By stage lighting

[Doug Kerr]

Carla and I have the privilege in appearing in the play "Smoke On the Mountain", presented by the local community theater, "Theater on the Hill", operated by the theater department of the Alamogordo satellite of New Mexico State University.

The show is set in the summer of 1938 in a small Baptist church in North Carolina. The new young pastor is anxious to "bring the church into the 20th century", and has arranged for a local family of gospel singers to present a concert on Saturday night.

Central in the church membership are two wealthy older women, never married, who provide most of the church's financial support. They are very conservative, and the pastor frets that they will not approve of such things as guitars, banjos, and fiddles being used for gospel music, but he hopes that they will be won over when they realize the spiritual purity and dedication of the performers.

Here we see the two "church ladies" in their special pew:

Douglas A. Kerr: The church ladies​

On the left is Miss Maud, played by Monica Helm; on the right, Miss Myrtle, played by Carla.

At one point in one of the numbers, the two daughters begin a rhythmic march, which the church ladies consider to be "dancing" and clearly unsuitable for occurrence in a Baptist church. They stand up to storm out of the church in protest.

Uncle Stanley, the lead guitar in the family (himself rather liberal; he has had a rather "checkered" past and was "away" from the family for several years), is disgusted by this show of narrow hypocrisy, shouts "S​hit", and storms off.

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Douglas A. Kerr: Stanley can't take any more​

At this, Miss Myrtle faints, and has to be supported by the pastor:

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Douglas A. Kerr: Miss Myrtle faints​

But it all works out at the end, and Miss Maude and Miss Myrtle even join in (sort of) on one of the songs..

Here is the whole company in one of the later production numbers:

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Douglas A. Kerr: The company​

And moi? I play the church custodian, but I don't appear in the play proper. In the half hour the house is open before the show begins, the curtain is open and the church pianist is playing. I putter around the stage (church), mopping the floor, straightening out the furniture and the hymnals in their bookcases, and so forth. The same thing happens at Intermission. This part was invented for me by the Producer and Director, which made be very proud!

Here we see me putting up the hymn numbers on the board.

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Carla C. Kerr: The hymn numbers​

These shots were all taken at the last technical rehearsal (just before final dress). Except for the last one, these were all shot with the Canon PowerShot G16 at ISO 800; the last one was shot with a Canon Powershot SX-150, also at ISO 800. No flash was used.

The show is really very entertaining. The music is wonderful, with rich harmony and clever counterpoint, delivered with great musicality.

I even get to sing, in the "all hands" finale. I do the tenor part of the counterpoint in "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder, I'll Be There."

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Maggie Terlecki]

What fun, Doug! I've done a couple of operettas about 10 years ago and although it was a lot of work and preparation, it was SO much fun. We even toured on weekends for several months. Thanks so much for sharing these. Wonderful!

Maggie

 

[Antonio Correia]

What a story Doug you have shared with us. Very interesting.

The narrative comes with the images - or vice-versa - and I was captivated by everything you presented since the very beginning.

I have never had a theatre experience except in life itself.

Thank you Doug for sharing with us your interests.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Maggie,

What fun, Doug! I've done a couple of operettas about 10 years ago and although it was a lot of work and preparation, it was SO much fun. We even toured on weekends for several months. Thanks so much for sharing these. Wonderful!

Thanks so much.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Antonio,

What a story Doug you have shared with us. Very interesting.

The narrative comes with the images - or vice-versa - and I was captivated by everything you presented since the very beginning.

I have never had a theatre experience except in life itself.

Thank you Doug for sharing with us your interests.

Thank you so much.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[James Lemon]

Hello Doug

That is a terrific story and nicely presented. Love the pics... well done!

Best, regards
James

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, James,

Hello Doug

That is a terrific story and nicely presented. Love the pics... well done!

Thanks so much.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Backstage at "Smoke on the Mountain"

Douglas A. Kerr: Kirsten does Jeshua's eye makeup​

Here we see Kirsten, the director/house manager/makeup chief, finishing up the eye makeup on her husband, Jeshua, who plays the father and leader of the gospel singing family.

