St. Mary’s Got Talent, Art Fest on tap at Teche Theatre

Two events are upcoming at the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts.
The theatre’s talent showcase, St. Mary’s Got Talent, is May 29 at 7 p.m.
Entertainers from across St. Mary Parish are set to take the stage and compete: Peyton Theriot, Makayla Dupre, Elizabeth Hebert, Gillian Box, Jahne Bailey, Bailey Stovall, Christina Hollowell, Samantha Guardia, Lavergne Singleton, Bria Burrell, Mamie Winters, Bourgeois Girl, Alaina Pierce, Olivia Todd, J. Taylor, Jacob Mink, Breannah Richards, Michelle Porath and the Crossing Place Youth Group made it to the final round and are vying for the covenant top spot as St. Mary’s best.
Please visit www.techetheatre.com or like the Facebook page for advanced tickets that will go on sale shortly.
Also, the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts will once again host Infinite Creations Entertainment’s second Annual Arts Appreciation Festival on Memorial Day weekend in honor of active and veteran military and local police, fire and EMS personnel.
The Arts Appreciation Festival cast includes Ed and Stacey Verdin, Ladaisha Bowles Webber, Suzanne Wiltz, Amber Lanclos, Carolyn Higdon, Todd Buteaux, Emilie Miller, Jhalon Thomas, Summer Renee, Britney Meche and Chase Leblanc, Caroline Simoneaux, Rhonda Dennis and Hilari Baranco who all will highlight various visual, literary and performing arts selections.
With the recent notoriety and numerous encore calls the performance art selection will be the original play written by Ed “Tiger” Verdin entitled “Undying Love” which premiered at the Teche Theatre in October 2014. “Undying Love” is a dramatic play about a young couple whose lives become intertwined with the attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001. The two person cast, Alexandra and Ethan Giovanni, played by Verdin and his wife Stacey, anticipate a romantic evening together to celebrate their 10th anniversary.
Ethan preempts the night’s festivities with a surprise to his wife’s office, located on the 85th floor of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center. Alexandria and Ethan travel on an extraordinarily emotional journey as their peaceful and playful world collides with the violence of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Some 30 days after premiering on the Teche stage, Verdin was contacted by Samuel French Inc., the world’s largest play script royalty holder based in New York City and was asked to submit it to competition in its Off Off Broadway Festival. The semi-final results are due to be announced within a few weeks and if listed in the Top 30 the cast and crew then travel to New York in August to perform it in the weeklong festival.
“I have been blessed and it really goes to show you that anything that happens on the Teche Theatre stage has the potential of being noticed even in New York City,” Verdin said. “But no matter the outcome my main focus and goal is to continue to build the arts and arts education in Franklin for the next generation to come.” After a short intermission the rest of the cast will continue to entertain the audience each night with song, poetry, monologues, music, dance and visual arts.
Show dates and times are May 22, 23 and 25 at 7 p.m. and May 24 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and available at the Lamp Lighter Antiques on Main Street. Any veteran, active military member, police, fire or EMS personnel in uniform will receive free admittance any night of the performance.
For more information please visit www.techetheatre.com, www.infinitecreationsentertainment.com or respective social media pages.