The Blowing Rock Stage Company looks back at one of North Carolina’s favorite sons, Senator Sam J. Ervin Jr., in a return engagement of the wildly popular one-man play Senator Sam. The show, part of BRSC’s Flying Solo Series, plays March 14 at 7:30pm at the Hayes Performing Arts Center, 152 Jamie Fort Road (off Hwy. 321), in Blowing Rock.
As a result of popular demand, this production — which has made its way to other venues around the country: Florida’s The Times recently praised as “thoughtful and touching” — marks the fourth time that BRSC has performed North Carolina playwright Steve Bouser’s historical reimagining of an evening in the life of the famous Democratic senator who served his N.C. constituency from 1954-74, infamously turbulent years in the South. Awaiting President Nixon’s televised resignation, Senator Sam Ervin, resting on his back porch and reeling with mixed emotions, reflects on his life — from growing up in the mountains, serving in WWI and meeting his wife, to the tragic childhood accident that thrust him into public service and his fights against the monkey bill, Joseph McCarthy, Robert Kennedy and various witnesses in the Watergate hearings. Filled with personal insight, political confrontation and homespun mountain humor, this one-man tour de force draws us into the mind and world of the famous NC Senator.
Reprising in his role as the Southern gentlemen is BRSC regular and audience favorite Gary Lee Smith (Camping With Henry and Tom, Chapter Two, Wait Until Dark, ART, Deathtrap, Jan Karon’s Journey to Mitford, The Christmas Bus). A staple of regional television and radio commercials, Smith has also narrated or acted in many industrial and independent films, including the full-length independent film Stealing Elvis, as well as appeared onstage at numerous venues around the country. Smith, raved The Times, “captured the true spirit of a type of Southern gentleman that has now all but disappeared.” For his part, Smith considers Senator Sam one of the country’s greatest individuals.
“I consider it a great honor, as well as a great responsibility to portray Senator Ervin and bring the story of his life to the stage,” says Smith. “If you weren’t a president, inventor or explorer, your contributions to society are often overlooked. But Senator Ervin is such an important part of the country’s history that he shouldn’t be forgotten, and Steve Bouser has done a wonderful job capturing the essence of the late Senator’s personality and humor in this play.”
Senator Sam plays March 14 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10/ $5 student and are available now by calling the Box Office at 828-295-9627. You may pay by credit card or by cash (in person). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.HayesCenter.org by credit card. Special group rates are also available. Season and Flex Passes can be purchased and used throughout the entire '08 season.
As part of its education outreach, the Stage Company is also performing a condensed 45-minute one-act version of Senator Sam to schools across Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. For more information or to schedule Senator Sam to come to your school, call BRSC Education Director Kim Cozort Kay at 828-295-9168 ext. 3.