“Guys and Dolls” Opens Friday in Renovated Mill Town Players Theater

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

When the Mill Town Players reopen the Historic Pelzer Auditorium with “Guys & Dolls” on Friday, it will offer more than a production of a Broadway favorite. Friday is the unveiling a theater that has been substantially remade after a seven-month, $1.4 million renovation, a project that has given the century-old building a second life without quite disguising its age.

Will Ragland, who is celebrating his 12th year as found and artistic director and is the director of the production, chose the play because it was the right choice for the occasion. In a room long defined by what patrons could endure the small, hard seats and other challenges, the opening of “Guys & Dolls” is meant to mark a new chapter in which comfort, accessibility and preservation have been brought, at least for the moment, into

The renovation was driven in large part by an old grievance: the seats. Some of the downstairs chairs dated to 1983, while the wooden balcony seats had been in place since the auditorium opened in 1920. The productions, Ragland said, were beloved; the seating,

Now the auditorium has 389 wider, plush red velvet seats with considerably more legroom, down from a capacity of 556. The overhaul also brought new railings, improved lighting, wheelchair-accessible seating, upgraded sound equipment, restored flooring, fresh carpeting and architectural details meant to look faithful to the building’s original period. Cast-aluminum seat panels now nod to Pelzer’s textile past with palmetto trees and cotton.

The reopening also serves as the finale to Mill Town Players’ 12th season, and Ragland chose a musical that would feel celebratory without being merely nostalgic. “Guys & Dolls,” with its gamblers, showgirls and durable songs, offered that balance.

Ragland has history with the show himself. He once played Sky Masterson in a 2005 Greenville Theatre production and later directed it while teaching theater at Woodmont High School. For Pelzer, he has set the story in 1930 and drawn on Damon Runyon’s original New York tales, along with the physical comedy of vaudeville, the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges.

The cast includes 22 performers, backed by a nine-piece live orchestra hidden behind the set. With fewer seats available after the renovation, the company will offer 14 performances over three weekends, including Saturday evening shows to meet anticipated demand for tickets.

“Guys & Dolls” runs Friday-Aug. 9 at the Historic Pelzer Auditorium, 214 Lebby St., Pelzer. Tickets are $16 for students, seniors and members of the military and $18 for all others, and information is available at milltownplayers.org or by calling 864-947-8000.