Times: Marjorie Lyons to present Prelude to a Kiss

By Sherry P. Shephard
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SHREVEPORT, La. (Shreveport TIMES)— Centenary College senior Destin Bass has reason to be excited about the Marjorie Lyons Playhouse production "Prelude to a Kiss," which opens Thursday.

Not only is he co-directing with fellow senior Scott Gibbs, he also designed the costumes for the play.

Cast
Emily Slazer plays "Rita" (left), Josh Rabalais plays "Peter" and Barry James Acosta plays "Taylor" in Prelude to a Kiss being performed at Centenary's Marjorie Lyons Playhouse. (Douglas Collier/The Times)

"This is our senior project for graduation in May," Bass said, adding that Gibbs designed the set. "This production has gone up without a hitch and Scott and I worked hand in hand with everything."

The romantic comedy, written by Craig Lucas, follows a whirlwind romance through a young couple's meeting, wedding and a bizarre twist of fate that tests the newly minted vows of their marriage — and their sanity. This isn't Bass' first time designing costumes for a production.

"I designed costumes last spring for the musical 'A New Brain,' on Centenary's campus," he said. "I had worked in the costume department before, but I've just always liked dressing people."

In designing the costumes for "Prelude to a Kiss," Bass went for a modern Bohemian look for Rita, the lead female, and a down-to-earth, intellectual look for Peter.

"Peter is our everyman and his clothes need to reflect that, but he also has a very endearing quality so they needed to reflect that as well," he said.

And since Peter never leaves the stage, Bass said he had to really orchestrate the costume changes, not only for effectiveness but also for reality. Josh Rabalais portrays Peter.

"Peter has a pretty mundane job, but he's pretty successful," Rabalais said. "He just kind of goes through life until he meets Rita and then he goes on the ride of his life."

Rabalais said one of the challenges he faced was making sure he could feel the way Peter felt.

"The challenge was making sure I could portray what his character was going through and, through my facial expressions and everything I was doing, the audience could see what I was going through and get sympathy for the character," he said.

Bass is hopeful the production will leave a lasting impression on the audience.

"It's going to be a beautiful production and the process has been wonderful," he said.

IF YOU GO

What: "Prelude to a Kiss."
When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, Marjorie Lyons Playhouse, 2700 Woodlawn Ave., Shreveport.
Admission: $10 to $15.
Information: 869-5242.

Cast
Josh Rabalais: Peter.
Emily Slazer: Rita.
David Bieler: Old man.
Donnovan Roe: Dr. Boyle.
Lauren Morrison: Mrs. Boyle.
Barry James Acosta: Taylor.
Marion Paton: Uncle Fred.
Meghan Horan: Aunt Dorothy.
Sandy Rather: Minister.
Natasha Sebeyran: Leah.
Erika Lunsford: Tammy.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and has been recognized as "One of the Best 371 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and one of "America's Best Colleges" and one of "America's Best Private Colleges" by Forbes.com. In 2008 Centenary College celebrated 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.