'Hands on a Hardbody' and Other Edgy Plays Turn Up the Heat This Summer in Charlotte, North Carolina

A quartet of innovative stage productions are set to steam up the theatrical season in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hands on a Hardbody, If/Then, Sister Act and August: Osage County will all get their regional due in the Queen City this summer.

As reported by the Charlotte Observer, the city's Piedmont Players will soon unveil their rendition of Hands on a Hardbody, the musical based on S. R. Bindler's 1997 documentary. Piedmont's resident director, Reid Leonard, told the publication that he wanted to do Hardbody since first hearing the original Broadway cast album:

"There's a religious character who listens to music on a headset to keep herself energized. She sings 'Joy to the Lord,' where she starts and the cast enters a cappella. David said the actress on Broadway had nothing on her headset but one note -- the first note of that song -- which she heard over and over, to make sure she came in on pitch."

Leonard, a native of Lexington, North Carolina, has been involved in the theater since his early school days. As described by his hometown paper, The Dispatch, the stage maven began his performance career with a bit part in an amateur production of Stephen Vincent Benét's Faustian tale:

"From the humble beginnings of being cast as a juror in the high's school's production of The Devil and Daniel Webster, Leonard has served in various capacities with theater groups all over North Carolina and beyond. His dedication to the craft was recognized in late 2010 when he was inducted into the Blue Masque Hall of Fame at Catawba College, where he graduated cum laude in 1976 with a double major in theater and English."

Other cutting-edge plays in the Charlotte region this summer include Blumenthal Performing Arts' version of Brian Yorkey's tale of new beginnings, If/Then, CPCC Summer Theatre doing Whoopi Goldberg vehicle Sister Act and Lee Street Theatre in nearby Salisbury putting on Tracy Letts' black comedy, August: Osage County.

Dates and ticket information for Hardbody can be found at www.piedmonthplayers.com, If/Then at www.blumenthalarts.org, Sister Act at tix.cpcc.edu and August: Osage County at www.leestreet.org.

Below, check out a quick snippet of the Piedmont Players' production of Tarzan from last year.

TagsCharlotte, North Carolina, Sister Act, Hands on a Hardbody, If/Then, August: Osage County, Reid Leonard