April 25, 2025

Newton church presents ‘Smoke on the Mountain’ musical

By Submitted by

The cast of "Smoke on the Mountain" pose together at the First Christian Church. The free-will offering show will open at 7 p.m. Saturday at the church. The company will give a total of four performance. The community is welcome to attend. (Submitted Photo)

“Get ready for some toe tappin,’ hand clappin’ fun when First Christian Church presents the musical “Smoke on the Mountain.”

The show takes place in the 1930s and opens in the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant, N.C., where we meet the pastor, Mervin Oglethorpe, aptly portrayed by John Dougan, along with some “unique” members of his congregation — Miss Maude (Joyce Guthrie), Miss Myrtle (Betty Southern) and Miss Mable (Vicky Gunsaulus).

They await the “singing Sanders family” who are hilariously late for their performance at the church. The family consists of father Burl (Scott Schaeffer), mother Vera (Glenda Duffus), twins Dennis (Steve Barnett) and Denise (Kristine Perkins) daughter June (Nancy Wobschall) and Stanley (Mark Young), Burl’s brother. They are joined by the “Filling Station Band” — Greta Wallace, piano; Kate Fudge, fiddle; Cooper Heath, guitar; Tiff Williams, mandolin; and Fred Chabot, bass.

The show features almost 30 gospel tunes performed by the family and band, and includes a mixture of energetic rousing numbers, plaintive hymns and soulful praise songs. They range from the familiar “I’ll Fly Away” to the more obscure “Christian Cowboy.”

Between songs, each family member “witnesses” about an important event in their life, which can reveal some interesting and often hilarious, situations.

Kudos to the actors, band, make-up (Cindy Healy) and set (Randy Gunsaulus), and a big hand to Cathi Wickett for bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and church affiliations  who all worked so diligently to give this gift to the community.

From the hilarious “signed” hymns by June Sanders to Vera’s monologue concerning the June bug in her lemonade, be prepared to enjoy a great time of faith, family and fun.

Performances will be at First Christian Church, 314 E. Second St. N. in Newton for two weekends. There will be a 7 p.m. show Saturday, Sept. 21 and Sept. 27 and a 2 p.m. show Sunday, Sept. 22 and Sept. 29. A free-will offering will be welcomed.