PEACH WEEKENDER | MUSIC

'Hands on a Hardbody' takes the stage

5/16/2018
BY SUE BRICKEY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
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    3B Productions presents 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' this weekend at Maumee Indoor Theatre.

  • This weekend Perrysburg Musical Theatre Company will present the 2013 Broadway musical Hands on a Hardbody, which was nominated for three Tony Awards, including best original score. Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at Owens Community College Theatre, 30335 Oregon Rd., Perrysburg. 

    The musical comedy is based on the Hands on a Hardbody Contest in Longview, Texas, in 1992. Chronicled in the 1997 documentary Hands on a Hardbody, the endurance contest lasted for days under the hot Texas sun. The contestant who kept his or her hands on a Nissan hardbody truck the longest got to keep the truck; 24 hard-luck contestants participated.

    The production is part of the Perrysburg Musical Theatre’s eighth season.

    Clark Ausloos is the show’s director and choreographer, and Michael Craig is its music director and lighting and sound designer.

    “This is the first time the musical is being presented in this area; it’s exciting to bring something new,”  said Julie Bermudez, the company’s artistic director. “There is  a cast of 16, and the 17th is the truck.”

    The show has country-rock melodies and lyrics by Phish’s Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio. 

    There will be a “Barbecue and Brew” event on Friday, with beer tasting and a food truck serving barbecue.

    Because of language, the show is appropriate for children 12 and older. 

    Tickets are $15 and available at perrysburgmusicaltheatre.org and at the theater one hour before the show; the box office closes when show starts.

    Spelling Bee

    3B Productions will present The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a Broadway success nominated for six Tony Awards. The musical comedy is the story of six local spelling bee champs who will compete for the chance to move up to the big bee, the National Spelling Bee in Washington. They have their own techniques to win. 

    Performances are at 8 p.m. May 24, 25, and 26, and 2:30 p.m. May 27 at the Maumee Indoor Theatre, 601 Conant St., Maumee. Tickets — $17 for preferred seating in the first five rows, $15 general seating — and $13 for students and seniors, are available at the door and from 3BProductions.org.

    Performing for change

    Children’s Theater Workshop will present its Theatre for Social Change piece, Apologies in Advance, in two shows Saturday.

    “The work deals with the issues that relate to the bodies we live in,” said Aimee Reid, executive artistic director. “It touches on topics of gender, aging and ageism, sexual harassment, racism, and prejudice, disability, as well as celebrating how much we love our bodies and identities,” 

    The nine students of the 2017-18 Creative and Brave Company that is presenting the play are 13 to 16 years old and wrote most of the pieces, including short scenes, monologues, poems, and skits, in the play. 

    The Creative and Brave Company is a free program for Toledo-area teenagers who are interested in creating original performances around social issues topics.

    Apologies in Advance will be performed at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday in the Tansey-Zimmerman Theatre of the Collingwood Arts Center, 2413 Collingwood Blvd. The performances are free and will run about 75 minutes with no intermission. Creative and Brave Company is supported by the YiPEE program of Leadership Toledo.

    Contact Sue Brickey at: sbrickey@theblade.com