Broomsticks: Once Upon a Maysville Moon was written by Sean and Katie McHugh.
Our littlest actress gazes at Loretta, eyes wide with wonder, as she dreams of the day her own feet will dance across the stage, just like the star before her.
Authors Sean and Katie McHugh will have the opportunity to see their book come to life on stage in partnership with the Maysville Children’s Theatre.
On Friday, Oct. 25 the first of three showings will be presented of his book “Broomsticks: Once Upon a Maysville Moon,” at the Maysville Community and Technical College Auditorium.
Shows will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26 and 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27.
Director James Dean said that the play includes 19 kids from multiple counties including Lewis, Bracken and Mason.
“The performing arts is very strong in the Buffalo Trace area,” stated Dean. “They are very talented. They range in ages from about six to 17.”
Dean explained that when the Maysville Children’s Theatre was created, they wanted to be sure to include children from all age groups and counties and put on plays year-round.
“We wanted to make sure that we had a lot of stuff for kids to do,” Dean noted.
Dean said that when the theatre did an interview at WFTM, Robert Roe made the suggestion to contact the McHugh’s and see if they would be interested in allowing the theatre to bring the books to the stage.
“It has a little bit of magic, a little bit of hocus pocus, some laughter, some snotty little girls,” joked Dean. “It’s been a joy working with Katie and Sean. It’s been a pleasure working with all the kids. We’re almost done. We’ve had them since August and they have been loyal, they have been dedicated and they are very talented.”
McHugh said a few words to describe how he felt when he got the call from the theatre were shock, delight and thrill.
“There really aren’t words to describe how Katie and I feel about the whole thing because we wrote it back through the pandemic because I was out of work and I was going stir crazy for six months. So we decided to turn the first two books into a play,” said McHugh.
McHugh continued on to say that he has been in shock since he got word of it in May.
“To see our characters live on stage, It’s going to be very surreal,” expressed McHugh.
He explained that the story is based on Maysville.
“Even though the play’s going to be at the Maysville Community and Technical College, it’s really a love letter to the Washington Opera House and the Russell because when we wrote it we combined the two together and so it’s a theatre that’s in need of repair but it’s also haunted by Loretta like the Washington Opera House,” McHugh noted.
McHugh said that the show is a combination of their first two books and that it is kid-friendly as well as family-friendly with jokes for both young and old folks.
When asked if he had seen any rehearsals of the show McHugh said he was leaning toward waiting to see the production for the first time on Friday. He did however express his desire to meet the cast beforehand.
“I’m leaning not to do that because I want to be surprised,” explained McHugh. “I’m just going to sit and enjoy it like everyone else.”
McHugh expressed his appreciation to everyone who helped make this dream a reality.
“Katie and I are just so grateful to the Maysville Children’s Theatre. They’ve been awesome to us and again, like I always say, we are so grateful to Maysville because they’ve been supporting the Broomsticks books since the first one. Thank you Maysville and thank you Maysville Children’s Theatre,” concluded McHugh.
Tickets are $12 for general admission, $5 for students and $7 for seniors.
