister Mary Therese: Zoe Velling Monsignor O’Hara: Michael Poisson Bar Biker Patrons: Zacchaeus Kimbrell, Rusty Allen, Katherine Lyle, Zoe Velling Girl in Bar: Michaela Nicole Bartender: Michael Poisson Homeless: Sean Maximo Campos, Tyler Chandler, Sarah Laughland, Michaela Nicole Cab Driver: Andrew Hampton Livingston Newscaster: Michaela Nicole Fantasy Dancers: Sean Maximo Campos, Tyler Chandler, Nick Koesters, Sarah Laughland, Andrew Hampton Livingston, Michaela Nicole Collaborators: Director: Richard Rose Choreographer: Ashley Campos Additional Musical Staging: Amanda Aldridge & Ashley Campos Music Director: Lee Harris Set Design: Derek Smith Costume Design: Amanda Aldridge Lighting Design: Andrew Morehouse Sound Design: Tony Angelini Stage Manager: Sara Douglas Assistant Stage Manager: Victoria L. Sutton Assistant Choreographer: Sarah Laughland Dance Captain: Ashley Campos Corporate Sponsor: Food City Media Sponsor: WCYB VIPSEEN Lamar Photos Videos

3. Madame Buttermilk (Jul 18) 23 days. Jun-7th to Jul-18th

    

    Wed, Jul 18th - Barter Theatre  Arts & Culture, Food & Drinks, Music 0

   A Barter Audience Favorite By Ross Carter It’s l’amour, y’all! Country music meets opera in the most unlikely, unbelievable and undoubtedly the most popular play to ever come through Barter’s Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. A struggling opera singer has a dream: to sing the lead in Carmen. Her agent thinks she’s found the answer! But she finds herself singing at a state fair with a country music band called the Car Men —agents clash, people panic, and the singers erupt at the worst of possible moments in one of the funniest musicals you will ever experience. Director's Notes FUNNY LITTLE PEOPLE If music be the food of love, play on! — Duke Orsino, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare There’s a lot to love about this world premiere musical comedy: from the clever songs and writing, to the hilarious and brilliant conceit of bringing together the two seemingly disparate worlds of opera and country music, to the outright joy and silliness of watching people fall in and out of love. But I think my favorite thing about Madame Buttermilk is that, although set in the present day, it feels like it comes from another time. It is a musical that hearkens back to the Golden Age of musical theatre where shows like Oklahoma, On the Town, and Show Boat celebrated America during a time when America needed something to celebrate (in the midst of World War II). And at the heart of this gentle, fun musical comedy is a most optimistic message: that even though we may come from different worlds (opera lover or country music lover), we are more alike than we are different. We are not so easily and conveniently stereotyped, but in the end share a commonality—we&rsqu o;re all just a bunch of funny little people chasing our funny little dreams. Shakespeare often used to set his love stories in a forest, because there’s magic in a forest—anything can happen. The same can be said of a state fair, which is where we find ourselves tonight. And I hope that as you get on this ride and ask yourself, “What is this? Is it country? Is it opera?,” that you’ll eventually throw your hands up and say, “Who cares??!! It’s l’amour, y’all!” Cast & Credits Cast Carly Speranza: Hope Quinn Kit McCandless: Paris Bradstreet Connor Duke: Justin Tyler Lewis Ford Fairlane: Rick McVey Dody: Hannah Ingram Beemer Wilson: Zacchaeus Kimbrell Jan Swaggart: Katherine Lyle Art Flannagan: Andrew Hampton Livingston THE CAR MEN BAND BG “Booger” Bugati (Vocals, Car Horn): Nick Koesters Guitar: Travis Welch Bass: Glenn Diamond Fiddle: Nicole Misterly Conductor/ Keyboards: Dishon Smith Rehearsal Stage Manager: Sara Douglas COLLABORATORS Director: Nicholas Piper Music Director: Dishon Smith Set Designer: Derek Smith Costume Designer: Ashley Campos Lighting Designer: Camille Davis Sound Designer: Tony Angelini Wig & Makeup Designer: Whitney Kaibel Stage Manager: Cindi A. Raebel Assistant Stage Manager: Victoria L. Sutton Sponsor: Joe & Donna LeVine ​National Endowment of the Arts Media Sponsor: WEMT Photos Videos

