Potter and Cottingham to Star in “The Matchmaker”

The Lewis County High School Drama Department, under the direction of Miss Kayla Stafford, will perform “The Matchmaker” by Thorton Wilder on November 7th at 6pm and November 8th at 1pm. Starring Cayley Potter as Dolly and Logan Cottingham as Horace, the play is a humorous riot that will have audiences laughing out loud and crying out for more!

Pictured above: Cayley Potter & Logan Cottingham

“The play, set in the 1880s, opens at the home of Horace Vandergelder (from the German das Geld, “money”), in Yonkers, New York. A widower, and immensely proud of being a half-millionaire, Horace is preparing for a trip to New York City. Having rejected the suit of an artist, Ambrose Kemper (Devon Watson), who wants to marry his niece, Erma (Eden Jordan), Horace has decided to send his niece away to frustrate any wedding plans. After Vandergelder leaves, Dolly Levi, a friend of his late wife, and utilized by Horace as a marriage-broker, enters. Dolly is sympathetic to the niece’s romance, and agrees to help Erma and Ambrose. When Vandergelder returns, he tells Mrs. Levi that he now plans to marry the New York milliner Irene Molloy (Grace Bloomfield)” (Wilder Society). Dolly has other plans for Mr. Vandergelder. Yes, he’ll go to New York, but he’ll meet other suitors and finally end up with the bride that Dolly plans for him to marry.

While in New York, Vandergelder leaves his store (which has made him millions) with his trusted clerks, Cornelius and Barneby (Kyle Jarrells and Titus Lemaster). However, they decide a little adventure is in their future. The two travel to New York and end up on a date with Ms. Molloy and her trusted employee Minnie Faye (Kami Bentley). “In the final act, all the characters arrive at the home of Flora van Huysen (Bree Cooper), Horace’s relative. Flora misidentifies the romantic couples, believing, for example, that Barnaby (dressed as a woman) is Horace’s niece, and that the real Erma and Ambrose are somebody else, so that the farcical situation becomes even more chaotic” (Wilder Society). Eventually, true identities are revealed, and Flora persuades Horace to live a little and allow his friends and family to enjoy the world around them.

Join the LCHS Drama Department on November 7th at 6pm and November 8th at 1pm for a fun filled evening of entertainment and laughter. Adult tickets are $5 and Student tickets are $3. Concessions will be sold. All patronage supports the LCHS Drama Department.

Cave Run Storytelling Festival

"Since the beginning of time people have loved to hear a good story told. Storytelling is one of the earliest forms of folk art. During the middle ages, the traveling troubadour practiced storytelling by gathering the news, and conveying the best tales, poetry music and dance. The storyteller was the group historian. With the invention of moveable type and the publishing business, reading replaced listening, and the popularity of the storyteller declined.

About 40 years ago a high school journalism teacher in Jonesborough, TN decided to have a storytelling festival. A small group of folks sat on bales of hay and wagons and shared stories. That event evolved into the National Storytelling Festival held each fall in Jonesborough, attended by thousands. Storytelling has grown in popularity and today there are hundreds of storytelling festivals throughout the U.S. and the world.

Carolyn Franzini, coordinator of the Cave Run Storytelling Festival, attended the National Storytelling Festival with her nine-year old daughter in 1987. They returned home and told others about the event, and each year more families from Morehead attended. The appreciation of hearing a good story told was shared by all ages. Comments were made about how wonderful it was to attend an event that everyone in the family enjoyed. There was discussion about having a festival in Morehead—the questions were raised “Where could we have it?” “How could we do it?”

No one was really serious about this endeavor until the district ranger of the Daniel Boone National Forest called Carolyn saying, “I hear you want to have a storytelling festival.” He suggested having it on the shore of Cave Run Lake, eight miles west of Morehead, KY. A committee was formed and plans were made. The first festival with ten storytellers was held in September 1999. Since that time the festival has evolved into one of the top storytelling festivals in the country. The festival committee has grown to include ten members of the community and festival partners include The Morehead Tourism Commission and the Daniel Boone National Forest." (Cave Run Storytelling Festival © 2014)


On September 26, the LCHS Drama Department attended the Cave Run Storytelling Festival in Morehead, KY.