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Home > Archive > Jul 26, 2007

Local Talent Showcased in Springdale Production
By Cami Cox
Staff Writer
A theatrical getaway is tucked away in Springdale, the gateway to Zion National Park. Featuring original shows to entertain Southern Utah's residents, the Bumbleberry Theatre is currently featuring three productions to delight crowds and give patrons a musical break from the desert heat.
Rhett Thomas, a resident of Springdale, is the director of entertainment at the Bumbleberry Theater. Head of Rhett Thomas Productions, a group that has entertained throughout the country, he is currently bringing “Twist the Night Away,” “I Fall to Pieces: The Life and Music of Patsy Cline” and “It's Showtime!” to the Bumbleberry stage.
“They're all original shows. It's not original music, but we don't do storyline shows. It's pure entertainment,” Thomas said. “Come and forget about your worries and cares of life. Come in and just sing along, clap – you can just have a good time. Just come and enjoy. That's what it's all about.”
Among Bumbleberry's current shows, the Broadway-esque “It's Showtime!” features a cast of six, including director Thomas, who is also a performer in the show. Showcasing a young cast, “It's Showtime!” also stars brother-sister duo Elijah and Faith McCausland, of Hurricane; Brittani Terry of St. George; Christine Tate, of Hurricane; and Megan Lefler of Ivins.
Lefler, 17, is the youngest of the cast and will be a senior at Snow Canyon High School this year. Primarily a performer in high school theater until now, “It's Showtime!” is her first professional gig.
“It's been really exciting,” she said. “It is my first professional job. Mostly, I've just done my high school plays.”
A professional theater company, Bumbleberry pays its performers, so to be cast in the production was exciting for Lefler, who hopes to pursue acting professionally someday and wants to be a college theater major.
“What's really been such a cool experience is that I've been able to work with Rhett Thomas, who is a very professional person and has worked many places in the country,” Lefler said. “He's on such a high level of performing, so for someone like me, who's just barely starting and really needing some experience, it's been really nice to be able to learn from him and see how his energy and his performance go. I do learn a lot from that, just watching him and the other cast members.”
Thomas said he cast Lefler, though young, because of a certain sparkle he recognized in her, which he looks for in all his performers.
“I was looking for a very vivacious girl who had a lot of energy and could just punch you and get you going, and Megan did that,” Thomas said. “I look for people that can walk in and just grab me by the neck and say 'Here I am.'”
When he casts a show, Thomas said, he looks for a combination of humility and confidence that will come across to and uplift the audience, and he's gotten that with the talent he's found in Southern Utah.
“It's more of a love for being on stage and being able to say, 'I can't believe I'm up here having this opportunity to sing for these people and make them happy,'” he said. “All the performers do that in this show.”
“It's Showtime!” is the story of Broadway through song, Thomas said, featuring numbers from Broadway shows old and new. Among the many musical theater selections featured in “It's Showtime!” audiences can enjoy tunes from “Phantom of the Opera,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Singing in the Rain,” “Guys and Dolls” and “Jekyll and Hyde.” The show is interactive, Thomas said, with cast members mingling and bonding with the audience and involving audience members in the show. Each performer is an emcee, he said, telling jokes and generally entertaining those watching as the production goes on.
“Each song tells a little story,” Thomas said. “It's a fun little show. ‘Twist the Night Away’ is a little bit more rock and roll, smoke machines, moving lights. This show is more intimate. You walk away feeling good about life.”
Originally from Long Beach, Calif., Thomas has traveled the country as an entertainer, performing from the East Coast to the West Coast in such big show cities as Branson, Mo., and Las Vegas. Now a family man with four young daughters, he decided five years ago that it was time to put down roots and land in one place for a while, so he struck a deal with the owner of the Bumbleberry Inn and reopened the Bumbleberry Theatre, which had been closed for about a year (previously, melodramas had been performed there under a different director.)
“I had lived in about nine different states in my 10 years of marriage,” Thomas said. “I had looked for a place to settle down, a place to call home, for longer than a year. ... I love Zion. I love the area. I asked my wife to marry me on the way back from Zion over 11 years ago. When we thought of coming back and putting shows in, we felt right about it.”
Thomas said he has been amazed at the talented performers he's found in Southern Utah, some of whom are featured in the Bumbleberry Theatre's current lineup of shows. A scenic setting for an entertaining evening, Springdale's Bumbleberry Theatre is a great escape for audiences, he said, and a fun venue for patrons to witness the talent of local performers in action.
“Come out and have a good time,” he said. “You're going to get the best of many musicals in one night and just be entertained from different genres and decades of music.”
“It's Showtime!” will perform each Wednesday and Friday through October. The Bumbleberry Theatre is located at 897 Zion Park Blvd. in Springdale. For ticket information, call (435) 772-3611 or visit www.bumbleberrytheatre.com.

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