4. Steel Magnolias (Jul 18) 27 days. May-31st to Jul-18th

    

    Wed, Jul 18th - Barter Theatre  Arts & Culture, Family & Education, Music 0

   By Robert Harling A heart-warming portrait of friendship and love is the basis for this much-loved show. There isn’t a bond quite like the one between southern women in a beauty shop. In a small southern town, six women gather in Truvy’s Beauty Salon to share gossip, laughter, recipes and beauty secrets, but they end up sharing so much more. Humor and heartbreak shine through this performance as the women experience some of the most significant days of their lives together. The true power of friendship shows through the women's underlying strength, which makes these characters genuinely touching, funny, and marvelously amiable company in the good times and bad. Director's Notes THE TRUTH ABOUT STEEL This is the original, folks. This is the play that so many other plays try to emulate, but none can duplicate. This little-play-that-could was written by Robert Harling to help his nephew understand what had gone on in their family surrounding his birth. It’s based on real people and real circumstances from Harling’s real hometown, and it shows. Every moment feels true. When Harling submitted it to literary agents more than thirty years ago, he says it was largely dismissed at first. He remembers that the agents said, “It’s not commercial because it’s a bunch of women, and it takes place in a beauty parlor.” More than once, he nearly shelved it completely. But a funny thing happened as we, the audience, began to meet these characters onstage: we were disarmed. These women seemed so familiar and so true. We know these women, and we come back again and again to gather in their warmth and humor. In interviews, Robert Harling talks about what he noticed in the women that raised him. He noticed they held together when the men around them broke down. He noticed they were different when they were just with each other. He said, “When I was a kid, the mystique of the beauty parlor was that guys were never allowed. You didn’t know what went on in there, and they all came back different somehow.” He sensed that important changes were taking place in their private spaces together that helped them be strong. That’s the way it is with steel, I’m learning. Turning iron into steel involves extreme heat to alloy the iron with carbon or other elements. Once it combines with small amounts of other element(s), it becomes stronger and is prized for its ductility- its ability to bend without breaking. The quality that allows buildings and bridges to bend in the wind and stay upright. One of the underpinnings of modern life as we know it, is caused by this combining of elements. In other words, something that starts strong becomes so much stronger and more flexible when it opens its molecular structure to others. The fire these women walk through and their willingness to open their hearts and let others in is key to their strength and flexibility, too. It’s something that Robert Harling knew about the women in his family and their friends. It’s something that is true in so many of the strong women I know. Steel, as it turns out, is more about us together than us standing alone. Cast & Credits Cast Truvy Jones: Kim Morgan Dean Annelle Dupuy-Desoto: Sarah Laughland Clairee Belcher: Tricia Matthews Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie: Zoë Velling M’Lynn Eatenton: Carrie Smith Lewis Ouiser Bourdeaux: Mary Lucy Bivins Voice of DJ: Rick McVey Rehearsal Assistant Stage Manager: Victoria L. Sutton COLLABORATORS Director: Katy Brown Set Designer: Hana Lee Sound Designer: Tony Angelini Costume Designer: Lee Martin Dialect Coach: Zacchaeus Kimbrell Stage Manager: Sara Douglas Lighting Designer: Andrew Morehouse Wig & Makeup Designer: Whitney Kaibel Corporate Sponsor: Highlands Union Bank Media Sponsor: Voice Magazine for Women Photos Videos

5. Live from Thursday night jams in Abingdon! Free concert series (J...

    

    Thu, Jul 19th - The Martha Washington  Health & Fitness 0

   Live from Thursday night jams in Abingdon Free concert series every Thursday evening through July 19th. LoveVA

6. DIY Sugar Scrub - Washington County Public Library System (Jul 19...

    

