![]() ![]() “It really is a good sign of the sense of community that’s grown up among the theatre groups in Middle Georgia,” Haynie said. If there were differences in the past, artistic or otherwise, both Crisp and Haynie are certain there’s no place for them in the present. If there’s value in Crisp’s returning to MLT, aside from the value of simply putting on a good show, it may be found in that word community. Through the years, Crisp has won recognition for the plays he has staged and for fostering the arts in Macon. It’s uplifting and full of love.”Ĭrisp steered Theatre Macon until his retirement in 2018 when the artistic director role was handed to Richard Frazier. ![]() Despite its unique circumstances, the story of Hellen Keller and her teacher and lifelong companion, Anne Sullivan, is a universal one of overcoming challenges. “We chose ‘Miracle Worker’ intentionally because it’s about the importance of finding the way to community and living in awareness and love. “It was a tough play to do but we had a marvelous cast and Hellen Keller was played brilliantly by 7-year-old Amanda Hutchinson,” Crisp said. The first show Theatre Macon staged was the somewhat challenging “The Miracle Worker,” the story of young Helen Keller who lost her sight and hearing at 19 months old. “The first play I directed was in celebration of the theater’s history and was a repeat of the first play they’d ever performed, Noel Coward’s ‘Hay Fever.’”īut Crisp’s stay at MLT only lasted just over three years: he was fired from the theatre group in early 1986 over “artistic differences.” But instead of leaving town for new opportunities, Crisp and a handful of others created a new opportunity right here by forming another community theatre group: Theatre Macon. “I moved to Macon to work with Macon Little Theatre in 1982, quite a wonderful year for them as they were celebrating their 50th anniversary,” Crisp said. Though it’s been quite a stretch since Crisp last directed at MLT, it was MLT that brought a young Crisp to Macon in the first place. “Jim has more than 300 shows under his belt as a director so it’s the perfect show and also the perfect time to bring him back to Macon Little Theatre.” “Neil Simon was certainly one of the greatest playwrights and ‘Lost in Yonkers’ is a great, award-winning show so it’s a perfect match for Jim and his experience,” said JP Haynie, artistic director at MLT. Today, he returns to MLT as guest director of Neil Simon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Lost in Yonkers” which runs through April 9. ![]() directed a play for the Macon Little Theatre stage. She said together in “The Secret Garden,” cast and audience travel through a story that’s very much about sorrow and grief but comes to a place of healing and redemption.It’s been 37 years since Jim Crisp Jr. Haynie said “The Secret Garden” has a relatively small cast for a musical but features four performers new to the MLT stage. I also think it’s also magical for young people to see her, someone their size and age, and realize what they might do themselves. It’s wonderful seeing someone her age mature on stage. She does a marvelous job and our audiences will remember her playing Annie and being just magnetic on stage. Then there’s Abigail Watson, who plays young Mary. “DeAnna is a voice major at Wesleyan College. “That includes DeAnna Laree, who plays the young adult female lead in the play, Lilly, the ghost who helps Mary find her way into the secret garden,” she said. “There’s tremendously beautiful music that’s quite demanding of singers, but we have some great singers and phenomenal soloists.” “I think it features powerful, emotional acting and a beautiful, lush score,” Haynie said. ![]()
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