Familiar faces return to Sugarloaf Mountain for 47th season of ‘Tecumseh!’
Lead Summary
By
Scioto Society-
While there is change in the air at The Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre these days, the 2019 production of “Tecumseh!” will see many familiar faces, including Matt Nelson returning as Tecumseh and Brent Gibbs returning as director.
The year started earlier than usual with a two-week run of the Broadway musical “Mamma Mia,” something that hadn’t been done in decades.
“Following our great partnership with Brian Clowdus Experiences last fall with the Sleepy Hollow project, Brian approached me about doing something in the spring,” Brandon Smith, Scioto Society CEO, said. “Thus, the spring musical at Sugarloaf Mountain was born. It was our sixth significant new program in five years and one of the most successful. We are currently working on securing rights for a 2020 spring musical and will continue that program, hopefully as a new family tradition.”
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But amid all of the excitement around new programming, “Tecumseh!” remains the cornerstone program.
“All of the other things that we do are with one goal in mind: to ensure the financial stability of the company so that ‘Tecumseh!’ can continue to be produced each summer,” Smith said. “We will evaluate and learn each new program in three-year cycles. If they are contributing to the health of the organization, we will continue them … if they’re not, we won’t. There’s not magic looking glass. You don’t really know what will work until you try it.”
Preparations for the 2019 season of “Tecumseh!” began before the 2018 season was over. Securing a director and a lead actor were of paramount importance to the producers. Brent Gibbs was contracted in November and Matt Nelson in December.
Gibbs has a long history with “Tecumseh!” He served as director, fight director and production stage manager from 1993-2001. Since 1993, he has taught at the University of Arizona, where he heads the professional actor training program in the School of Theatre, Film and Television. Gibbs recently attained the rank of full professor, and over the years he has received numerous teaching awards, including the College of Fine Arts’ Anthony Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching.
Nelson returns for his second year in the lead role, but his story with the company goes back further. When Gibbs and Smith were looking for their lead actor in 2018, they saw dozens of actors for the role, but only interviewed a few seriously.
“We had a good gut feeling of the type of actor we were looking for … someone with the right kind of voice and a set of skills that is fairly specialized,” Smith said. “He needs to be able to ride a horse, fire guns and fight convincingly well on the stage. Those actors are not easy to find, and most often we find them close to home. To be able to have someone like that return in a role is a real blessing for the company.”
And close to home was exactly where they found Nelson. As a member of the cast in 2017, he portrayed Tecumseh’s brother-in-law, Chiksika. He is well-versed in the challenges and rewards that come with performing on Sugarloaf Mountain.
“As an actor, you are constantly looking for ways to push yourself and improve upon your craft, and (in my opinion) there really is no more perfect summer breeding ground than ‘Tecumseh,’” Nelson said. “I mean, where else in the world can you perform for 2,000 people, outside, while not only acting, but stage fighting in an intricate way and working with animals 100 times your own weight? ‘Tecumseh!’ is a place that can not only develop your ‘chops’ as a performer, but leave you with many lessons moving into any other performance endeavor you may tackle beyond your time on the mountain.”
Other key figures retuning for the season include Raymond and Julianna Speakman as technical director and costume designer, respectively; Kendra Wiley as lighting designer; Maddie Thatcher as production stage manager; Tim Clyne as equestrian trainer; JJ Cobb as vocal coach; and Jeremiah Waggoner as associate producer.
“I am very excited and humbled to be asked back to direct ‘Tecumseh,’” Gibbs said. “It is exciting to have the opportunity to introduce a new generation of actors and theatre artists to the joy and hard work that goes into creating an outdoor drama of this caliber. It is humbling to once again lead a creative team as we tell the very important story of ‘Tecumseh.’ To me, it has always been a story about courage and bravery, but it is also a story of love and of the heartbreak that love can bring.
“Stories like this have always been crucial, and we are fortunate to have Allen W. Eckert’s beautiful script to guide us. Outdoor drama is a pure American art form, and ‘Tecumseh!’ is one of the finest examples of that art form. I have always considered myself exceedingly lucky to be an alum of this fine organization, and this summer I look forward to returning to the mountain to once again ply the trade I learned there.”
Smith aid that the quality of work being done in Chillicothe each year is attracting some of the best artists in the country, including the two high-caliber directors.
“Not only does the quality of what we do attract great actors and technicians, but the best people in our field who direct, train horses, design lights — they all want to work with us at Sugarloaf Mountain,” Smith said. “We also know how to treat people right. The biggest investment we make each year is in our people, both on stage and off.
“They are our biggest asset, our biggest expense and one of the reasons that we feel we enrich our community so much. These folks give their best to us while they are here, and they consistently want to return to create new things. We provide an enriching and supportive environment where they can produce their best work.”
First staged in 1973, “Tecumseh!” (a 501c3 non-profit) is one of the nation’s top outdoor dramas. Written by Pulitzer Prize nominee Allan W. Eckert, the 47th anniversary season plays June 13 through Sept 1, 2019 at The Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre, near Chillicothe. Curtain time is 8 p.m. For tickets and information, go to www.tecumsehdrama.com or call 1-866-775-0700.
