Ferrum, VA, August 18, 2025 — Ferrum College’s Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre will open the new school year with “You Caught Me Dancing,” a play by Bernard Sabath. The production stars Emily Blankenship-Tucker as Katy Leary, who served as a loyal companion in Mark Twain’s home for more than thirty years.
Performances will take place in the Rex Stephenson Theatre on Friday, August 22, at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 23, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, August 24, at 2 p.m. Dinner will be available before each performance.
Tickets are $10 for adults and may be purchased online at www.ferrum.edu/theatre-tickets. Tickets are free for Ferrum College students, faculty, and staff; those eligible should check their Ferrum College email for instructions on how to claim them. On August 22, guests may enjoy Ferrum College Dining Services’ popular Fish Fry Friday all-you-can-eat buffet in Franklin Hall without a reservation. For the August 23 and 24 performances, reservations are required for meals served by the play’s cast and crew in Franklin Hall, which is located next to the theatre in Schoolfield Hall.
For additional information, please email theatre@ferrum.edu or call the box office at (540) 365-4355 and leave a message. Both Schoolfield Hall, home of the Rex Stephenson Theatre, and Franklin Hall are fully handicapped accessible.
This is a restaging of the production presented in January of this year. It was the last play directed by Professor Emeritus Rex Stephenson, who directed over 150 plays and died on August 13 after a long illness. Rachel Blankenship-Tucker is serving as co-director to present the play just as Stephenson had directed it.
“The Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre has been a cherished part of Ferrum College’s cultural life for decades,” said Ferrum College President Mirta M. Martin. “This year’s season carries special meaning as we remember and honor the late Dr. Rex Stephenson, founder and longtime director of the BRDT, whose vision brought so much creativity and joy to our campus and community. We are thrilled to open with ‘You Caught Me Dancing,’ a production that continues his legacy of celebrating history and storytelling. We invite our community, alumni, and friends to join us for this special event.”
TJ Baker ’24, who has returned from their home in Australia for this production, is stage manager. Community member Robyn Abshire-Sims is assistant stage manager. College students will participate as crew members and provide some music along with Blankenship-Tucker in the play. Django Burgess makes brief appearances as Katy’s suitor. Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Rebecca Crocker is assisting with sets, costumes, and publicity.
Set six months after Mark Twain’s death in 1910, the play depicts Katy Leary closing the family home. She tells a silent friend (represented by Professor of English Tina Hanlon) humorous and heart-warming stories about her years with Twain (whose real name was Samuel Clemens), his wife, and their daughters, as she considers how to make a new life for herself. Stephenson said that this play will “showcase Emily Blankenship-Tucker’s talents and her ability to play different characters,” since she creates 14 different individuals to recount Leary’s interactions with the Clemens family and friends.
Dramatic Publishing’s description says the script “challenges every bit of comedic and dramatic skill [an actress] possesses.” Blankenship-Tucker, program coordinator for music and theatre at Ferrum College, said in January that it was “great fun to be working on this show under Rex’s direction after watching Rex portray Mark Twain in his own show for so many years.
Stephenson, who founded the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre in 1979, played this role about 150 times from the 1980s to 2023, in shows he developed based on Twain’s writings about his life and his long career as America’s most popular humorist, lecturer, and author. Stephenson said it’s interesting to “look at Mark Twain from a different angle” through this play. He also wrote four dramatic adaptations for the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre, three of which are published, based on Twain’s works of fiction such as “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn.”
Katy Leary was a young seamstress in an Irish family when she moved from Elmira to Hartford, New York to work for Mrs. Clemens and her family. Mary Lawton, who knew the Clemens family, interviewed Leary at length later in her life. Twain and his daughter Clara had observed that an account of the family’s life in Leary’s voice would be of great value. In 1925, Lawton published a book based on her interviews, “The Memories of Katy Leary, for Thirty Years His Faithful and Devoted Servant.” Sabath’s script “You Caught Me Dancing” was published in 1987.
Show Tickets Are Free for Faculty, Staff & Students! Check Your Ferrum College email for instructions.
