YR-C Section 6/6/2014 7:06 PM Page 4
page 4C - Yukon Review s Saturday June 7, 2014
Summer concert series lineup set, all performances held at Gazebo
n Begins Thursday with ‘Bark in the Park’
By Conrad Dudderar
Editor
Back by popular demand
for yet another year, an outdoor summer concert series
starts June 12 and will continue through Aug. 14 in
Yukon.
Talented performers offering an array of musical
styles - from blues to show
tunes and hard rock to
country - highlight Yukon’s
highly acclaimed weekly
“Concerts in the Park” program.
New this year, four concerts will precede movies
shown “on the big screen” at
the park.
Many familiar performers
will return to Yukon to delight audiences gathered
‘round the Chisholm Trail
Park Gazebo, 500 W Vandament. Thursday concerts
will start at 7 p.m.
“We make sure we offer a
variety of music because
people’s tastes in music differ,” Yukon Parks & Recreation Director Jan Scott
said. “We encourage people
to bring their blankets and
lawn chairs to the park to
enjoy these ‘family friendly’
performances each week.”
The opening concert on
June 12 will follow “Bark at
the Park” dog contests, and
the final concert on Aug. 14
will feature a carnival.
Several groups will entertain at both Chisholm Trail
and City Park during the
two-day “Freedom Fest” celebration on Thursday and
Friday, July 3-4.
The summer concert series includes a back-toschool student “Battle of the
Bands” on Tuesday, Aug.
12.
Yukon’s
impressive
Chisholm
Trail
Park
Gazebo is an ideal venue for
the performing bands.
“There is always a breeze
coming off of Mulvey’s
Pond to make it pleasant,
and the beauty of the park
makes it special,” Scott said.
Other Chisholm Trail
Park features include walking trails, the “boot hill” observation mound, ponds,
and canals.
Yukon Parks & Recreation staff offers tasty concessions (including charcoal
hamburgers) that help make
the weekly concerts free to
the public. Food trucks also
are available some weeks.
Outdoor movies are
planned on four nights:
* June 12 - “Beethoven”
after the band Smilin’ Vic
and the Soul Monkeys.
* June 19 - “The Lego
Movie” after the band Core
Country.
* July 17 - “Frozen” after
the band Zero to Sixty.
* Aug. 7 - “The Vow” after
the band G3.
The “Concerts in the
Park” series is among
Yukon Parks & Recreation
favorite offerings.
For more information,
visit www.cityofyukonok.gov
Stage Door brings Twain’s Huckleberry Finn to Yukon audience
n Performances this weekend and next
Director Rebecca Upshaw has taken on the task
of bringing to life Randal
Myler’s adaptation of Mark
Twain’s “Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn.” In the
book, Huck and Jim are all
over the place, evading capture, running towards free-
dom, and forging a deep
and lasting friendship.
Most of their adventures
take place along the mighty
Mississippi River. To help
get the “feel,” Upshaw recruited Yukon’s Greg McDonald to paint a backdrop
of the river. This thing is
huge . . . it covers the entire
expanse of the proscenium
arch . . . and it’s beautiful.
After
Huck
(Caleb
Boyer) fakes his own death,
makes his way to Jackson’s
Island, and discovers Jim
(Max Breaux), a runaway
slave, hiding out on the island, it begins to rain, and
does so for many days until
the river is overflowing its
banks and encroaching
dangerously on the island.
In the flood waters, an old
raft washes ashore along
with a big trunk filled with
old calico dresses. The unlikely duo decide it’s time
to head on down the river,
but before they go, Huck
wants to find out what the
news is in town. He dresses
up in one of the dresses out
of the truck “so’s not to be
recognized,”
and
approaches an old log cabin.
Inside he meets Mrs. Loftus, who kinda hovers between very keen, odd, and
totally insane.
Courtney Miles, one of
several new talented actors
in this show, plays Mrs.
Loftus. She is one of Ms.
Upshaw’s students at PCO
and she is quite musical.
She’s a member of the
color guard, the orchestra,
and the choir. She has
been cast in such shows as
“Little Women,” “Seussical,” “Don’t Drink the
Water,” and most recently,
“The King and I.” Besides
Mrs. Loftus, Courtney will
also be acting the roles of
Widow Bartley and Aunt
Polly.
Huck learns from Mrs.
Loftus that the townsfolk
think Jim murdered Huck.
After seeing smoke rising
from the island a couple of
nights ago, they figure Jim is
hiding out on Jackson’s Island. A group of men are
headed to the island at that
very moment to check it
out.
So Huck hightails it outta
there and they immediately
set off down the river.
They float at night, hide the
raft at daybreak, and laze
around in the woods during
the day, talkin’ and smokin’
their pipes. The bright
lights of St. Louis was about
the most amazin’ thing that
either of them had ever
seen. Life was about as
good as it could get. Then
one day, as they were discussin’ the deep philosophies o’ life, they hear
some voices nearby. Jim
dives for cover, while Huck
faces them. Turns out it’s
three bounty hunters
lookin’ for five runaway
slaves.
The bounty hunters are
played by Ashton Hasbell,
Raiden
Sawyer,
and
Matthew Calalay . . .two
Stage Door newcomers and
a veteran.
Raiden,
who
plays
Bounty Hunter #1, is one
of the newcomers to The
Stage Door in “Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn.” Although he is new to
Yukon’s Stage Door, he is
a native Oklahoman and
has an extensive background, dating back to the
third grade. His work has
mainly been at the Family
Theater Warehouse and
the Oklahoma Homeschool Theater Group. Besides actor, Raiden has also
worn the hats of playwright
and lighting technician.
And in this show, Raiden
wears the hats of about five
different characters. You’ll
want to keep your eye out
for him!!
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” will continue
to run June 7, 13, and 14
at 7:30 p.m. and June 8
and 15 at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets are $9.00 in advance and $12.00 at the
door. Advance purchases
may be made by visiting
www.stagedooryukon.co
m or by calling the theatre at 265-1590 (leave a
message).
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is being funded
in part by a grant from the
NEA/OAC and is being
produced
by
special
arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company
of Woodstock, Illinois.
Before Huck sets out on his adventure down the mighty Mississippi, he must endure
the dourly repudiations of Miss Watson and the nightly readings from the “Good Book”
by Widow Douglas. Both were downright painful for Huck. From the left are Miss Wat‐
son (Christine Dawson), Huckleberry Finn (Caleb Boyer), and Widow Douglas (Crystal
Tetts). You can see these characters and many more in “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,”
now playing at The Stage Door.