Henry Ford College Theatre Arts Presents: Shooting Stars

Production Information

Written by: Molly Newman
Directed by: Mary Bremer-Beer

The time is Christmas week, 1962, the place a locker room in a rundown, small town gymnasium, where a touring women's basketball team, "The Shooting Stars," is getting ready to face off against a local men's team. High-spirited and mostly southern, the girls quickly emerge as distinct personalities as, amid the very funny banter and horseplay, we learn about their personal "hangups" and the lives they left behind to join the group. The entrance of the team's paternalistic owner-manager, Cassius, adds a further dimension to the action as he parcels out assignments, rides herd on their diets, and persuades their star center, Wilma, to forego election to the Basketball Hall of Fame lest the honor divide the loyalties of the team. But then, when Cassius is felled by a sudden, fatal heart attack, "The Shooting Stars" must, for the first time, decide their own fate—whether to give up or go on, whether to really become a team or to acknowledge that, without the guiding hand of Cassius, they are hopelessly adrift. How they rise to the occasion is both funny and moving and, as the play ends, will bring audiences to their feet as the seven women, dazzling in their blue and silver uniforms, set off to the cheers of the waiting crowd—determined to win and keep on winning. A brash, fast-moving study of a women's basketball team on tour in small town mid-America.

"The play is a wonderful comedy built around female banter and a strong strain of truthfulness." —Rocky Mountain News. "SHOOTING STARS is a brash and breezy piece that focuses less on action than interaction." —Boulder Sunday Camera. "…genuinely funny…Audiences are going to love SHOOTING STARS." —Westword.

Cast In order of appearance

BUTCH: Madelynn Hall
TAMMY: Natasha Hawkins
WILMA: Isabella Johnson
BIRDIE: Naima A. Barker
GAY: Grace Obermiller
SHELBY: Anastasia Pauli
CASSIUS: David Alexander
Charlene: Michelle Renaud

ARTISTIC STAFF
Scenic Design: Gerard Dzublinski
Costume Design: Judith Fletcher
Lighting Design: Nick Boyd
Sound Design: Angie Lai
Scenic Artist: Gerard Dzublsinki
Properties: Gerard Dzublinski, Angie Lai

PRODUCTION STAFF
Technical Director: Gerard Dzublinski
Shop Foreman: Christopher Bremer
Carpenters: Christopher Bremer, Gerard Dzublinski
Painters: Gerard Dzublinski, Angie Lai, Kimari Howard, Mike Ross
Publicity: Michael Cochran, Angie Lai, Gerard Dzublinski, and The Cast
Poster/Program Designing: Ashleigh McLeod, Ken Donovan

RUNNING CREW
Sound Board Operator: Angie Lai
Light Board Operators: Christopher Bremer, Gerard Dzublinski

HOUSE MANAGEMENT
House Manager: Gerard Dzublinski
Box Office: Angie Lai, Christopher Bremer
Head Usher: Mike Ross
Ushers: HFC Theatre Volunteers