Mill Town Players raise curtain on a new era with ‘Guys and Dolls’

When the curtain rises on the Mill Town Players’ “Guys & Dolls” later this month, audiences won’t just be seeing one of Broadway’s great musical comedies. They’ll also be getting their first look at a transformed Historic Pelzer Auditorium, where a seven-month, $1.4 million renovation has given new life to the century-old theater.

“‘Guys & Dolls’ seemed like the perfect choice to reopen this place,” said Will Ragland, the theater’s executive artistic director, who is directing the production.

The renovation, made possible by a $1 million state appropriation through the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and additional private donations, began with a simple goal: replacing seats that had become the theater’s biggest complaint.

Some downstairs seats dated to 1983, while wooden balcony seats had been in place since the building opened in 1920. Patrons loved the productions, Ragland said, but often confessed that the seating had become uncomfortable.

The theater now features wider, luxury-style red velvet seats with significantly more legroom, reducing capacity from 556 to 389. New railings, improved lighting, wheelchair-accessible seating, upgraded sound equipment, restored flooring, fresh carpeting and historically appropriate architectural details complete what Ragland calls a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Even the new cast-aluminum seat end panels celebrate the building’s textile heritage, incorporating palmetto trees and cotton bolls into a design inspired by 1920s theaters.

Grand season finale

The reopening also marks the finale of Mill Town Players’ 12th season, and Ragland wanted a musical worthy of the occasion.

A longtime favorite, “Guys & Dolls” holds special meaning for Ragland. He played gambler Sky Masterson in a 2005 Greenville Theatre production and later directed the show as the former theater teacher at Woodmont High School.

Now, he’s brought the show to the Mill Town Players.

Widely considered one of Broadway’s greatest musical comedies, the Frank Loesser classic combines memorable songs, romance, colorful gamblers and showgirls, and plenty of comedy.

Rather than imitate familiar productions, Ragland is setting the show in 1930, drawing inspiration from Damon Runyon’s original New York stories and the physical comedy of vaudeville performers, the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges.

“We’re trying to discover new things and make every character memorable,” Ragland said.

The production features a cast of 22 accompanied by a nine-piece live orchestra concealed behind the set.

With fewer seats available after the renovation, Mill Town Players has expanded the run to 14 performances over three weekends, adding Saturday evening shows to accommodate demand.

Tickets are going quickly already, suggesting that audiences are just as eager as Ragland to see the theater’s next act begin.