Westerville South High School Theatre Troupe 513 will present The Miss Firecracker Contest, by Beth Henley, at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31; and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 1. Tickets cost $6, but the performances have limited seating so advanced reservations are suggested. For further information, please e-mail Theatre Director Matt Wolfe at mtwolfe@otterbein.edu .
The place is the small Mississippi town of Brookhaven, the time a few days before the Fourth of July. Carnelle Scott (known locally as “Miss Hot Tamale”) is rehearsing furiously for the Miss Firecracker Contest, hoping a victory will salvage her tarnished reputation and allow her to leave town in a blaze of glory. The unexpected arrival of her cousin Elain, a former Miss Firecracker winner (who has walked out on her rich but boring husband and her two small children), complicates matters a bit, as does the repeated threat of Elain’s eccentric brother, Delmount, recently released from a mental institution to sell the family homestead and decamp for New Orleans. But, aided by a touchingly awkward seamstress named Popeye (who is hopelessly smitten with Delmount) and several other cheerfully nutty characters, Carnelle perseveres, leading to a denouement of unparalleled hilarity, compassion and moving lyricism as all concerned finally escape their unhappy pasts and turn hopefully toward a better future.