The last time Jackie Frost appeared in a stage musical was a dozen years ago when she was coaxed into auditioning for “Keep on the Sunny Side” at Swift Creek Mill Theatre in South Chesterfield.
“Drew Perkins, the show’s musical director, called and said there might be a part for me so I went down there,” Frost remembers. “Then I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, I am not an actor,’ and I panicked a little bit. Drew said, ‘don’t worry, you’ll have fun,’ and he was right.”
“Sunny Side” tells the story of the Carter Family, one of the most influential groups in country music history, and was a hit for the Mill in 2011. The theater is bringing the show back with three of the original stars from the earlier production, including Frost as the group’s primary singer Sara Carter and Perkins as Sara’s husband, A.P.
It’s not like Frost doesn’t have plenty of stage experience: she’s been a singer and performer with a number of local combos over the years, including East of Monroe, a bluegrass band that has toured internationally. Her 2005 Americana album, “Calliope,” was a finalist for an Independent Music Award. But she’s found acting to be a whole different challenge.
“I have a lot of respect for the people who work in [theater] all the time,” says Frost. “You think it’s easy but you really have to study and be a team player. I’m a little overwhelmed but it’s great. It’s good to stretch in this way.”
Emily J. Cole, who is returning to the Mill to play Sara’s cousin Maybelle Carter, works daily in theater but not on stage: she’s the director of development for Virginia Repertory Theater. It’s no small job given the company’s nearly $6 million budget and three performance venues in the Richmond area.
“One thing I’ve grown to appreciate in the years since [the 2011 production] is that, doing a 9-to-5 job then going to rehearsal for three hours, it’s just exhausting,” says Cole. “But the love of making music and making theater with people, it’s motivating and it’s uplifting and it’s just
so fun. I think it’s worth it in the long run.”
Cole has more theater experience than Frost, but primarily in a specific niche. “I have a type of show I guess that I’m best suited to,” she says. “I’ve done ‘Quilters’ and the ‘Smoke on the Mountain’ trilogy – anything that involves playing an instrument and singing.”
Music by the Carter Family became wildly popular in the 1920s and 30s, with their recordings of songs such as “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” and “Wildwood Flower” selling hundreds of thousands of copies. What many people don’t realize is how groundbreaking the band was.
“The way Maybelle Carter played guitar is very unique, that Carter scratch she developed,” Cole explains. For many of their songs, Maybelle played guitar and sang harmony while Sara sang lead and played autoharp. “She played with metal finger picks on her thumb and forefinger so she could play the melody and strum at the same time. She learned that from an African-American man named Lesley Riddle.”
Riddle also assisted A.P. Carter in finding and copywriting many extant folks songs, an enterprising business practice that helped cement the Carter Family legacy.
Though replete with dozens of songs, “Sunny Side” is much more than a jukebox musical; the tensions within the family are explored in depth. Some of the contrasts between the Carter cousins mirror differences between the lead actors.
“I think I have a lot in common with Sara,” says Frost. “I’m happy sitting on the front porch, playing with my friends. Don’t get me wrong: I love to play for people but I don’t want to be the main character. I usually am though, because I’m the singer.”
“I’ve watched a lot videos of Maybelle and Sara playing and interacting with one another,” says Cole. “And it does come across that Maybelle had a bit more willingness to be on stage. I feel like I have some big shoes to fill because I am in such awe of her. I just want to do her justice.”
“Keep on the Sunny Side” opens on March 31st and runs until May 6th at Swift Creek Mill Theatre, 17401 Route 1. Tickets are available at https://www.swiftcreekmill.com/.
