VPA stages performance of ‘The Dixie Swim Club’

WASILLA — More than anything, “The Dixie Swim Club” is a story about old friendships, the kind knit together over decades by life’s sorrows and triumphs.

Specifically, the play traces the relationship shared by five Southern women who met decades ago on their college swim team.

These days, the grand dames meet once a year at a cottage somewhere in the Outer Banks, a strip of islands off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia.

This is the fourth VPA play Marcia Beck has helped direct, but she makes her solo directing debut with this ensemble cast.

“As the director, I have been certainly blessed by an incredible cast and crew who have volunteered countless hours to bring this timeless story of friendship to life,” she said.

Cast in “The Dixie Swim Club” are Stephanie Berta as Team Captain Sheree Hollinger; Lori Harris as Dinah Grayson; Jackie Cochran as Lexie Richards; Shellie Riggan as Jeri Neal McFeeley; and Cathy Garrick as Vernadette Simms.

Theatergoers may recognize the director from her work on the stage in performances such as “A Christmas Carol,” and “Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus.”

“I prefer to be behind the scenes,” Beck said of her long career in theater, which began when she was a student in Glennallen.

When she moved to the Valley several years ago with her family, she said Dan and Janet Kennedy knew that she was interested in theater and got her involved right away with VPA. In addition to stints on the stage and directing, Beck also served two terms on the VPA board, she said.

Beck said part of the fun with this production is watching a group of women who were strangers form friendships during the run up to opening night.

“It’s a cast of five incredible, dynamic women,” she said. “Every role is a lead role.”

Beck said the friends’ energy transfers onto the stage.

Breakfast rehearsals at a cast members house, shared Christmas with each other — the five women have really embraced the underlying theme of friendship, she said.

She said the cast is a mix of VPA veterans and fresh faces, including one actress who makes her stage debut in the performance.

The play takes place in the main room of a cottage somewhere in the Outer Banks where the clutch of women has gathered every year for decades during one long weekend each August to rekindle their special bond. Beck said the dialog is a witty, face-paced recounting of life’s ordinary ups and downs, parenting, careers, aging.

The first act opens when the women are 44. The play is just four scenes long and the final scene introduces the women again, now 78.

Beck said the play traces the arcs of their lives through 30 years of joy, heartbreak and martinis.

While VPA offers a mix of performances that includes productions aimed squarely at children, this one is aimed at adults. It doesn’t include nudity or cursing, Beck said, but some of the dialog is a little too racy for elementary school children.

But it would be a perfect fit for a group of girlfriends looking for a fun night out on the town, she said.

“The Dixie Swim Club” plays through Jan. 26 on stage at the Fred and Sara Machetanz Theatre, 251 W. Swanson Ave., Wasilla. Show times are 7 p.m., Thursdays; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturdays; and 2 p.m., Sundays. General admission is $18.50 and student and seniors pay $16.50. For tickets, call 373-0195, visit valleyperformingarts.org or stop by the office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.