The Ballad of Old Manatee

Arts & Culture

Pictured: The cast of The Ballad of Old Manatee. Photo courtesy of The Hat Theater Collective.

This past weekend, a different kind of theatrical experience kicked off at the Manatee Historical Park in Bradenton. The Hat Theatre Collective, a new collaborative theater ensemble based in Bradenton, was created by Producing Artistic Director Danae Deshazer, a professional director, actor, teaching artist and choreographer. The Hat, named after the song “Finishing the Hat” from Stephen Sondheim’s musical, “Sunday in the Park with George”, is now airing its first ever production, The Ballad of Old Manatee.

The Ballad of Old Manatee, which runs on Fridays and Saturdays from April 21st to May 6th, is an immersive historical drama that takes the audience through the Manatee Village Historical Park over the course of the production. “We were approached by the Manatee Village Historical Commission because they used to do a production called Spirit Voices, which was kind of a spooky halloween story where they would do a living history presentation in the cemetery that would serve as a big fundraiser for the commission,” says DeShazer, who is the director of The Ballad of Old Manatee. “I pulled in my partner Derek Brookens who is an actor, playwright, multi-hat wearing person just like myself and we really wanted to find a story to tell. Theater to me is about conflict and dialogue, so Derek and I both agreed that if we were going to create a new piece inspired by local history we wanted to find the right story that had enough mystery and intrigue that we could turn into this theatrical historical drama.”

The story that came out of that became The Ballad of Old Manatee – an intense love story based upon the real life characters of James C. Vanderripe, his wife Sarah Lee, and a conflict between James and Sarah’s father, the Reverend Edmund Lee. “James Vanderripe came down to Manatee county from Kentucky and he ended up falling in love with this woman Sarah Lee,” says DeShazer. “Reverend Edmund Lee is kind of our antagonist – James married Sarah, the Reverend’s daughter and James and Sarah in our story have a torrid love affair, a la Romeo and Juliet, but Reverend Lee never approved of it. This leads into a larger issue, because after the passing of James and Sarah, Reverend Lee made the decision to bury them apart from each other, separating them for eternity.”

Pictured: The cast of The Ballad of Old Manatee. Photo courtesy of The Hat Theater Collective.

For tickets and information click here.

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