The local community theatre organization New River Stage will host the ageless production The Adventures of Tom Sawyer this weekend at The Wesley Foundation in Blacksburg.

The show opens March 5 at 7:30 p.m., with performances following March 6 at 7:30 p.m., March 7 at 2:30 p.m., and Friday-Saturday shows next weekend. Tickets and more information can be found at www.newriverstage.org.

President Joe Trice founded the New River Stage four years ago. Since then it has grown to a large community theater organization operated 100 percent by dedicated volunteers. These individuals work hard to put on two to four shows per year.

As with most aspects of theater, a majority of the work done to produce these plays is done offstage. A Board of Directors decides and schedules the plays that will be produced for the year. Once the rights have been paid for, a director and producer are selected, and then auditions begin for the cast.

New River Stage encourages citizens of the New River Valley to get involved in their organization.

Tom Sawyer producer Mary Korb said that no acting experience is necessary to try out for a production. For most auditions a prepared song and/or reading is required, depending on the show.

“We try to take on everyone we can,” Korb said.

Running a volunteer organization can be difficult, especially when costumes and set designs are essential to your success. New River Stage does what it can to raise money by holding fundraising events such as auctions and murder mystery dinner theatres. The easiest way to bring in money, however, is through their ticket sales.

“We just hope to make enough money at the show to pay for the show,” Korb said.

As far as the upcoming Tom Sawyer goes, things are coming along nicely. The 29-person cast has been rehearsing four days a week (with the exception of a few snow-outs) since early January. The cast includes around 10 children, ages ranging from 6 to high school.

“It’s been great working with the kids,” said director Alex Parrish. “They’ve been working extremely hard and we got tremendously lucky with the talent of the entire production cast.”

The Tom Sawyer cast experienced a setback recently when the planned venue for the show, Blacksburg High School, had its gymnasium roof collapse.

“There’s always a lot of work to be done producing a show, but this one has been particularly challenging because of the event at Blacksburg High School,” Korb said. “We had to start scrambling to find a new venue.”

Luckily, the Wesley Foundation, located on the Virginia Tech campus agreed to host the show as an alternative to the high school.

“Everyone has been very supportive,” Korb said. “The Wesley Foundation has been bending over backwards to help us out.”

Upon the sudden change of venue, some other minor adjustments had to be made during rehearsals.

“The new venue’s stage is only half as big as the originals, so we’ve been practicing with new dimensions and adjusting our blocking and scenery,” Parrish said.

While certain obstacles have been thrown toward the cast, an enthusiastic atmosphere still remains. Actors are perfecting their lines, the orchestra is getting in sync with the actions on stage, and scenes are becoming more and more complete.

Actor Daniel Lewis, who plays the character Injun Joe, feels that the show is coming along well. Lewis has done theatre for several years, with Tom Sawyer being his first performance with New River Stage.

“One of the things I noticed right off the bat was how perfectly everyone fit their parts,” Lewis said. “We had to deal with a few small things with the change of venue, such as having less room offstage, but we’re in really good shape overall. The whole process has been a lot of fun.” 

Not only does New River Stage put on several plays a year, they also hold acting workshops and summer camps for children.

Vice President and Publicity Director Bill Huckle has worked with New River Stage for the past two years setting up these educational activities for kids.

“The summer camp consists of one-week sessions for ages 6-14,” Huckle said. “Our goal is to have fun with the kids and teach them the basics of acting.”

New River Stage also offers a workshop on Monday nights called Dramatic Mondays for children ages 6-14. This group puts on many smaller productions throughout the year and gives children experience in theatre arts.

The goal of New River Stage is to expand their scope of theatre to the community. With young members learning from older ones and new members always welcome, they hope to spread theatre education to as many people as possible.

“We’re all about education and very community-minded,” Parrish said.

For information on how to get involved with New River Stage, sign up for a workshop, or purchase tickets for Tom Sawyer, please visit www.newriverstage.org.

Elise Chretien is an intern for the New River Voice and an enthusiast of the arts. She is a student at Virginia Tech.