You may know Sandra Johnson from Academy of Lifelong Learning, or her past years running events for the Chesapeake Film Festival, or Handmade from the Heart for Evergreen Cove, or at the Community Meetings in town, or having a belt at Banning’s Tavern with friends, but all the while she was cultivating a dream; a dream to see her idea, SILVER BELLES produced. Arlington Magazine shares the story of how Silver Belles went from Johnson’s note page to the stage.
In 2007, when Johnson and her friend Cathy Alter were sharing ideas about a new business, Johnson’s eyes lit up realizing that this was not a business idea at all, but an idea for audiences – A Show. Johnson immediately enlisted her long-time friend and artistic director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, Eric Schaeffer, to get the show on the road. After a decade of creative collaboration, the show will have its world premiere at Signature Theatre November 22nd and run four weeks through Christmas Eve, December 24, 2016.
The press release from Signature Theatre reads, “When Oralene, the longtime director of small town Sylva Ridge’s Christmas Pageant, suddenly passes away, the Silver Belles must come to the rescue! With the spirit of Oralene looking on, the sterling-hued vixens band together, discover their talents and pull out all the stops to keep the beloved pageant alive.It’s Golden Girls meets Designing Women with a heaping helping of well-known Christmas tunes and clever new ditties. Christmas without the Silver Belles… just wouldn’t be Christmas!It’s a raucous send up of small town Christmas pageantry that features some of D.C.’s favorite leading ladies, including Donna Migliaccio (Signature’s Sunday in the Park with George), Nova Y. Payton (Signature’s Dreamgirls), Naomi Jacobson (Signature’s Cabaret), Peggy Yates (Signature’s Crossing), and Ilona Dulaski (Signature’s Witches of Eastwick).”
The creative team assembled for the production features Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway’s Follies, Million Dollar Quartet), Matt Conner (Signature’s Nevermore, Crossing, Creative Cauldron’s Turn of the Screw), Allyson Currin (WSC Avant Bard’s Caesar and Dada) and Stephen Gregory Smith (Creative Cauldron’s Turn of the Screw). With of course, the best credit of all, Based on an idea by Sandra Johnson & Cathy Alter. For our own Talbot County Resident, Sandra Johnson…Christmas will never be the same! Currently, Sandra Johnson has multiple shows being submitted to television and film producers in Los Angeles and New York.
To read the complete Arlington Magazine article visit ArlingtonMagazine.com.
For tickets visit: https://www.sigtheatre.org/events/2016-17/silver-belles
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.