“Treasure Island” will feature several returning actors to the RLC theater stage, including a duo who have performed together five times.
Aaron Dawson, a 15-year-old from Benton, will be playing the role of Captain Flint, a parrot puppet. “Treasure Island” will be Dawson’s ninth show with Webb and 11th show of his acting career, making him one of the more experienced of the actors and also the youngest.
“I have a lot of fun at the theater and I get to meet all sorts of new people,” said Dawson. “When I was younger, my parents asked me if I was interested in acting, so I tried it and I really liked it. Tracey invited me to do a show at Rend Lake after seeing me with Pyramid Players [a theater company out of Benton], and it went very well.”
TWO DAYS OF DANCING
Cast members of Rend Lake College’s fall play “Treasure Island” spent two days last week learning a dance number for the musical piece in RLC’s Theatre. The play will open at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 and will run through Sunday, Nov. 10. Tickets are on sale, starting Oct. 7.
(ReAnne Palmer / RLC Public Information)
Dawson said he plans to attend Rend Lake College in a few years as a general studies and theater major before graduating and attending ministerial school.
Another actor from Benton, John Nalley, will be joining Dawson on stage for his fifth show as the notorious Long John Silver. Nalley has had several starring roles on the RLC theater stage, including the father in Father of the Bride, Mr. Banks.
“My friend and I auditioned on a whim back in 2009, and we ended up playing the villain and villainess in the show,” said Nalley. “I began to think of the theater as my home away from home. I’ll take any role, big or small, as long as I get to perform.”
In addition to Dawson and Nalley, there are 33 actors, all of which are expected to help build the set in addition to learning lines and dances:
Tara Bell Janowick (Johnston City) as Meg Trueblood
Phillip Borcherding (Mt. Vernon) as Banjo Brody (banjo)
Bethaney Brown (Mt. Vernon) as Nightingale Nell
Shawna Cardwell (Benton) as Whipstitch Winnie
Phillip Catt (Tamaroa) as Newport Ned
Nick Conner (Sesser) as Nathaniel Crisp
Elecia Crider (Woodlawn) as Shoreditch Sal
Cortne Fletcher (Benton) as Canterbury Kate
Curtis Galloway (Benton) as Israel Hands
Donald T. Graham-Barnett (Du Quoin) as Peatbog Pat
Sierra Harrell (Mt. Vernon) as Miss Lucinda Livesey
John Hunsell (Mt. Vernon) as Old Joe
Brandon Isom (Christopher) as Gentleman Jack
Robin Johnson (Benton) as Greystoke Gertie
Clay Lewis (Mt. Vernon) as Hardy
Chris Milburn (Mt. Vernon) as Captain Obadiah Smollett
Thomas Miller (Pinckneyville) as Tenderloin Ted (guitar)
George Motsinger (Christopher) as Barnacle Billy
Cheyenne Needham (Benton) as Cornwall Kelly
Josh Nelson (Mt. Vernon) as Ben Gunn
Quentin Overturf (McLeansboro) as Blind Pugh
Vonnie Palmer (Johnston City) as Mad Mary Maguire
Shelby Patterson (Waltonville) as Piccadilly Poll
Eric Price (Benton) as Jim Hawkins
Danielle Roberts (Mt. Vernon) as Dizzy Delores (recorder)
Devin Riley (Dix) as Harry Flash
Trevor Skidmore (Mt. Vernon) as Lionheart Lenny
Christina South (Enfield) as Lady Jacqueline Trelawney
Caleb Staples (Mt. Vernon) as Black Dog
Troy Stickey (Benton) as George Merry and Billy Bones
Lauryn Strom (Sesser) as Liverpool Lee (percussion)
Shannon Twitty (Bluford) as Sherwood Sheila (tambourine)
Yuting Zhang (Dahlgren) as Cheng I Sao
There are also several crew members and volunteers helping with the play, including Skyler Alldredge (Benton), Josh Dawson (Benton), Nicole Foskey (Johnston City), Timothy Learned (Mulkeytown), Anthony Mitchell (Benton), Josh Moyer (Mt. Vernon), Shelby Patterson (Waltonville), Jessa Poninski (Mt. Vernon), Aaron Ramsey (Mt. Vernon), Matthew Rush (Benton), Krystal Schuh (Newton) and Shannon Webb (Ewing).
Tickets for the play will go on sale today (Oct. 7) for $12 a ticket. Show times are 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 through Saturday, Nov. 9; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10. To purchase tickets, contact Cathy Cross at 618-437-5321, Ext. 1263. Tickets will be available at the Theatre on show night if they are not sold out.