The year started earlier than usual with a two-week run of the Broadway musical “Mamma Mia,” something that hadn’t been done in decades.
“Following our great partnership with Brian Clowdus Experiences last fall with the Sleepy Hollow project, Brian approached me about doing something in the spring,” Brandon Smith, Scioto Society CEO, said. “Thus, the spring musical at Sugarloaf Mountain was born. It was our sixth significant new program in five years and one of the most successful. We are currently working on securing rights for a 2020 spring musical and will continue that program, hopefully as a new family tradition.”
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But amid all of the excitement around new programming, “Tecumseh!” remains the cornerstone program.
“All of the other things that we do are with one goal in mind: to ensure the financial stability of the company so that ‘Tecumseh!’ can continue to be produced each summer,” Smith said. “We will evaluate and learn each new program in three-year cycles. If they are contributing to the health of the organization, we will continue them … if they’re not, we won’t. There’s not magic looking glass. You don’t really know what will work until you try it.”
Preparations for the 2019 season of “Tecumseh!” began before the 2018 season was over. Securing a director and a lead actor were of paramount importance to the producers. Brent Gibbs was contracted in November and Matt Nelson in December.
Gibbs has a long history with “Tecumseh!” He served as director, fight director and production stage manager from 1993-2001. Since 1993, he has taught at the University of Arizona, where he heads the professional actor training program in the School of Theatre, Film and Television. Gibbs recently attained the rank of full professor, and over the years he has received numerous teaching awards, including the College of Fine Arts’ Anthony Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching.
Nelson returns for his second year in the lead role, but his story with the company goes back further. When Gibbs and Smith were looking for their lead actor in 2018, they saw dozens of actors for the role, but only interviewed a few seriously.
“We had a good gut feeling of the type of actor we were looking for … someone with the right kind of voice and a set of skills that is fairly specialized,” Smith said. “He needs to be able to ride a horse, fire guns and fight convincingly well on the stage. Those actors are not easy to find, and most often we find them close to home. To be able to have someone like that return in a role is a real blessing for the company.”
And close to home was exactly where they found Nelson. As a member of the cast in 2017, he portrayed Tecumseh’s brother-in-law, Chiksika. He is well-versed in the challenges and rewards that come with performing on Sugarloaf Mountain.
“As an actor, you are constantly looking for ways to push yourself and improve upon your craft, and (in my opinion) there really is no more perfect summer breeding ground than ‘Tecumseh,’” Nelson said. “I mean, where else in the world can you perform for 2,000 people, outside, while not only acting, but stage fighting in an intricate way and working with animals 100 times your own weight? ‘Tecumseh!’ is a place that can not only develop your ‘chops’ as a performer, but leave you with many lessons moving into any other performance endeavor you may tackle beyond your time on the mountain.”
Other key figures retuning for the season include Raymond and Julianna Speakman as technical director and costume designer, respectively; Kendra Wiley as lighting designer; Maddie Thatcher as production stage manager; Tim Clyne as equestrian trainer; JJ Cobb as vocal coach; and Jeremiah Waggoner as associate producer.
“I am very excited and humbled to be asked back to direct ‘Tecumseh,’” Gibbs said. “It is exciting to have the opportunity to introduce a new generation of actors and theatre artists to the joy and hard work that goes into creating an outdoor drama of this caliber. It is humbling to once again lead a creative team as we tell the very important story of ‘Tecumseh.’ To me, it has always been a story about courage and bravery, but it is also a story of love and of the heartbreak that love can bring.
“Stories like this have always been crucial, and we are fortunate to have Allen W. Eckert’s beautiful script to guide us. Outdoor drama is a pure American art form, and ‘Tecumseh!’ is one of the finest examples of that art form. I have always considered myself exceedingly lucky to be an alum of this fine organization, and this summer I look forward to returning to the mountain to once again ply the trade I learned there.”
Smith aid that the quality of work being done in Chillicothe each year is attracting some of the best artists in the country, including the two high-caliber directors.
“Not only does the quality of what we do attract great actors and technicians, but the best people in our field who direct, train horses, design lights — they all want to work with us at Sugarloaf Mountain,” Smith said. “We also know how to treat people right. The biggest investment we make each year is in our people, both on stage and off.
“They are our biggest asset, our biggest expense and one of the reasons that we feel we enrich our community so much. These folks give their best to us while they are here, and they consistently want to return to create new things. We provide an enriching and supportive environment where they can produce their best work.”
First staged in 1973, “Tecumseh!” (a 501c3 non-profit) is one of the nation’s top outdoor dramas. Written by Pulitzer Prize nominee Allan W. Eckert, the 47th anniversary season plays June 13 through Sept 1, 2019 at The Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre, near Chillicothe. Curtain time is 8 p.m. For tickets and information, go to www.tecumsehdrama.com or call 1-866-775-0700.