GREENFIELD — Mia Griesmeyer and Jaclyn Layton have been performing with the Hancock County Children’s Theatre since they were old enough to participate. The two met as fourth-graders during rehearsals for “Dorothy in Wonderland” in 2014 and have been friends ever since. Mia, a student at Eastern Hancock, and Jaclyn, from Greenfield-Central, have enjoyed chorus parts and supporting roles, but it wasn’t until this summer that the two suddenly found themselves center stage with the two largest roles in the show.
Mia and Jaclyn, as part of the Hancock County Children’s Theatre production of “Hankerin’ Hillbillies,” will take the stage June 28 and 29 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Greenfield-Central High School, 810 N. Broadway.
Mia plays the role of Charlemaine Hereford, known as Charlie, while her friend Jaclyn plays her mother, Ma Hereford, in the Friday night cast of the show.
Both girls have more than 140 lines each; both girls have solos; and both have been working on their hillbilly accents for their parts in the show.
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“Hankerin’ Hillbillies,” written by Pat Cook, has all you would expect in a hillbilly musical: families feuding over land (the Herefords and the Guernseys), distrust of “revenuers” and boy-crazy hillbilly girls.
“A ‘hankerin’ is something you really want,” explains Mia. “The father in the play describes it as a crush. The girls have a hankerin’ for the men.”
“It’s a cheesy love story,” adds Jacklyn.
The plot of the show centers on Charlemaine, known as Charlie, one of the five Hereford daughters. Up until now, Charlie has only been interested in books, but then government man Marcus Slidell comes to town, and it’s love at first sight. For Marcus, however, it’s all business. He wants to buy the very plot of the land that the Herefords and Guernseys have been feuding over for years — for a nature preserve. Charlie can’t seem to catch his eye, so she visits Black Widder Perkins for a love potion. Throw in the Bickle Sisters with their conspiracy theories and nosy newspaper men, and its hillbilly havoc.
The show, a musical, is peppered with upbeat melodies and lively dancing. The songs — a mix of drawling country and western and twangy blue grass — help set the atmosphere for the setting.
This year’s show includes a tap/clogging dance number directed by assistant choreographer Ashley Sims. Sims has been with the Hancock County Children’s Theatre since she was a performer in the mid 1990s. And, as Sims recalls it, it’s been at least that long since a tap-style dance was included in a Hancock County Children’s Theatre performance as part of the choreography.
Sims, with the help of champion Hearts Ablaze clogger Leah Olin, a freshman graduate of the program, choreographed the opening number, “Hankerin’ Hillbillies” to include some fancy footwork. The tappers/cloggers will be featured at the start of the show.
The Hancock County Children’s Theatre, now in its 28th summer, can be compared to a jigsaw puzzle. Sections of the puzzle are put together separately: the chorus works in the choir room with vocal director Della Benefiel; the choreography is taught and rehearsed in the cafeteria by Anne Tilley, assisted by Sims; Parrish Williams and his assistant Dharma Tilley direct the acting; Greenfield-Central art teacher Jeff Weiland, assisted by James Jahrsdoerfer, works behind the scenes with the set design, publicity and technical aspects of the production.
This veteran team, bringing with them more than 100 years of combined experience with the Hancock County Children’s Theatre, actually put together not one, but two productions with a different leading cast each night. On Saturday, Mia, Jacklyn and their fellow Friday-night-cast actors, will assume a role in the chorus, while actors who were in the chorus on Friday night step up to center stage on Saturday.
A typical rehearsal day during the four-week program begins as early as 8:30 a.m. with the 8th graders in the cast leading warms-up. Then, the group of more than 60 kids splits up into the Friday night cast and the Saturday night cast. In 90-minute time slots, one group might go to the choir room to work on vocals, which another group reports to the cafeteria for dance rehearsal, with both groups rotating to the stage for blocking and acting rehearsal.
It all comes together on the stage in the last week of rehearsal leading up the weekend performances.
As eighth-graders heading into high school, Mia and Jaclyn are sad to be leaving their years of children’s theater performances behind, but both are looking forward to returning next summer as high school volunteers.
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What: The Hancock County Children’s Theatre Workshop presents Pat Cook’s "Hankerin’ Hillbillies"
When: June 28 and 29 at 7 p.m.
Where: Greenfield-Central High School, 810 N. Broadway
Tickets: Tickets are $7; call 317-462-6222 to reserve seats or purchase tickets at the door
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