Kudzu is proud to bring this classic Southern story to the community. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, snacks, and favorite beverage, and join us at Coffee Central’s side yard on Oct. 22 or the Hernando Courthouse lawn on Oct. 23 (6:30 p.m. each night) for an evening of fun and fellowship. Performances are open to the public and donations are appreciated. You can also help by sponsoring this production.
Matilda Benefit Wrap-Up
Thank you to everyone who joined us on August 14 for the Matilda concerts, benefiting the Kudzu Playhouse Wesley W. Williamson Memorial college scholarship. Your support and kind comments made the many long months of waiting and prayers worthwhile.
We understand that recent spikes in COVID cases prevented many from being able to attend and hate that we missed seeing so many familiar faces. Unfortunately, the lower attendance also means we are short of our original scholarship fundraising goal.
If you were not able to attend, or if you would like to contribute, we would be grateful for your donation. You can also order a commemorative shirt by August 30 and the proceeds will go to the scholarship fund. Any amount would be humbly appreciated.
Donate to the scholarship fund
Order a shirt (deadline is Aug. 30)
Moana JR postponed
COVID-19 strikes again. Out of an abundance of caution for our younger thespians and given the increasing likelihood that we may lose access to the HPAC this fall, we have made the very difficult decision to postpone our planned production of Moana JR, once again.
We do not have new dates yet, but are targeting late February/early March. We will keep everyone updated as soon as plans are finalized. If you registered for the audition workshop, your place is already secured for the workshop in the spring. We will let you know as soon as the new dates have been confirmed.
Tomorrow, we will be sharing more information about our fall STARS classes. We have greater flexibility to keep those going, so we look forward to continuing with our plans.
This is heartbreaking for us, to say the very least. We so desperately want to get back to “normal” and have complete, live performances with full casts. We remain confident that those days are still on the near horizon. Thank you for your continued patience and support of Kudzu Playhouse as we work through these very unusual times.
Please stay safe!
Matilda Benefit Concert planned for August 14, 2021
With the help of some incredible friends, we are excited to announce our plan to close the Matilda chapter of Kudzu’s legacy thoughtfully and appropriately.
After great consideration, debate, and countless hours of prayer, we have chosen to hold a Matilda Benefit Concert as a fundraiser for the new Wesley W. Williamson college scholarship at Kudzu Playhouse. Our goal is to raise sufficient funds to establish an endowment and be able to begin awarding the scholarship in 2022. This college scholarship, like other Kudzu scholarships, will enable students to attend any school and pursue any degree of their choice.
We hope you will join us on August 14 at either 2 PM or 7 PM as we bring the incredible music of Matilda to life and celebrate our dear friend. This event is Pay What You Can – General Admission, but we encourage you to secure your seats in advance and consider making at least a $20 donation.
Learn more about our incredible cast HERE.
Secure your reservation HERE.
Sponsor this special event HERE.
Donate to Kudzu’s Wesley W. Williamson Memorial Scholarship Fund HERE.
Order the commemorative show shirt HERE.
Wesley was scheduled to direct Matilda as our main stage production at the HPAC in summer 2020. The show was postponed to summer 2021 due to COVID-19. When Wesley passed away unexpectedly earlier this year, we had some emotional and difficult decisions to make.
Given that we lost access to the one venue in the area that could appropriately accommodate a production of this size and do it justice, we were faced with the possibility of postponing another year. Delaying to 2022 would have meant that much of the current cast would be too old (or too tall) for their roles. Finally, the thought of casting a new director was the most heart-wrenching of all since Wesley was so passionate about this cast and this show. This concert allows for the cast that Wesley hand-picked in January 2020 to perform the show, even if in a limited capacity.
There is some poetic irony in the fact that Wesley’s first and last shows with Kudzu were both Roald Dahl favorites. God has truly had His hand on our shoulders.
2019 Scholarship Winner: Madison Cox
The Kudzu Playhouse Heritage Scholarship Award recognizes a student whose participation in the arts has affected significant personal growth in areas such as performance skills, technical skills, public speaking, self-confidence, esteem, or an appreciation of literature and the performing arts.
Madison Cox – Heritage Scholarship Award Recipient 2019
Madison Cox, daughter of Daphne and Bryan Cox, has surpassed the requirements for this award to an inspiring degree. With over 30 Kudzu Playhouse performances, crew and service credits alone, not including her work with our S.T.A.R.S program, her career is already quite impressive. Cox spent her Junior and Senior Years of highschool at the Mississippi School of the Arts in Brookhaven studying creative writing with plans to move to Indiana to study English and journalism at Indiana University.
“If it weren’t for theater,” said Cox in her scholarship essay. “I would be nowhere near the person I am today. I would never have had the confidence to pursue my dreams of writing, to go to art school, to truly believe that I could write books for the rest of my life.”
While the primary criteria for both awards are involvement in Kudzu Playhouse productions, fundraising, and promotion, students are also evaluated on other accomplishments or activities including non-Kudzu theater/performance experience, academic achievement, leadership, and community service.
