Presented by the Tennessee Valley Art Association, Ritz Theatre
Join us on the grounds of Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller, for this outdoor production of the musical comedy Smoke on the Mountain. The venue will be seated at limited capacity to allow for social distancing, and masks are required.
Please purchase all tickets for your group in one transaction. You will be seated together in groups based on the number of tickets you purchase.
Premium seats are chairs in the first four rows of the audience. Standard seats are bleacher seating just behind the front rows of chairs. Reservations are for section not seat. As ticket holders arrive they will be seated in their reserved section adhering to social distance practices.
For wheelchair, ADA seating please call 256-383-0533.
Tickets are non-refundable. Tickets are transferable. If rain dates become necessary, those dates will be announced.
PLAY DESCRIPTION
Book by Connie Ray
Conceived by Alan Bailey
Musical arrangements by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick
Directors: Laura Connolly and Andrew Maples
Music Director: Gail Allen
Smoke on the Mountain tells the story of a Saturday Night Gospel Sing at a country church in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains in 1938. The show features two dozen rousing bluegrass songs played and sung by the Sanders Family, a traveling group making its return to performing after a five-year hiatus. Pastor Oglethorpe, the young and enthusiastic minister of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, has enlisted the Sanders Family in his efforts to bring his tiny congregation into “the modern world.” Between songs, each family member “witnesses” – telling a story about an important event in their life. Though they try to appear perfect in the eyes of a congregation who wants to be inspired by their songs, one thing after another goes awry and they reveal their true – and hilariously imperfect – natures. By the evening’s end, the Sanders Family have endeared themselves to us by revealing their weaknesses and allowing us to share in their triumphs.
This project has been made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.