Auditions set for Foote play ................

The Plaza Theatre on the Square in Wharton will hold

open auditions for Horton Foote's The Traveling Lady on Feb. 3 and 4 at 6 p.m. at the Wharton County Historical Museum, 3615 N. Richmond Road in Wharton. Performances are slated for April 11 to 20.

A Wharton native, Foote is widely considered one of America's greatest living playwrights. A recent off-Broadway production of his Dividing the Estate was listed as one of the 10 best plays of 2007 by the New York Times.

The drama plays itself out on the porch of the house Clara Breedlove shares with her younger brother Slim, a gentle

cotton buyer with a heart of

gold - a heart that remains broken from the blow of being rejected by his wife, even on her deathbed.

The play has ten characters:

Mrs. Mavis: "...an incredibly old woman..." and a scene stealer.

Slim Murray: "Lean, tanned..." A man of many talents - car repair, deputy sheriff, cotton buyer - but unlucky in love.

Judge Robedaux: A man "in his late 60s."

Georgette Thomas: A young woman in her mid to late 20s.

Margaret Rose: Georgette's daughter, age 6. An older child of small stature who can act younger may be selected, ideally one who resembles the actors cast as Georgette and Henry.

Clara Breedlove: "A large friendly woman in her late 50s...."

Sitter Mavis: Mrs. Mavis' daughter (and straight woman).

Mrs. Tillman: "A stern-faced humorless woman about Miss Clara's age...."

Henry Thomas: Georgette's husband. "He is in his late 20s... nice looking, but still a little pale from his long stay in prison." Must be able to sing.

Sheriff: Nonspeaking. An older, authoritative man. This

Income Tax Prep. *e-................(Inside Wharton ...................... performer may be double-cast as Judge Robedaux.

"I'll be glad to make appointments for anyone who can't make it to either of the auditions," says director Candyce Byrne, who

.............. ! can be contacted at 532-1084 or footlite@warpspeed1.net.

Foote, long interested in Texas music, followed Henry Thomas into his later years in the file *Refund Services

character of Mac Sledge, played .............................. by Robert Duvall in the Oscarwinning

movie Tender Mercies.

In 1965, The Traveling Lady

also became a movie that

was partly filmed in Wharton

......................................

and renamed Baby, The Rain

........................................

Must Fall.

Wharton Wireless & Car Stereo) It featured Steve McQueen

as Henry and Lee Remick as (Next to Cheryl's EXXON)

Georgette.