Around the World in 80 Days

February 19, 2013 by Randy Keck

Special to The Community NewsFrom Weatherford College

Five actors will play 39 characters in Mark Brown's comedy adventure adaptation of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days," at the Alkek Fine Arts Center on the Weatherford College campus Feb. 21-23. Curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. each evening. Admission is free.

Directed by Nancy McVean and produced by special arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois, the show is WC’s entry in the annual Texas Community College Theatre Festival, which will be held at Lone Star College in Tomball, Texas, later this month.

Based on French author Jules Verne's 1873 novel, the play follows the journey of Phileas Fogg around the world as he tries to beat the clock to win a wager that he can make the trip in 80 days - a huge feat in pre-airplane days.

McVean said the fast-paced production is a physically exhausting play to act in, with no moments to rest.

“The five actors have to be nimble as well as gifted with comic timing, for personality and costume changes come with riotous, breathtaking rapidity. Hats, beards, coats, turbans, genders and accents ricochet around the stage as each character does his turn, then tears off to assume another role, sometimes only for a matter of seconds.”

The cast includes Lauren McMichael, who plays an incredible cast of 16 characters; Kylar Dobbs, who takes on eight roles; Edna Gill, who plays two characters; Cassie Brown, who plays four characters, and Gatlin Douglas as Phileas Fogg.

The set for "Around the World in 80 Days" was designed by technical director Joseph Nicikowski; lighting by Ryan Riley, costume design by Diane Simons and sound design by Steven Sullivan.

For more information, call the WC Fine Arts department at 817-598-6458.