HCAC Cast of Honky Tonk Angels Sings Your Country Favorites

The Hardeman County Arts Council opens its 2022/2023 theatre season with Honky Tonk Angels on Friday, September 9, 2022. The production will run for three days and promises to have you tapping your foot to some of your favorite country songs and laughing through the journey of three “gutsy” women chasing their dreams in Nashville.

We meet Angela Bodine (played by Kathy Weaver Ross), Sue Ellen Smith Barney Fife (played by Autumn Trainum), and Darlene Purvis (played by Sadie Fry) who are dissatisfied with their lives and are looking for something more.

MEET ANGELA

Angela Bodine is a larger than life housewife (with a hairdo to match!) from Texas, with a beer drinking, truck driving husband named Bubba (of course). As she does the laundry, she receives a phone call from Bubba who cancels their dinner date so that he can attend a tractor pull with the boys. Angela decides to run away for a while as she sings “Stand By Your Man…Bullcrap!”

MEET DARLENE

Darlene Purvis decides to leave her Mississippi life of poverty to follow her dream after the mysterious death of her boyfriend Billy Jo (“Ode to Billy Jo”). A motherless young girl leaves the care of her ailing father to follow her dream to Nashville.

MEET SUE ELLEN

Sue Ellen Smith Barney Fife is a secretary in Los Angeles who sings about quitting her job and leaving her no-boundaries boss behind, all while singing the Dolly Parton classic, “9 TO 5”.

Honky Tonk Angels is a three-woman cast, which is a change from the recent large cast productions the HCAC has presented. The storylines are more intimate as the audience comes to know, relate to, and love Angela, Darlene, and Sue Ellen. All three women have enjoyed playing their characters and collectively agree “the singing is the best part”.

This is Autumn’s thirteenth HCAC production.

“I started in 2005 in One Bethlehem Night and played a little boy,” said Trainum.

She has since been seen on the HCAC stage in a number of productions that include Cinderella (played Cinderella), Beauty and the Beast (played Belle), and Fiddler on the Roof (played Hodel).

Sadie Fry plays Darlene who she describes as a “sweet innocent girl from the Mississippi Delta leaving home for the first time to pursue her dreams”.

“I enjoy singing “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, said Fry who is a senior at Bolivar Central High School.

She last appeared in the HCAC production of Beauty and the Beast and is a regular cast member of the annual Hardeman County American Cancer Society’s production of Hee Haw.

Kathy Weaver Ross describes her character, Angela, as a “bit of a spit-fire who adds comic relief”.

“Angela always has something smart aleck to say,” said Ross who is a regular on the HCAC stage.

Some of Ross’ previous productions include A Bad Year for Tomatoes (Reba Harper), A Christmas Story (Mrs. Parker), and The Hallelujah Girls (Crystal Hart). If you saw any of those productions, Ross brings that same flair for humor to her character in this production.

“People will also love the music,” said Ross. “My favorite part is singing “Harper Valley P.T.A”.

Ross first appeared on the HCAC stage in Miracle on 34th Street in 2013 and Honky Tonk Angels is her tenth production as an actor. Since that time, Ross has been actively involved with the HCAC. She has also directed two plays, worked backstage, was the music director of Willy Wonka JR., and has served on the HCAC Board of Directors as secretary for the past three years.

The guys bring up the four-person band. You may see some familiar faces in the band from the HCAC and locally from Music on the Square.

Although this is Thomas Farmer’s (drums) first time on the HCAC stage, he comes with several theatre credits from the Star, Inc. theatre company in Somerville, Tennessee. He has appeared in a number of productions that include Disney’s High School Musical On Stage (Ryan) and Little Women (John Brooke). Along with performing in Honky Tonk Angels, Farmer is co-directing Star, Inc’s Broadway Nights⁣, which will open in October.

Jay Johnson (keyboard) , who last and regularly appears as one of “the twins” in the Sanders Family Christmas trilogy, ventures away from that family and is performing as a member of the band.

Andrew Swortzel (lead guitar and music director) was a 2019 Hardeman’s Got Talent winner and has appeared at Music on the Square. He is also a regular performer in Hee Haw singing and playing a number of instruments that include guitar, ukulele, and the keyboard. Swortzel even comes out for fun at the HCAC Karaoke Night.

Dylan Taylor (bass guitar) loves music and joins the band playing bass.

There are more than 30 songs in Honky Tonk Angels that include “I’ll Fly Away”, “Ode to Billy Joe”, “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, “Delta Dawn”, “Cornell Crawford”, “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin'”, and a whole lot more. You may hear your favorite song sung or may find a new country song you love.

Tickets for Honky Tonk Angels are $12 each and on sale online. The HCAC box office opens Monday, August 29, 2022, for in-person sales.

The Hardeman County Arts Council (HCAC) is a non-profit organization funded entirely by your generous donations. Your membership contribution provides the HCAC much needed capital to continue serving its local community. Memberships start as low as $25 annually. Learn more about the HCAC.

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