Lincoln County native producing play at Asbury

A Lincoln County High School graduate who was active in the drama department is getting his feet in college theater just 30 miles away.

Eric Sanders, currently a junior at Asbury University in Wilmore, is the producer of the school’s production of “Our Town,” a Thornton Wilder play about mundane life in an early 1900s New Hampshire town.

The play went on stage at Asbury’s Miller Center for Communication Arts on Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. and will go on one final time Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5.

Sanders worked with Asbury grad and “Our Town” director Janelle Gore on the low-budget film “Friggin’ Aliens” over Christmas break, and that connection led to the film major’s opportunity to work in theater.

“I’ve been producing these low-budget features films. I’ve never produced a play before, but I want to get back into theater, so I heard that Janelle was doing the play and looking for a producer,” Sanders said.

With a cast of about 20 that functions as its own crew, Sanders’ duties are mostly done in preparation for the performances.

“I’m the guy that’s got to get everybody in the seats,” he said. “I’m the one that’s on Facebook shooting out emails to everybody, setting up pages, coordinating people to sell tickets, putting posters up, and making sure Janelle has everything she needs before the production starts.

“I give her all the resources to put on the play, and then if she needs anything on the spur of the moment, I’m on call pretty much for whenever.”

Sanders said he was excited to get back into a hobby he enjoyed for four years in Lincoln County, part of that time spent as president of the school’s drama club.

“I’ve got a little bit of history, but this is the first production I’ve been involved with at Asbury, so I was pretty excited to be a part of it,” he said.

The recently constructed Miller Center at Asbury University is located on West Main Street in Wilmore.