Henderson resident among cast of 'Bright Star'

CLARKSVILLE, VA. — The Clarksville Community Players will perform the bluegrass musical “Bright Star” written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell (of New Bohemians fame) starting April 20. Director Josh Glasscock, along with a cast of 29 from across the region, have worked for four months to present the show.

Henderson resident Craig Askew worked with Glasscock on productions at McGregor Hall. Inspired by his talent and dedication to the roles he played, Askew said Glasscock was an example of what he wanted to become.

“When he told me about “Bright Star” it was a no brainer,” said Askew who once worked in the Fine Arts Center back in the late 80s. “I was a disc jockey for the former WLCQ that was housed there, so it’s been sort of a homecoming for me,” Askew said.

Bright Star is the story of one woman at two different points in her life: the first as a young girl growing up barefoot and carefree in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina; the second, when she is a well-to-do magazine editor in Asheville 22 years later. Her story is woven with that of an idealistic young man named Billy, with whom she shares a mysterious connection.

As a young teen in Zebulon, North Carolina, Alice Murphy is hopelessly in love with small town heartthrob Jimmy Ray, the mayor’s son. Although their love was pure, it falls victim to the interference of ambitious parents, and their infant son is whisked away before their happy ending could ever begin.

More than two decades later, Alice is the successful editor of The Asheville Southern Journal, and meets a promising young writer named Billy. Eventually they realize that they share a hometown, and when Alice sees the handmade sweater she knitted for her baby 20 years before in his personal belongings, she realizes that he is the son she lost so long ago.

Their happiness is compounded at the end of the story with a Shakespeare-esque double wedding.

Clarksville Community Players will perform “Bright Star” at the Fine Arts Center, 914 Virginia Ave. Dates and showtimes are: April 20 at 7 p.m., April 21 at 2:30 p.m., April 26 and 27 at 7 p.m. and April 28 at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are available online $20 by visiting https://www.ticketor.com/clarksvilleplayers.org/default#buy and include a live 30-minute Bluegrass concert before the show by Boone Mountain Bluegrass. The Clarksville Community Players have been entertaining Clarksville and the surrounding area since 1973.