Betty Cummings Prepares for Role in “Paint Your Wagon”
Betty Cummings (front, second from the right) and the rest of the cast of Paint Your Wagon set to open Oct. 3rd in Tecumseh. Photo courtesy of Betty Cummings
Betty Cummings of Manchester is getting ready for her role in the Tecumseh Players upcoming production of “Paint Your Wagon”, scheduled to open in two weekends at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts. Cummings, who has been a resident of Manchester since age 7, will be playing the character of Jane.
The setting for this musical is Northern California during the heady days of the Gold Rush. The show tells the story of gold miner Ben Rumson, played by Barry Hartmann of Tecumseh, whose good fortune is the start of a whole new town named Rumson Town. The only problem is that there are about 400 miners and no women, except Ben’s teenage daughter, Jennifer, played by Brittany J. Essen of Blissfield, who is off limits. Things are looking up for the men when the Fandango Girls arrive, but how long will the gold hold out and what happens if it doesn’t? Cummings’ character, Jane, is an older women (not a Fandango) who also comes into town on the stagecoach.
Cummings got her start acting in the annual Christmas programs put on by the rural school she attended growing up. She remembers “We would recite pieces and put on a play. I always enjoyed participating.” She also acted in the junior play in high school and two plays the Manchester Street Players performed at the gazebo on Main Street. Since retiring in 2006, Cummings has become active in both Tecumseh’s and Chelsea’s community theater. Other Tecumseh Players productions she’s been in include “70, Girls, 70;” “It’s a Wonderful Life;” and “A Christmas Carol” (performed as an old-time radio show). Additionally, she’s worked on publicity for several other shows.
Cummings describes Paint Your Wagon, which began rehearsing August 19, as “poignant, but also very funny”. She finds the personal interactions of the miners and their unwavering hope that they will eventually find that big strike the most compelling part of the story. This theme is also highlighted by the music by Lerner and Loewe, which portrays the dreaming, hoping, weary men who “are not certain where they are heading, but who are always ready to paint a wagon and go.” Hit songs to be performed include “I Talk to the Trees,” Wand’rin’ Star,” and “They Call the Wind Maria.”
Cummings is civically active in addition to her work in local theater. She is on the Board of Directors of the Manchester Area Senior Citizens Council, Inc., a member of the Board of Trustees of Siena Heights University, and a regent of the Lucy Wolcott Barnum Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Adrian). She is a member of the Manchester Area Historical Society, St. Mary’s choir, the Magnificent Mesdames Red Hat Society, the Southern Michigan Rug Hookrafters Guild and the Squeezebox Duo. She also plays the Euphonium in the Napoleon Lions Community Band and serves as historian of the Manchester High School Alumni Association.
Performances are set for October 3 and 4 at 8 p.m. and October 5 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets are available from the Tecumseh Center for the Arts, located at 400 North Maumee Street in Tecumseh, by calling 517-423-6617. Box office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and one hour prior to show time. Call to reserve your seat.
The production is directed and choreographed by Heather Hardcastle Harris of Clinton with music direction by Carolyn Dicks of Clinton, Costumers are Judi Schultz and Diane Marsh of Tecumseh, set design by Heather Harris and set construction by Jeff Harris. Stephanie Harmon of Tecumseh is the stage manager. The Tecumseh Players is a 501(c)3 organization and has been entertaining audiences for over 50 years.
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