Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012

A familiar cast takes on familiar roles

Towne Players staging 'Driving Miss Daisy'

Thirteen years ago, the Towne Players of Garner approached Morrison Holmes as he was ushering for a theater production in Raleigh. The Garner troupe wanted him to play the role of the chauffer in "Driving Miss Daisy."

"I think they couldn't find a black man in Garner to play it," laughed Morrison, 79, who lives in Raleigh.

As it turns out, there was some truth to that, said Frances Stanley, one of the Towne Players' founding members. She wanted to play Miss Daisy, but the troupe needed a leading man to play Hoke Colburn.

When she met Morrison that summer, Stanley said, she knew the Towne Players were on to something. "I clapped my hands and said, 'Yay, we found our Hoke!'" Stanley recalled.

The troupe staged "Driving Miss Daisy," a play with a three-member cast, for the first time that year. Then again two years later, with the same actors.

And again in 2005.

Now the Towne Players are doing the show again, featuring the original cast - Stanley, Holmes and Tim Upchurch, who plays Daisy's son.

The show opened over the weekend and will continue this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Garner Performing Arts Center.

Last summer, the Towne Players conducted a survey to ask theater-goers what shows they would like to see this year. They wanted "Driving Miss Daisy."

The story became a 1989 movie starring Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy and Dan Aykroyd. The plot follows an aging Southern woman during the 1950s and later whose son hires a chauffer to help her get around. Daisy forges a relationship with Hoke that brings up issues of race and equality.

"It really transports you," said Beth Honeycutt, who is directing the show. "I think it has messages on lots of levels."

Holmes was familiar with the role of Hoke before he came on board with the Towne Players years ago. He played the role in a production in New Jersey.

The themes of the show hit home, Morrison said. Growing up in segregated schools in Virginia and Washington, D.C., he couldn't wait to get out of the South. He became a social worker in New York City, but he later decided to move to North Carolina and wanted to get involved in local theater.

"Yeah, the South improved," Morrison said.

Stanley has done lots of shows with the Towne Players, but she said "Driving Miss Daisy" is her favorite. "It's just such a sweet, sweet story," she said.

But Morrison and Stanley both said this will likely be their last visit with the roles. They're getting older, they said.

The first time they staged the show, Stanley, who is now 72, said production assistants had to paint wrinkles on her face. But fake wrinkles aren't necessary this time, she said.

Since the actors have performed the show before, they said this time they really focused on the roles.

Stanley said Honeycutt encouraged her to analyze the scene in which her character realizes Hoke can't read. Daisy is a retired teacher, and her son is grown, so a natural instinct to help him kicks in, Stanley said.

In another scene, when Daisy is in a nursing home, Hoke feeds her pie during a visit.

"It's just beautiful," Stanley said.