The evolving Mauldin Theatre Company will kick off its latest season with a Broadway classic and end with a cinematic classic … reimagined.
“We learned from our previous season that the community is hungry for something meatier. We had been playing it safe: Disney, musical revues, those kinds of things,” says Christine Faust, Manager of the Mauldin Cultural Center.
“We started as a youth theater. Now, the focus is leaning more toward adult community theater.”
The response to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” last fall set the stage for the theater’s sixth season, says Kristofer Parker, Production and Theatre Coordinator.
“It was extremely different from the shows we’d done. It was massive. The set was massive. The lighting design was massive. It was a cast of 25. And we had about 20 in the choir,” Parker says.
“It was very well-received. ‘Hunchback’ showed me that our audience is looking for something fresh,” he says. “Our people want us to challenge them a bit more.”
Though Parker started his job 18 months ago, he spent years as a teen and young adult working with productions in Mauldin and other theaters.
Faust – who has led the Cultural Center for two years – also grew up in the arts, in dance. As an adult, she has worked at the S.C. Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities Foundation.
But she’d never seen “Hunchback” and was a “puddle of tears” after seeing the “dramatic storyline and tremendous talent.”
“People went crazy. They were thankful to see something for a more mature audience. We were willing to lean into that.”
So, the theater will kick off its newest season with “A Chorus Line,” from Aug. 15 through Sept. 1.
“We decided to see how people would react to something that's a little more edgy. Doing it with a classic seems right for our audiences,” Faust says.
Parker says he did extensive reading and research before choosing the productions for the season. “We hope we've cracked the code,” he says.
“And we’re going all in because ‘A Chorus Line’ is one of those shows that, when you do it, you want to do it right. I think ‘A Chorus Line’ shapes this season.”
The season will end next spring with “The Bodyguard – The Musical,” a reimagined, different sort of classic based on the 1992 movie starring Whitney Houston. “It's all Whitney Houston music,” Parker says.
“We want a show for our music lovers. People will be here to party, but we want a show with a storyline. We're merging the two. We haven't done a show like that, like a jukebox musical. I think we're going to see a lot of new faces.”
Parker says the lead vocalists have been chosen. “The community needs to know that Whitney is in good hands.”
The theater is only one part of the multi-faceted Cultural Center. And Faust manages it all. She says her “equal-parts creative and logistical brain” helps, as it did in the wedding planning business she once owned.
The Cultural Center’s festival season is free and takes place in the outdoor amphitheater, as does “Romeo and Juliet” next spring.
Amp’d Up Fridays, a music series presented by Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas, continues through July. The annual barbecue cook-off is Sept. 13 and 14. Friday Night Flicks kicks off in October.
The Mauldin Public Art Trail rings the amphitheater, with a new work commissioned each year.
A growing Spotlight Series at the theater will feature readings, small productions, spoken word performances, and comedy.
Theater classes, workshops and camps take place year-round.
“We did a behind-the-scenes camp where kids painted scenery and learned about lighting,” Faust says. “Those kids had a ball. You never know what kids will develop a passion for until they try it.”
Faust embraced her passion for the arts as a young person, when she attended the Fine Arts Center and the Governor’s School – then a five-week summer camp at Furman University.
“My family moved to Greenville in 1974. So, we were the happy recipients of the Upstate’s dedication to the arts,” she says.
In Mauldin, the Cultural Center is funded by the city’s Hospitality and Accommodations Tax. But the facility dates to 1937, when it was built as Mauldin School by the federal Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. It served all grades until 1957, when it became Mauldin Elementary School. When the school relocated in 2002, the city bought and began repurposing the 14-acre property. Renovation of the theater was completed last year.
“It's slowly gone from being an abandoned and neglected space to a really beautiful facility,” Faust says. “There's something happening all the time.”
In addition to theater activities, the Cultural Center has visual arts and music lessons, classes for those who want to learn to sew or decorate cakes, and more. Groups, such as the Piedmont Wood Carvers Club and the Garden Club, meet within its walls.
“There's something here for everyone. We have people in this building from ages 5 to 95,” Faust says. “We want people to plug into whatever will bring them a connection to their community and their inner creativity.”
As for the theater, Parker says he is excited. “We made a jump, and I want to see where we land. We've been able to create a team and a family. In the past year, I’ve learned the true meaning of community theater, and it's beautiful.”
Besides Parker and Faust, the team includes Events Coordinator Gina McAtee and a host of instructors, actors and technicians.
“We're small, we're mighty, we're creative,” Faust says. “And it's created this … I'm going to call it magic.”
The Mauldin Theatre Company season includes: “A Chorus Line,” Aug. 15 to Sept. 1; “Sweeney Todd,” Nov. 7 to 24; “Andrew Lippa's – The Wild Party,” Jan. 30 to Feb. 8; “Mean Girls Jr.,” March 21 to 30; “Romeo and Juliet,” April 11 to 13; and “The Bodyguard – The Musical,” May 1 to 11.
For information about the season or the Cultural Center, go to mauldinculturalcenter.org. Timely updates can be found on the Cultural Center’s Facebook or Instagram sites.
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