News for the St. Thomas More Catholic Community

Southern Fried Funeral Presented by TUF

By Steve Taranovich

My wife, Loretta and I, attended the play called ‘Southern Fried Funeral’, a comedy by Osborne & Eppler at St. Thomas More on April 15, 2018, performed by the amazing Teens United in Faith (TUF) youth of our parish.

I wondered why this play was selected by Director Kari Beth Paulk among so many other possibilities. Kari Beth told me, “I reviewed almost 15 plays. This one was from a new company and I was laughing out loud while reviewing it. I figured, as a director, go with what I know…being raised in South Georgia allowed me to really tap into the humor of the script and bring in direction. “

The play was excellently performed by our talented youth and was so very funny and enjoyable. Some items of interest:

The Deer head was from Kari Beth’s grandfather; she brought it with her from South Georgia. Currently it is hanging in her garage.

The refrigerator was purchased for $20 on Craig’s list after a search; it came up for $25 and we were able to get it for $20.

The kitchen cabinets were from decorated/used/recycled cardboard. “Chris Bestul and Laurie Brown were able to make all of the cabinets from cardboard. They did a wonderful job!”, explained Kari Beth.

A day before the play, I went to the St. Thomas More parish hall for a behind-the-scenes visit to speak to some of the people who made this play possible.

Here are what I call “Charlie’s Angels”! From left to right: Sienna Bill (Curtain operator), Kendra Bestul (Scenic Artist), Laurie Brown (Set design crew) and Chris Bestul (Set designer). They took the idea Kari Beth had in her head, drew it on paper and made it come alive. “We also had the Young Adult Group, Rooted in Faith, build some of the set. We are also able to reuse quite a bit of the set for the future.” Kari Beth told us.

I also met the sound technician.
The capable sound tech: Kari Beth’s oldest son, Conner Cox.

And finally, we see one of the Holy Smoke staff writers and member of the fabulous youth of this parish, Albin Arulanandu, getting his make-up applied to make him look the part of an older character “Benny Charles” in the play.

During the play, the staff surprised Father Jim with a playful photo that flashed on a side screen entitled “In Loving Memory of Dewey Frye, Sr.” —-Dewey Frye, Sr. was the Father who passed away suddenly and the recipient of a ‘Southern Fried Funeral.”

At the end of the play, all the participants gave Director, Kari Beth a round of applause and cheers along with a bouquet of flowers.

A job well done by all and led by Director Kari Beth

What an enjoyable and upbeat experience. We laughed so much all through the play and the Southern accents by all the players was amazing! Rehearsing since January really paid off with a very entertaining and professional presentation.

June 13, 2018

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