    Thu, Jul 19th - Washington Co Library  Family & Education 0

   Join us for Do-It-Yourself Pampering with a Sugar Scrub. We show those who attend how to make your own sugar scrub to exfoliate and moisturize your skin. Take home whatever you make – it’s free

7. The Lemonade Stand (Jul 19) 33 days. May-13th to Jul-19th

    

    Thu, Jul 19th - Barter Theatre  Arts & Culture, Family & Education 0

   A comedy by Matthew Fowler Garret Miller is having a midlife crisis. When he gets fired from the only job he’s ever had, he decides to set up a lemonade stand on the street in front of his upscale suburban house. All the while, his wife is probably cheating on him, his brother is a pariah, and the college girl next door wants to be his lemonade-stand intern. In this dramatic comedy, Garret sets out to prove “the American Dream,” “an American Dream,” or at least his American Dream still exists. The show has adult language. Director's Notes A great friend of mine (who happens to be a Baby Boomer) once told me her theory of how the elimination of front porches and common shared-streets in neighborhoods was a major factor in the downfall of society. She argued that, because we don’t know our neighbors, because we don’t share home-cooked meals around the table together, because we don’t show up at each others’ houses unannounced to talk about our days and the crazy person down the street anymore, we are no longer really connected. It seems, however, that we are more connected now than ever, right? The internet has given us the ability to instantly talk to each other no matter where we are. Facebook lets us meet newborns when they’re seconds old. I can tell you which of my friends is a good cook based on their Instagram. We can look up/ stalk the mean girl from high school and laugh at how much better we look than she does. We have immediate, pervasive access to millions of people with a simple click, and can talk to them at anytime (assuming there’s cell phone service). But are we actually more connected to each other, or do we just feel like we are? Are we communicating, talking and listening, or are we just screaming around each other into the void? I’m a Millennial and, if you can’t tell, I agree with my friend’s point about porches. What if we were to finally get so fed up with surface conversations and break out of the silo lives we’ve been living in search for something real? This is where we find Garret and Rachel. Two people with a vast generational gap between them: one a Boomer, the other a Millennial. But both find themselves in the midst of an existential crisis. One has aged out of his usefulness, and the other doesn’t yet know what her usefulness is. He has given up everything in an attempt to go back to his glory days. She hasn’t ever gotten close with someone IRL (in real life), and is longing for human interaction. What happens when the two of them meet and actually start talking and listening to each other? What happens if we start taking and listening to each other? Cast & Credits Cast: Garret — Nicholas Piper Rachel — Sarah Van Deusen Terry — David Alford Morgan — Carrie Smith Lewis Kid — Owen Griffith / Lucas Shane Collaborators: Director: Barrett Guyton Set Designer: Hana Lee Costume Designer: Lee Martin Lighting Designer: Camille Davis Sound Designer: Tony Angelini Wig Designer: Whitney Kaibel Stage Manager: Cindi A,Raebel Corporate Sponsor: Reynolds American Media Sponsor: WEMT Photos Videos

8. Clay Creations - Washington County Public Library System (Jul 19)

    

    Thu, Jul 19th - Washington Co Library  Family & Education 0

   Adults and teens join us for Clay Creations. Create figures and fairies for your garden from oven-bake clay.Not suitable for children younger than 11, please

9. The Truman Show - Washington County Public Library System (Jul 20...

    

    Fri, Jul 20th - Washington Co Library  Family & Education 0

   "The Truman Show" is the next offering in our Movies for Grownups series. Truman Burbank is the unwitting star of a reality-TV show chronicling his life. Truman doesn't know he's a prisoner on an immense domed city-sized sound stage. Starring Jim Carrey, Ed Harris and Laura Linne

10. Yoga in the Park starts June 2nd (Jul 21) 6 days. Jul-21st to Aug...

     

     Sat, Jul 21st - Town of Abingdon, Virginia  Civic & Government 0

    Yoga in the Park starts June 2nd Classes will be at the Lois H. Humphrey Park on Main across from the post office