Yes, the gray hair is part of the makeup.

Douglas A. Kerr: Carla relaxes​

Carla relaxes in the makeup shop. (The theater doesn't have an actual "Green Room" so the makeup shop is where the company "hangs out".) Carla does her own makeup, at home. It's intended to make her look like an old lady for her part as one of the fussy church elders. (She's actually 76!)

Douglas A. Kerr: The makeup artist​

But the makeup crew is pretty thin, so Carla steps up to do the mascara application on the banjo player.

Douglas A. Kerr: Warming up​

One of the actors, playing the family uncle who is a backup guitar player (center, in the red shirt), is a voice and choral teacher of long standing, and is the vocal coach for the production. Before each performance, he conducts an extensive warmup for all the players. This is the last phase, where the players give each other a shoulder massage.

There is a lot to it. It is a small company, almost all volunteers, and everybody has to take several roles. Oh yes, I am de facto the assistant stage manager.

These were all shot with the Canon PowerShot G16 at ISO 800.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Antonio Correia]

Oh how I like this theatre !

 

[Dr Klaus Schmitt]

Beautiful work Doug!

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Klaus,

Beautiful work Doug!

Thank you so much.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

The Signing

The eldest daughter of the singing family, June, arrives first, breathless. Their vehicle had almost gone into a ditch. The others would be along shortly.

The pastor introduces her to the congregation:

Pastor: Brothers and sisters, this is Miss Denise Sanders.

June: No, I'm June. Denise is my sister. It is easy to tell us apart. She sings. I sign.

Pastor: You mean for the deaf?

June: Yes.

Pastor: Well. that is wonderful, but all of our flock are hearing.

June: That's all right, I'll do it anyway. Mama says I need the practice.
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Probably June would have signed in ASL (American Sign Language), which was quite widespread at the time. But the director decided to do something else. She and the girl that played June devised a wholly-bogus pantomime-style sign language for the show, and June signed during several of the songs.

Here we see one sequence:

No more woe . . .

. . . no more illness . . .

. . . when I die
(She sets this up by first miming making a noose around her neck, but I did not get any shot that really shows that!)​

Here's another:

With the mighty power . . .

. . . of the blood . . .
(she draws her finger along the vein in her arm to symbolize "blood")

. . . of the Lamb
(Note floppy ears.)​

It was totally hilarious.

By the way, in a sequel to this play, the pastor has married June!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

The Venue

The community theater that produced "Smoke on the Mountain", The Theater on the Hill, takes its name from its setting. It operates in the Rohovec Theater in the Fine Arts Center of New Mexico State University-Alamogordo, which is said to be on "The Hill". That means, for example, that the elevation at the stage is 4610 feet MSL (whereas the elevation at my desk is only 4575 feet MSL).

But ironically, just behind the campus (to the east) the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains arise. The range rises to almost 9000 feet MSL (and many of Carla's friends live in small mountain towns at almost that elevation).

The view from the staff parking lot behind the theater's stage door, to the west, is just stunning, especially at sunset. This is a grab shot taken just as we arrived for rehearsal one night:

Douglas A. Kerr: The San Andres Mountains​

We see the lights of Alamogordo, and in the distance (about 45 miles, actually) we see the San Andres mountain range. They mark the western limit of our "basin" (not a "valley" as there is no river running through it). Las Cruces, the second-largest city in New Mexico, is about 10 miles on the far side of the San Andres chain.

About 20 miles this side of the San Andres range (and in eyeshot, but not clearly visible at this time of night) is the White Sands Dune Field, a gigantic surreal region of dunes of snow-white gypsum sand.

This is big country. New Mexico is larger than Poland, and our county (Otero county) is larger than the state of Connecticut. Yet the population of the entire state is only about 2 million.

New Mexico is often said to be a "poor" state, as the average income is tragically low. But I call to mind the wise words of one of my long-time friends from Dallas: "I have been many times broke, but never poor."

New Mexico is rich in ways many cannot understand. Carla and I are here now because this is where we want to live out the rest of our lives.

Best regards,

Doug