The Friday 5: JUDY's Linda Sue Runyeon & Chase Miller

Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre continues its 16th Anniversary Season and 75th show with JUDY! A Musical Tribute, which opened yesterday. JUDY! A Musical Tribute is a two-act revue that includes performances of famous Garland tunes. Compiled and created by stage veterans Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon and Joe Grizzel, this cabaret revue is a musical collection of songs, video and documentary, taking the audience "down memory lane" about the life of America's sweet heart, Judy Garland.

Here's your opportunity to get to know Runyeon and her co-star, Chase Miller, via our popular Friday 5 feature...

Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? Eightth grade, playing clarinet in the pit band for the high school's production of Annie Get Your Gun - it's a helluva chart for the clarinet...

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? Eating - can't go onstage hungry - then lots of throat coat tea, (This used to lead to much rushing about and much cursing if I had already donned my Spanx. However, my new Spanx have a split crotch!) Was that TMI?

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? The ship I was singing on had been in Melbourne, Australia, until midnight the previous night. At 1 p.m. the next day, the cast showed up for a run through of that evening's production but the dance captain was nowhere to be found. Not in her cabin and no one had seen her. The ship was searched but to no avail. We did our run through hoping that she was just perhaps sleeping it off in someone else's cabin. She wasn't. The police in Melbourne were called as well as her mother back in the states. Neither had heard from her. We re-blocked late the afternoon and went on that night horribly shaken, most of us were in tears by the finale. (It would be weeks before we had any news - she was found in Melbourne with total amnesia.)

What's your dream role? Lady in a beach chair being waited on by a cute cabana boy...

Who's your theatrical crush? That is a hard one, there is so much talent in the world. Right now, I would say Cori Laemmel. She has a gorgeous voice, but her writing is what makes her magical in my book. I am a huge fan.

SUPER-SECRET EXTRA-SPECIAL BONUS QUESTION: Why should people come see JUDY? Top 3 reasons to come see JUDY! #1 - Music by Howard Arlen, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. #2 - To hear the musical genius that is Tim Parton #3 - To witness Chase Miller as Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley and...LIZA!

Chase Miller

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? The very first show I ever saw was a stage play of The Little Mermaid at the Black Hawk Children's Theatre. It was a retelling of the original (and much darker) fairy tale than the one of the Disney fame, but I was OBSESSED. I met and took a photo with almost every single actor after the show. My mother still has those photos in a drawer somewhere.

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I'd have to say that my favorite pre-show ritual is also the most necessary. Steaming. I turn on the steamer along with a favorite album (More often than not Elaine Stritch at Liberty or Sherie Rene Scott's Everyday Rapture) and center myself as I warm up. It sort of provides me with a sauna for my vocal folds. I would be lost without it.

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? I was in a production of The Hobbit YEARS ago, and the set caught fire. Turns out our substitute TD had overloaded the pyrotechnics. In addition to the growing flames, the "stone walls" that were actually finely sculpted styrofoam, began melting at a rapid pace. Our SM quickly closed the curtain and extinguished it, but per the fire code everyone had to evacuate the theater until the fire department cleared us to return. The best part was watching the faces of the passersby as a large groups of elves, dwarves, fairies, and half a dragon began pouring out of a building onto Main street. After we were cleared, we all went back in and finished the show, half melted set and all. That Dragon's head still hangs above the Tech Office in that theater as a memento of the insanity that show brought to the Cedar Valley

What's your dream role? Jekyll/Hyde in Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll and Hyde would literally be a dream come true. I've been singing the music since I was twelve years old.

Who's your theatrical crush? Too many to name! Any person who can stand on a stage and give everything they have in the pursuit of good and true art could easily walk away with a piece of my heart. What we do up there, to be so vulnerable, exposed, and provide such a necessary form of art. I love ANYone who is courageous enough to get up there and do it.

Why should people come see JUDY? Whether you want to stroll down that "Yellow Brick Memory Lane", hear some of your favorite standards brought to new life by the incomparable Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon, or pay due tribute to a National Treasure that came to such an early and tragic end, This show gives you the chance to do ALL of that.

To quote the show: "Whether you remember her as Dorothy of Oz, Andy Hardy's girlfriend, or a girl tramp to Fred Astaire's boy tramp... You remember Judy Garland." We all remember her. Generations remember her. Judy gave us so much. So many amazing performances, and so much of her self. The industry really chewed her up, and we're coming together to pay tribute by celebrating her for the amazing gift that she was. Not to mention dinner and dessert form the wonderful folks at Front Porch! What more could you want for an evening's entertainment?

About the show: Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre continues its 16th Anniversary Season and 75th show with JUDY! A Musical Tribute, which opened yesterday. JUDY! A Musical Tribute is a two-act revue that includes performances of famous Garland tunes. Compiled and created by stage veterans Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon and Joe Grizzel, this cabaret revue is a musical collection of songs, video and documentary, taking the audience "down memory lane" about the life of America's sweet heart, Judy Garland.

The show features a three-person cast led by the brilliant Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon (A Closer With Patsy Cline; 9-5: The Musical; White Christmas; Hello Dolly; Once Upon A Mattress), Chase Miller (Rumors; If The Shoe Fits; The Andrews Brothers; Grease): and Tim Parton (Accompanist for gospel greats The Speers, Gold City, and Legacy Five; Recording Artist; Composer/Arranger). The show offers audiencesinsight into the iconic superstar's personal life as well as to the performer onstage. It's neither a documentary nor a straight-up impersonation of Garland, but a celebration of her life as a singer, actress and entertainer.

Songs include "The Man That Got Away," "I've Got Rhythm," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Meet Me In St. Louis."

Illustrating why Judy Garland was, and continues to be, one of the great legends of show business history, JUDY! A Musical Tribute goes beyond the rainbow, and explores the life of a woman destined for greatness; as loved today as she was when she first made her way along the yellow brick road.

"There's something very special about this show, says artistic director Greg Frey. "Many people feel as if they know Judy, or they have a perception of Judy; this emotionally broken woman being consumed with the booze and drugs. Judy was vulnerable, especially at a young age, but also had a capacity for survival that was just as strong as her vulnerabilities. Everything Judy did was a response to the way in which she was treated by others."

The Gaslight Dinner Theatre also welcomes chef Jamie Protich from The Front Porch of Dickson. The all new delicious luncheon and dinner buffets begin one hour before show time. Ticket price includes buffet, desserts, beverage and show. Gratuity not included. The show runs June 16-30.

For tickets, calls the box office at (615) 740-5600 or go online at www.gaslightdinnertheatre.org.

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