With Gratitude,
Joi Taylor, Executive Director
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With Gratitude,
Joi Taylor, Executive Director
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.
Northwest Mississippi Theatre Alliance 2019 Allie Award Winners
Best Props | April Wiltbank – A Christmas Story | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Hair and Makeup | Lexie Lang – A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Kudzu Playhouse |
Best Vocal Direction | Dr. Saundra Bishop – Aida | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Orchestral Direction | Justin Wadkins – Mamma Mia! | Kudzu Playhouse |
Best Lighting | Jordan Caviezel – You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Sound | Alyssa Algee – Aida | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Special Effects | Vic Henson – Mary Poppins JR | Panola Playhouse |
Best Costuming | Melanie Ozburn – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Set | Alyssa Algee – An Inspector Calls | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Choreography | Lori Payne – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Performance by a Female Dancer | Mikayla House – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Performance by a Male Dancer | Brady Pillstrom – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Cameo Performance by an Actress | Susan Webster – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Cameo Performance by an Actor | Wesley Williamson – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Performance by a Young Actress (12 & Under) | Sydney Teuton – Mary Poppins JR | Panola Playhouse |
Best Performance by a Young Actor (12 & Under) | Vann Gallimore – Oliver! | Panola Playhouse |
Best Performance by a Young Actress (13 – 17) | Claire Ballard – You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Performance by a Young Actor (13 – 17) | Brady Pillstrom – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play | Abby Morton – An Inspector Calls | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play | Wesley Williamson – Father of the Bride | Panola Playhouse |
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | Cassie Thompson – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Performance by a Featured Actor In a Musical | Rodney Hall – Aida | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Performance by a Leading Actress In a Play | Jordan Cardell – The Miracle Worker | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play | Wesley Williamson – An Inspector Calls | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Brietta Goodman – Aida | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | Caiden Britt – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Cast | Mamma Mia! | Kudzu Playhouse |
Best Director of a Youth Production | Erica Peninger – Mary Poppins JR | Panola Playhouse |
Best Director of a Comedy | Katie Hardeman – Play On | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Director of a Drama | Alyssa Algee – An Inspector Calls | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Director of a Musical | Caiden Britt – Singin’ In The Rain | DeSoto Family Theatre |
Best Youth Production | Mary Poppins JR | Panola Playhouse |
Best Comedy | Play On | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Drama | An Inspector Calls | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Musical | Aida | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
Best Overall Production | Aida | Northwest Mississippi Community College |
It’s a Wonderful Life tickets will be going on-sale very soon!
Tickets for Kudzu’s annual dinner theatre production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” will go on sale at 11am on Friday October 18, 2019.
Ticket prices are:
1 ticket | $45/ticket |
2-7 tickets | $40/ticket |
8+ tickets | $37.50/ticket |
Tickets are ONLY available from www.kudzuplayers.com. All showtimes are 7:00 PM. The dinner menu is:
Turkey and dressing |
Green beans |
Sweet Potato Casserole |
Dinner rolls |
Apple Cobbler |
BYOB |
Be sure to plan accordingly and get your tickets as soon as possible, because they WILL go quickly! To stay up-to-date with all of our latest news, follow us on Facebook and join our email list
In our American culture It’s a Wonderful Life has become almost as familiar as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The story is a natural for a stage adaptation: the saga of George Bailey, the Everyman from the small town of Bedford Falls, whose dreams of escape and adventure have been quashed by family obligation and civic duty, whose guardian angel has to descent on Christmas Eve to save him from despair and to remind him—by showing him what the world would have been like had he never been born—that his has been, after all, a wonderful life. This faithful adaptation has all your favorite characters: George and Mary Hatch, Clarence, Uncle Billy, Violet, and, of course, the Scrooge-like villain, Mr. Potter. This fine dramatization not only celebrates the faith of the season, it also celebrates the American philosophy of life: hard work, fair play and the love and support of one’s family and community will be rewarded.
Kudzu Playhouse is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring performing arts to the community by showcasing talented actors and actresses of all ages in an open and encouraging environment, while also nurturing and developing young future performers, regardless of gender, race or socioeconomic background.
JOIN US AT
Friendship Church of Christ, 3250 Pleasant Hill Road, Olive Branch
DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER AND FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR ACTORS AND PATRONS, we have made the difficult decision to move this week’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” indoors to Friendship Church of Christ for ALL PERFORMANCES.
April 11 – 14, 2019
Showtimes are 7:00 p.m. each evening
Friendship Church of Christ, 3250 Pleasant Hill Road, Olive Branch, MS
One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, Midsummer is a story of order and disorder, reality and appearance, and love and marriage. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta (the former queen of the Amazons). These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the mechanicals) who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set.
Tickets: Suggested donation of $10, available online using the button below or at the venue on show days. Recommended for ages 10 years and above.
Kudzu Playhouse is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring performing arts to the community by showcasing talented actors and actresses of all ages in an open and encouraging environment, while also nurturing and developing young future performers, regardless of gender, race or socioeconomic background.