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CHERRYVILLE––It’s the biggest Broadway hit of recent years.

It’s Bright Star, the musical by comedian and banjoist Steve Martin and ’80’s pop singer Edie Brickell. And it’s coming to the Cherryville Little Theatre, Feb. 23 and 24, and again March 2 and 3, according to CLT spokeswoman Sarah Sandoval. The first three shows are at 7 p.m. nightly, and the fourth is a Sunday matinée at 3 p.m.

The story of Bright Star takes place in North Carolina. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains in a time spanning the 1920’s through the ’40’s, it is based in part on real events. As Sandoval explained, the musical is inspired by the Grammy-winning collaboration between Martin and Brickell, a bluegrass album from 11 years ago, Love Has Come for You. The true story of the Iron Mountain Baby also factors into things.

Those events actually took place in Missouri in 1902. At the estimated age of just five days, an infant stuffed into a valise was discovered by Bill Helms, a local farmer and a veteran of the War Between the States. The baby had evidently been thrown from a train. The Helmses took the baby in, adopted him and gave him the name of William Moses Gould Helms.

Bright Star concerns the love story of Jimmy Ray and Alice, two denizens of a small Southern town. The show has received glowing reviews for its various versions touring across the country.

Tickets are $11 each. They’re available at the door or via the Website at www.cherryvillelittletheatre.org.

To learn more, e-mail Belk at [email protected].

Bright Star is presented through special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide, and all authorized performance materials are supplied by it as well. The address is 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, N.Y. 10036. See more on the Website: www.theatricalrights.com.

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