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Volume 67, Issue 10 •' Serving The Students Of Mars Hill College Since 1926 • Feb. 24, 1994 • FREE, Please Take One
Ipmions
^^^Icome to The
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Koj^ loss of a loved one
L Os to think about
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History Honor
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at revitalization,
L ote" opens at Owen
The Greatest Story
Ever Told
Cotton Patch
Gospel Coming
toMHC
From Staff Reports
Mars Hill College will present Cotton Patch Gospel
Thurs. March 3 at 8 p.m. in Moore Auditorium as part of the
1993-94 Culturefest Series.
Cotton Patch Gospel has been highly acclaimed by critics
and the public alike. This award wiiming musical drama is
considered to be a very enjoyable story that retells the Gospels
of Matthew and John - translated into present day Southern
vernacular. It brings the far away places of Nazareth,
Jerusalem, and Bethlehem closer to home - Atlanta and
Valdosta, Georgia. From His birth m a Gainsville, Georgia
trailer to His Good Friday lynching and Easter Sunday
victory, the story of Mary Davidson’s son, Jesus, is presented
musically with zest and uninhibited joy.
Cotton Patch Gospel was first conceived by Tom Key as
a one-man play based on the idea of a contemporary
“Matthew” telling the story of Jesus as though he were bom
in Gainsville, Georgia. Key performed this play, enacting all
21 characters of the story, on a national concert-artist series
tour in 1980. He adapted the play using Dr. Clarence
Jordan’s New Testament “Cotton Patch” Paraphrases. In
1981, Key teamed with Drama Desk Award Wiimer Russell
Trayz as director and co-author, Broadway Producer Philip
Getter, and the late singer-songwriter Harry Chapin to
develop “Cotton patch” into a five-person musical with the
last 18 songs Chapin wrote serving as the musical score.
Several months after Chapin’s tragic car accident, brother
Tom Chapin, as musical director for the project, guided it
musically on to the October, 1981 off-Broadway premiere at
the Lamba Theatre where it ran to rave reviews for 200
performances. It garnered a Drama-Logue Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Theatre and inspired an NBC
Special, “Harry Chapin’s Cotton Patch.” It also played the
Westwood Playhouse Theatre in Los Angeles where Key was
nominated “Best Actor” by the LA. Drama Critics’ Circle.
It broke attendance records in Dallas, Texas and Atlanta,
Georgia and won personal acclaim from celebrities such as
Greer Garson, Pat Carroll, Larry Gatlin, Jimmy Carter and
many more. Its script was published by Dramatic Publishing
Company, which sold out of its first “Cotton Patch” printing
in record time. It is still performed by thousands of amateur
stock theatre companies, as well as presented by notable
professional theatre companies (the Walnut Street Playhouse
of Philadelphia, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Indianapolis
Repertory Theatre) and plans are underway for its London
Premiere at the Westminster Theatre.
“Cotton Patch Gospel is special. It is a rare dramatic
presentation that succeeds in both entertaining us and sharing
fresh insight in to the Gospel - the greatest story ever told” -
Alkahest Agency
Students will be admitted without charge with a valid
MHC ID, but you will need a ticket to this green card event.
Tickets can be picked up at Owen Box Office Mon.-Fri. from
1-5 p.m.
Feels Like Spring (above). Last week, students got a nice change from the
coldest winter in memory. Here, Kelly Brown enjoys the peace of the quad while doing
a little sketching. Giving the Gift (below). While some were out enjoying the sun,
others braved the needle to help others in need at the DKT/Red Cross Blood Drive.