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Elvis Blossom
Written by Sunny daSilva
Directed by Joe Banno
Performed September 22 - 27, 2009.

JERRY SMITH: Drew Dowdy

PRISSY MATHERS/PRISCILLA MATHERS: Shay Mullins

ELVIS BLOSSOM/DREAM ELVIS PRESLEY: Daniel DeVault

FEMALE ACTOR (Journalist, Momma, Ms. Burnley): Sunny da Silva

ANNOUNCER (Voice over): Gustave H. Wirth

Producer: Todd Ristau
Stage Manager/Assistant Director: Alex Munro
Scenic Design: Todd Ristau
Scenic Construction: Todd Ristau, Steven V. Rice, J.D. Ruelle, Jonathan Overturf, Gustave H. Wirth
Costume Design: Sunny da Silva
Lighting Design: Heidi Hostetler
Lighting Crew: Kat Osborn, Hannah Urrey, Susie Young
Sound Design: Steven V. Rice and Gustave H. Wirth
Volunteer Crew: Michelle Bennett, Kent Layman, Pam Speed, Brian Seal, Nate Webber, and Bette Woltz

Special Thanks to our Corporate Sponsors: Playwright's Lab at Hollins University, Roanoke Times/Roanoke.com, City Magazine, and New City Media

Special Thanks to those who loaned us props, costumes, or other material support: Sunny da Silva, John Forsman, Hollins Theatre Department, Gabe Simpkins, John Wilson and the Wilson Huges Gallery.

About the Play
Back in 1987, a beautiful young woman named Cherry Blossom is convinced she is about to bear the child of Elvis…the fact that Elvis died a decade before is only a minor inconvenience. This tender (but quirky) love story about the King of the Elvis Impersonators is sure to leave you all shook up!

About the Playwright
Sunny daSilva is now entering her final year as an MFA candidate in playwrighting at Hollins University. She is a middle school English teacher in Lexington, Virginia as well as a wife and mother. She will also be playing several roles in this production, including Momma.

About the Director
Joe Banno, over a 25 year directing career, has staged more than 75 theatrical productions, including contemporary American and British plays at Washington, DC’s Source Theatre Company (where he was artistic director from 1997 through 2006), Theatre J (DC), Mutineer Theatre (LA), Blue Heron Theatre (NYC), Renaissance Theatreworks (Milwaukee), and other companies around the US. His acclaimed, updated stagings of Shakespeare have been seen at the Folger Theatre, Washington Shakespeare Company and Shenandoah Shakespeare, among other theatres. Equally at home in the world of opera and musical theatre, Banno has directed over 30 productions with a dozen companies, most recently Opera Delaware, Wolf Trap Opera and the Alba Music Festival (in Northern Italy). Having recently started working in film, Banno directed his first independent feature, Sleeping and Waking, in 2008, and has a Shakespeare-based feature film currently in development for production in 2010. He is a recipient of the Helen Hayes Award, the Mary Goldwater Award and the Bud Yorkin Award. Complementing his directing work with a second career as a music journalist, Banno has served as a classical music reviewer for The Washington Post since 1993, as opera critic for Washington City Paper (1989 to 2008), and as a contributing freelance writer for other publications.

Cast and Crew
Daniel DeVault (Elvis Blossom)
Daniel is currently a junior theatre major at Roanoke College, originating from Nashville, TN. His previous performances at RC include Miss Julie, Antigone, and Mayhem: a collection of mini-plays by David Mamet. He also enjoys the technical side of theatre, such as his stage managing position on the TRC production of Eurydice. He looks forward to a future full of a variety of theatrical experiences.

Drew Dowdy (Papa Jerry)
Drew is an actor, singer, writer, and director currently based in his hometown of Roanoke, VA. Although this is his first production with Studio Roanoke, he has appeared at many regional venues with companies such as the Roanoke Children’s Theatre; Mill Mountain Theatre; Opera Roanoke; as a guest artist at Hollins University; Opera on the James; the Theatre Workshop in Science, Technology, and Society (where he also served as Coordinator of Performance Development); and in numerous roles at Virginia Tech, where he studied Theatre and Music. Favorite credits include Jacques Brel (Opera Roanoke, Northstar Opera), Side by Side by Sondheim (Duluth Festival Opera), Honk! (Roanoke Children’s Theatre), Billy Flynn in Chicago (Hollins), and Claudius in Hamlet (VT). He is a co-author with Ann Kilkelly and Megan Carney of Prozac Blues, an exploration of psychotropic medicines in contemporary society. He co-authored and directed The Nuclear Power Play at Virginia Tech. Other original or devised works include Losing It, and the marriage equality rights performance ALTARed STATE, for which he and his co-author were recognized by Equality Virginia. Drew has experience using theatre as a community-building resource, and has conducted several community-based performance workshops. He also enjoys teaching young performers. Drew’s been doing Elvis impersonations (of various quality) on- and off-stage for years now, and would like to thank Studio Roanoke for the chance to do it again.

Heidi Hostetler (Lighting Designer)
Heidi is a film/photography and theater double major finishing her junior year at Hollins University. This is the 16th show she's been involved with here in Roanoke. Recent works include: Biology Lesson and Other Experiments, Radio in Caroline, or Change; Savage in Savage in Limbo; Sure Thing (Director) and Chicago (Asst. Lighting Designer). She is so honored to be part of this production, and would like to thank Todd for this opportunity. And finally, she would like to remind you all that North Carolina girls really are the best in the world.

Katherine Osborn (Light Crew)
Katherine is a Senior Theatre/Communication Major at Hollins University. She is very excited to be involved at Studio Roanoke and would like to thank Heidi for all her hard work and to everyone else involved.

Hannah Urrey (Light Crew)

Megan Sloan White (Cherry Blossom)
Megan is so excited to be back on the Studio Roanoke stage, especially in this great and challenging role. She has previously appeared in a few of the lunchbox readings, as well as the Spring production of The Biology Lesson and Other Experiments portraying Lt. Colonel Martha McSally. She has also appeared in numerous other local productions in the valley. She would like to thank Sunny for her magnificent script, Todd and Studio Roanoke for this wonderful opportunity, and as always her Dad.

Susie Young (Light Crew) Susie is a senior theatre and dance major at Hollins University. She was last seen in the Studio Roanoke production of Biology Lesson and Other Experiments and prior to that, she had a starring role in the Hollins University Theatre production of Chicago as Velma Kelly. Susie performed in several pieces for the Hollins Spring Dance Gathering. She worked this past summer in upstate New York as an assistant choreographer, and returns to Hollins to finish up her last semester. She thanks her parents, Todd and Ernie, and her APO girls.