‘Undying Love’ opens at Teche

The Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts announces its upcoming fall production written by Ed “Tiger” Verdin of Franklin.
Set to open on Harvest Moon Fest weekend, “Undying Love” is the story of a young couple whose lives become intertwined with the attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001.
Verdin and his wife, Stacey, portray the characters Ethan and Alexandra as they anticipate a romantic evening together to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Ethan preempts the night’s festivities with a surprise morning visit to his wife’s office located on the 85th floor of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center.
They travel on an extraordinarily emotional journey as their peaceful and playful world collides with the violence of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Although “Undying Love” is a work of historical fiction it aims to explore the real and powerful ways that families were affected by the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
“It’s an honor for me to be able to donate and premier my first show as a playwright at the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts,” Verdin said. “Not to mention playing opposite my wife and being directed by the people responsible for me being in theatre in the first place. With this show I wanted to give my interpretation of what I feel it was like inside those buildings on that horrible morning but more importantly give a voice and a face to the 2,977 victims of 9/11.”
Stacey Verdin said, “When I first read the initial draft of the script I immediately knew I wanted to play Alexandra. It was hard on some days to make it through the script because Tiger wrote this on such a personal, relatable level that you fall in love with these characters, live the love story and you feel each and every emotion they go through.”
Directing this show is a team of veterans from the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts. Tyra Yarber and Diane Wiltz lead the charge with Ricky Pellerin completing the team as assistant director. Master builder and set designer, Bret Casselman has built a stage version of an office of the World Trade Center.
Yarber, president of the Teche Theatre board of directors said, “We sat down in a focus group setting with members of our community for Tiger and Stacey to read and present the script to us. I don’t think at the time we thought the production was going to have such a lasting powerful effect on us. The perfect setup of characters, amazing chemistry, dramatic intensity and poetic interpretation he wrote just floored everyone. We cannot wait for the curtain to open.”
Dates and times of the show are Oct. 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets for the Teche’s Fall Production will be $10 each and are on sale at Fad’s and the Lamp Lighter on Main Street.
The show is rated R for dramatic intensity due to subject matter. For more information on this and future productions, please visit www.ttpaonline.com or www.infinitecreationsentertainment.com and follow the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts and Infinite Creations Entertainment on Facebook.