Kip's Korner

Last week I had the loveliest chat with Joanna Glushak (aka Mrs. Peacock) from the National Tour of CLUE (If  you didn't catch that interview please check it out now on Kip's Korner). And this week Wil caught up with another CLUE cast member, James Taylor Odom, who you might recognize from A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder , which played here in 2018. Teamwork makes the dream work! And here's a little bit about James:   James Taylor Odom hails from Lawrenceville, Georgia where his love of storytelling began early. Fostered by his father’s love of film, what began as family reenactments of favorite movie scenes quickly became a life’s vocation. James certainly has his hands full on the National Tour of CLUE where he is the understudy for Wadsworth, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, Mr. Boddy, The Cop and others. Other National Tours: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (D’Ysquith), The Sound of Music . Regional (Highlights): The 39 Steps (Virginia Stage), CLUE (G...

  When I first saw the cast list for CLUE – Live On stage! and that Joanna Glushak is playing Mrs. Peacock, I knew that I must interview her for Kip’s Korner! Why specifically Ms. Glushak might you ask? Because she was in the original Broadway company of Les Misérables ! For me personally, that is the ultimate theatre credit to have on your resume. What it must have been like being a part of the original cast of THE musical of all musicals… I needed to know! So I reached out to my bestie (and former Les Mis alum), Betsy Werbel, and it turns out they know each other. Betsy arranged a virtual introduction and Joanna said she would love to talk to me. Les Misérables connection for the win! Before I share my interview with the lovely Joanna Glushak, let’s look at her impressive body of work, as seen in her bio on her website: "Joanna Glushak  is an award-winning actress who has starred on Broadway in  Sunday in the Park with George, Les Misérables, A Gentlemen’s Guid...

  ‘Tis the season for The Illusionists – Magic of the Holidays , the latest installment of the world-famous, blockbuster touring magic spectacular from Cirque du Soleil. This year’s family-friendly show will be performed at the Mark C. Smith Concert Hall on Thursday, December 5 th , at 7pm. Prepare yourself for even more illusions, close-up magic, mentalism, and technological spectacle performed by master magicians, illusionists and one mentalist. The “one mentalist” is Chris Cox. And he graciously made time to Zoom with our very own Wil Elrick about The Illusionists . Big shoutout to Wil for taking over the interview (since I couldn’t make it that day) and ask my Kip’s Korner questions! First, here’s a little background on Chris Cox – The Mentalist: Cox, a multi-award-winning “mind reader who can’t read minds,” has performed on Broadway, London’s West End, and the Sydney Opera House. He stars in the BBC’s “Chris Cox’s Mind-Boggling Magic,” and “Killer Magic” and has appeared...

  When I read in Deidra Lang’s Bio that she had been an OG Fly Girl from “In Living Color” and had also appeared on Broadway in the original production of Ragtime, I thought to myself, I have got to speak to this woman asap!! Sorry I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s start over (but I simply had to get that out first). Tina: The Tina Turner Musical will be playing here at the VBC Concert Hall next week, November 22 nd through the 24 th , Friday through Sunday, for five performances. Deidre Lang will be portraying the role of Tina’s grandmother, Gran Georgeanna (or GG). And Kip Driver cannot wait!! Ok, now we’re back on track. Seriously though, anyone who has had the long and varied career of being an original Fly Girl, performing on Broadway in the original production of Ragtime and now traveling the country starring in TINA , is someone that I have a million questions to ask. Although there wasn’t time to ask quite that many questions, I did get a fair amount answered. Her...

  Broadway Theatre League has officially been accepted… as a member… of The Broadway League in New York City! We are extremely excited about this opportunity because it will be opening doors for us (one in particular) that we have only dreamed about until now: Broadway Theatre League of Huntsville will be hosting Alabama’s first and only High School Musical Regional Awards Program during the 2025-26 school year! Not only will the awards program be a wonderful celebration of all the incredible productions our high school theatre programs present, BUT it will finally give us a place at the table at The Jimmy Awards which take place every summer in New York City since 2009. If you’re not familiar with The Jimmy Awards, here is a blurb best explained by The Broadway League Foundation, Inc: The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, better known as The Jimmy Awards, invites two nominees from each local regional ceremony to New York City for a 10-day theatre intensive that incl...

  You might have noticed that Kip’s Korner has been quiet for the last few weeks. That is because my beautiful mother, Ann Campbell, has been in hospice care and we had to say goodbye to her this past week. We had a private family “Celebration of Life” for her a few days ago at Williamson Memorial Gardens in Franklin, TN. My mother was a strong woman of faith and an extremely talented singer and musician. I like to believe that I inherited her talents and that is what made my professional career in musical theatre possible. Ann used her talents for the lord, playing piano at her church in Clanton, AL starting at the age of nine and was very active at Whitesburg Baptist Church for decades, where she sang in the choir and was also frequently featured in a trio, duets and as a soloist. I have no doubt in my mind that if my mother had chosen a different path in life, she easily could have had a career on Broadway. Which got me thinking about all the phenomenal “Mother” roles in music...