Stettler's Wm. E Hay Wildcat Theatre has executed a monster of a performance.
County Fair: A Country Hits Musical, written by Taylor Ferrera and Matt Webster featured a large cast, complex dance numbers and a live band.
And, to top it off, according to director Darren Fleischhacker, it was "100 per cent student-driven."
"Doing great things is easy when you surround yourself with great people," said Fleischhacker, in front of a nearly sold-out crowd to open the March 7 performance.
"The kids rose to the occasion."
The story follows two sisters, Claudia and DJ Stratford played by Brooklynn Stewart and Amy Kirby, as they return home after almost a decade away. They are returning to sell their stake in the county fair, which they inherited from their father, before returning to their lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with the money in their pockets.
Unbeknownst to Claudia, DJ has her own reason for wanting to sell the property; she's in deep with a Russian loan shark named Boris.
Meanwhile, Claudia finds her own reasons for not wanting to sell the land, she falls for the county fair's new manager.
County Fair is a story of sisterhood, betrayal, and finding your way home again.
According to Fleischhacker, the story is loosely based on William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
The production featured songs like Charlie Daniels's Devil Went Down to Georgia, Shania Twain's Ka-Ching, Zac Brown and Wyatt Durrette's Chicken Fried, and Allen Shamblin and Tom Douglas's House That Built Me.
County Fair: A Country Hits Musical ran March 6-8 at the Stettler Performing Arts Centre.
