After a hiatus last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, Carey Dinner Theatre returns to live performances in July with a musical revue – “The All Night Strut!”
The revue showcases popular music from the 1920s-50s. It runs nightly July 8-24, except Sundays, at Joe and Virginia Tatum Theatre on William Carey University’s Hattiesburg campus. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. and the performance follows.
Carey Dinner Theatre, Mississippi’s unique dinner theatre, has been part of the summer art scene since 1975. WCU Professor Emeritus Obra Quave has been its managing director from the beginning.
“People are ready to get back to normal. They want live entertainment, and we are excited to get back to it,” Quave said.
“This show represents the energy and character of the American people spanning the time of the Great Depression, World War II and the post-war era. ‘The All Night Strut!’ is a salute to traditional Americana.”
Carey Dinner Theatre’s advisory board suggested scheduling performances later in the summer this year to better meet national safety guidelines. While CDT’s season usually includes two plays, this year there will be one.
Tim Matheny, chair of theatre and communication, will direct the revue: “We are happy to tell audiences that every cast and crew member is vaccinated. We want our audiences to feel safe returning to their summer tradition. And in that vein, we have chosen a revue which was highly popular in our 1993 season.”
The four-person cast will perform classic songs like “In the Mood,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square,” “White Cliffs of Dover,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “A Fine Romance,” “As Time Goes By,” and many others. The revue includes songs by composers like George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer and Jerome Kern.
Tickets are $35 and include the show, buffet dinner, and sales tax. The box office will be open starting June 28, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For reservations, call (601) 318-6221.
