McNeese Spring Theatre Season Opens with “Puffs”

McNeese State University’s W.A. and Dorothy Hanna Department of Performing Arts opens the spring McNeese Theatre season with the production of “Puffs” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8-11 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 12 in Squires Recital Hall. The play is a collaboration with Lake Charles Little Theatre.

“Puffs,” or “Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic,” is a 2015 stage play written by New York playwright Matt Cox that tells the story of a certain boy wizard, who for seven years, went to a certain Wizard School and conquered evil. This, however, is not his story. This is the story of the Puffs… who just happened to be there, too.

The New York Times proclaims “Puffs” as “a fast-paced romp through the ‘Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.’ For Potterphiliacs, who grew up alongside Potter and are eager to revisit that world, Puffs exudes a jovial, winking fondness for all things Harry!”

This clever and inventive comedy follows the Puffs, a group of well-meaning, loyal outsiders with a thing for badgers “who are so lovable and relatable, you’ll leave the theater wishing they were in the stories all along,” according to Hollywood Life.

Cast members are: Carson Turgeon as Wayne Hopkins; Jacquez Morgan as Oliver Wood; Brynlee Daigle as Megan Jones; Zac Hammon as the Narrator; Kenzie Whitman as Ernie Mac, Certain Potions Teacher and Second Headmaster; Amber Garner as J. Finch Fletchly, Uncle Dave and Mr. Bagman; Kaley Frith as Leanne and Ginny; Gabriela Quinones as Sally Perks, Blondo Malfoy and Bippy; Juliet Riviere as Susie Bones; Sylvia Leger as Harry and Myrtle; Kathy Heath as Hannah, First Headmaster, Xavia Jones, Professor McG and Professor Sprouty; Jaspin Vaughn as Cedric and Voldy; and Ashley Boze, Jayden Copper and Sean Hinchee as Death Buddies.

Crew members are Garner as costume head and Boze as production manager. Andrew Dylan Ray, an instructor of theatre at Louisiana Tech University and fight director with the Society of American Fight Directors, will be directing “Puffs.”

Ticket prices are $15 for general admission, $5 for high school and SOWELA students with a current ID and free for McNeese students with a current ID. Get tickets.

Persons needing accommodations as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the ADA Coordinator at 337-475-5428, voice; 337-475-5960, fax; 337-562-4227, TDD/TTY, hearing impaired; or by email at cdo@mcneese.edu.