Catfish Moon assistant director Lyle Tate and director Kris Lee (kneeling) and cast members Gabe Smith, Marcus Vowell, Krista Vowell and Paul Ruff at the SETC Awards Banquet in Birmingham!

Starkville Community Theatre advances
to AACTFest for first time ever

The cast and crew of Starkville Community Theatre’s award-winning competition show can now add another accolade to their resume — regional champions.

SCT’s production of Mississippi playwright Laddy Sartin’s Catfish Moon was named best production at the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Community Theatre Festival in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday. The win at the SETC festival qualifies the SCT show to represent the Southeastern U.S. and compete at the American Association of Community Theatre’s national festival in Tacoma, Wash., from June 23 to 27.

Directed by Kris Lee, Catfish Moon stars Paul Ruff, Gabe Smith, Krista Vowell and Marcus Vowell in a story about three men — childhood friends — who go on an overnight fishing trip to help mend their strained relationships.

The show won a slew of awards at the Mississippi Theatre Association’s annual conference in January, including Best Production, Best Director, Best Actor (Paul Ruff) and Best Supporting Actress (Krista Vowell). The win at SETC is a first for SCT in its 31-year history.

SCT is one of two shows from SETC to advance to AACTFest. Catfish Moon will be joined by the musical Nine, produced by the Theatre a la Carte in Florida.

Nearly 30 SCT supporters were able to be in Birmingham for the Catfish Moon production. And close to 20 attended the award banquet Saturday night. Cast member Paul Ruff said even with all that support, the waiting was tough.

“You have all that time waiting while the awards are being announced, and you’re trying to figure out which will be the top shows based upon the awards that are being given,” Ruff said Saturday night. “Since we didn’t win any of the individual awards, we were not thinking we’d be named top show,” Ruff said.

But when SCT’s win was announced, excitement erupted, he said.

“Kris (Lee, the show’s director), just jumped up and ran up there to accept the award,” Ruff said. “The excitement we’re feeling is so amazing. For all of us involved with SCT, this is a passion, and to be recognized by our peers for excellence is so rewarding.”

Cast member Krista Vowell, who also serves as SCT’s president, said the win at SETC means much for community theatre in Starkville and Mississippi.

“This means the world... We went to MTA because we feel that it is a good networking opportunity and a chance to perform for our peers,” Vowell said. “Moving on to regional competition at SETC is an honor in and of itself, because you get to see such stunningly magnificent theatre performances. Then to be singled out as the best in all the region is so amazing.”
The win, Vowell said, is especially exciting because of the strong support SCT has from the greater community.

“The support that is shown to our theatre is second to none, and we could not do what we do without it. We are profoundly grateful for our supporters,” Vowell said.

Ruff agreed.

“I cannot be prouder for Starkville. It says so much for our theatre,” Ruff said. “We are proud to let people know we’re from Starkville. It’s really special.”

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