TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – This summer, when the sun sets on the Gulf Coast, residents and visitors will be able to spend the evening entertained by live theatre established by The University of Alabama with funding from Florida businessman and UA alumnus Herbert Clark West Jr. of Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., and additional support from the George Meyer Foundation of Gulf Shores and The University of Alabama Alumni Association.
SummerTide, a professional summer theatre company, will offer performances each evening except Sunday at the George C. Meyers Theatre Arts Center in Gulf Shores June 4-July 3.
The performances will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets prices are $15 for adults and $7.50 for children and can be purchased on the Internet at summertide.org or by calling the UA department of theatre and dance box office at 205/348-3400 until May 25 or the George C. Meyers Theatre Art Center at 251/968-6721 after May 25.
“Gulf Shores is excited that The University of Alabama is opening SummerTide in our area. This not only provides another venue of entertainment down at the beach, but we are also excited about the quality of the theatre production. We’re sure this will be a great learning experience for University of Alabama theatre students and also a great entertainment experience for our summer guests,” said Mike Foster, director of marketing for the Gulf Shores Convention and Tourist Bureau.
West donated $400,000 to UA’s department of theatre and dance stipulating that half the amount be placed in an endowment to fund student scholarships and half be placed in an endowed support fund, a portion of which underwrites SummerTide.
UA College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Olin announced the gift to the theatre program Saturday evening, April 24, at the UA President’s Mansion during The Arty Party, a fundraising event for UA arts programs.
West’s gift was part of a larger, $1million gift made to UA with his business partner and fellow UA alumnus Elliott Mitchell. UA’s College of Commerce and Business Administration received $400,000 from Mitchell to support scholarships and academic programs and West and Mitchell jointly contributed $200,000 to UA’s Crimson Tradition Fund, a $100 million fundraising campaign for University of Alabama athletic facility improvements.
Mitchell and West are founders of Southern Shores Properties Inc., a real estate development firm based in Northwest Florida that specializes in residential and business developments along the Scenic Highway 30A in the Florida Panhandle. The company is currently developing residential condominium projects in Seagrove as well as properties in Kahilu, Hawaii.
The two businessmen have also supported the Northwest Florida Ballet and Camel Club substance abuse center, and have been involved in a major revitalization of the Kahilu Theatre in Hawaii.
The Meyer Foundation was established by George C. Meyer of Gulf Shores in 1953 to support public, scientific, educational, religious, and charitable purposes in the Gulf Shores area. The foundation has been instrumental in support of a number of key civic developments in the community.
SummerTide will bring the Broadway hit musical Pump Boys and Dinettes to the George C. Meyers Theatre Arts Center. Nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical, the play is set in a gas station and diner where the characters sing their way through car repair, relationships, vacations, and Dolly Parton.
“We are excited about bringing professional theatre to the Gulf Coast this summer,” said Jonathan Michaelsen, UA professor of theatre and the director of Pump Boys and Dinettes. “This is a terrific show for our first production at the beach. It is wonderfully entertaining, both funny and touching. It is also a great choice for our students. They are able to show their talents as actors, singers, and dancers. Many of the cast members also play instruments. The songs carry the show with great lyrics. It guarantees a great evening,” he said.
While in Gulf Shores, the theatre company will make appearances in Baldwin County in conjunction with the Summer Reading Program. SummerTide will be at the Foley Library June 10 at 10 a.m., the Robertsdale Library June 11 at 2 p.m., and at the George Meyer Foundation with the Gulf Shores Summer Reading Program June 16 at 10 a.m.
The UA department of theatre and dance is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, UA’s largest division with 6,600 students and 350 faculty, and the largest liberal arts college in Alabama. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and College students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 13 Rhodes Scholarships, 14 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships, and 15 memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.
SummerTide Theatre, June 4-July 3, 2004
South Baldwin Chamber Theatre, Gulf Shores, Alabama
presents
Pump Boys And Dinettes
Music by various
Lyrics by various
Created by Jim Wann, Cass Morgan, Debra Monk, John Foley, John Hardwick and John Schimmel.
Synopsis
On Highway 57 somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, stands a gas station. Across the blacktop is a roadside eatery called the “Double Cupp Diner”. The four guys at the station have been known to do some auto repairs, but only when aided by quantities of time and beer. The Cupp sisters celebrate their home cooking with the same zeal they bring to being neighborly with the boys. This is a musical tribute to life by the roadside.
Song List
Highway 57
Taking It Slow
Serve Yourself
Menu Song
The Best Man
Fisherman’s Prayer
Catfish
Mamaw
Be Good or Be Gone
Vacation
No Holds Barred
Farmer Tan
Closing Tim
Drinkin’ Shoes
Pump Boys
Mona
The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine
Tips
Sister
Performance Information
Pump Boys and Dinettes opened July 10, 1981 at the Westside Arts Theatre, (New York) and ran for 685 performances.
After four months of capacity business “Pump Boys and Dinettes” moved to Broadway where the show received a Tony Award nomination as “Best Musical of 1982” and four Drama Desk nominations including “Outstanding Musical for 1981-1982.”
Contact
Rebecca Florence, Director of College Relations, College of Arts and Sciences, 205/348-8663, rflorenc@as.ua.edu
Clark West can be reached in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida at 1-850-231-7986 or by e-mail by contacting Rebecca Florence at the phone number above. Play director Jonathan Michaelsen can be reached at 205/348-7007.