Columbia Children's Theatre to Present ZOMBIE PROM

Zombie lives matter! And Jonny "without an H" Warner will try to prove just that as Columbia Children's Theatre's YouTheatre presents the Off-Broadway cult sensation Zombie Prom October 23 - 25. Performances are Friday at 7:00 pm, Saturday at 3:00 and 7:00 pm, and Sunday at 3:00 and 7:00 pm. Proceeds from the 7:00 pm Sunday performance will benefit the Officer Gregory Alia Memorial Fund and the Central Carolina Community Trust flood relief efforts. General admission tickets are $10.00 and $8.00 for active military and seniors with proper ID. Advance ticket purchases are strongly recommended and may be purchased securely on-line at www.columbiachildrenstheatre.com. All shows take place at Columbia Children's Theatre on the second floor of Richland Mall, 3400 Forest Drive in beautiful Forest Acres. CCT's YouTheatre season is sponsored by Staymobile.

About the Show

It's not all bobby socks and Clearasil for Jonny Warner when he drops the "H" from his name, dives head-long into the town's nuclear reactor, and returns to life and to high school as a zombie. In this gentle send-up of 1950's camp musicals based on the comic book series of the same name, Zombie Prom follows the angst-ridden teen love of Jonny and Toffee as they try to navigate the waters of high school during the atomic age. Not only must they face the injustices that high school places on zombies, they must also face the maniacal evil of Principal Delilah Strict (Hitler in pantyhose), as well as the probing eye of sensationalist reporter Eddie Flagrante who exploits the lovers in his "cause celebre" of zombie civil rights. Running time is approximately 90 minutes.

Originally produced by The Red Barn Theatre in Key West, Florida Zombie Prom opened Off-Broadway in 1996. With book and lyrics by John Dempsey and music by Dana P. Rowe the musical is a campy send-up of 1950's "beach blanket" musicals and features songs such as "Blast From the Past," "That's The Beat for Me" and "The Voice in The Ocean."

The cast features over 35 teen actors from across the Midlands including: Chase Hastings as Jonny Warner, Kaitlyn Fuller as Toffee, Matthew Harter as Eddie, and Georgie Harrington as Delilah Strict. Also featured are Noah Barker, Henry Barry, Alex Cone, Erica Cooper, Megan Crutchfield, Joshua Diveley, Taylor Diveley, Marissa Duffield, Miriam Fischer, Isabella Fleischer, Jordan Fritts, Delia Glover, Franklin Harris, Kyeem Harris, David Jeffrey, Danielle Johnson, Taylor Marks, Mahogany McCreary, Cole McFaden, Ally Montgomery, Lily Montoya, Baker Morrison, Emma Myers, Summer O'Brien, Toby O'Connor, Nathaniel Riley, Mary Smith, Brianna Surface, Grayson Taylor, Chadori Verette, Ainsley Woodbrown, and Maddison Yates.

The show is directed by Paul Lindley II who directed last season's runaway hit Hairspray Jr. with choreography by Lisa Sendler.

Special Benefit Performance

As a special outreach effort to aid those in need in our community, CCT YouTheatre performers requested to do an additional performance on Sunday evening at 7:00 pm and donate proceeds from ticket sales, concessions, and donations to the Officer Gregory Alia Memorial Fund and to the Central Carolina Community Foundation's flood relief efforts. Ticket sales from the benefit performance will be matched by Staymobile of the Midlands. Chuck Morrison of Staymobile says, "Staymobile started in Columbia. We are proud supporters of Columbia Children's Theatre and all the tremendous work they do for our community. Many of the kids at CCT knew Officer Alia, so we wanted to partner with Jerry, Jim, and everyone at CCT to have an additional performance where the proceeds go where they belong, to Officer Alia's family, and to those who have suffered loss as result of the flood. We're grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this special performance."

The CCT S.T.A.R. Program (Students in Theatre Achieving Results) will be volunteering as staff for the show and will accept donations during intermission. CCT will also serve as a drop off point for Kids ACT's (Kids Accepting Challenges Today) "Our Favorite Things" flood relief efforts for children (https://www.facebook.com/kidsactourfavoritethings.) Just bring any new toy, game, puzzle, book, or movie to Columbia Children's Theatre Monday-Friday between the hours of 5:00 and 9:00 pm and Kids ACT will distribute them to children of all ages who have lost "their favorite things" in the floods.

Columbia Children's Theatre is a professional resident not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing quality live theatre experiences for families and young audiences, and is supported in part by the City of Forest Acres, The Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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