Springhouse Theatre Company, one of Rutherford County's premier destinations for family entertainment, is pleased to take you Off-Broadway...way, way off Broadway...and back in time to 1938...to the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, where the Sanders Family pays a call on the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. Rollicking, exhilarating, and charmingly funny, Smoke on the Mountain features two dozen rousing bluegrass songs played and sung by the Sanders Family.

Between songs, each family member "witnesses" with a story about an important event in their life. By the evening's end, the Sanders Family will endear themselves to you by not only allowing you to share in their triumphs, but by revealing their weaknesses. Bring the whole family and enjoy the show the New York Post called, "Totally beguiling... foot-stomping soul food."

"The beauty of 'Smoke' is certainly the characters," says Will Sevier, who is directing Smoke on the Mountain, his second musical to direct at STC since Fiddler on the Roof in 2015. "The characters are honest, flawed, and hilarious. In the characters, you might recognize your own family members, friends, and possibly even yourself." One of the endearing elements of the show is that the actors play their own instruments and sing the bluegrass gospel musical. "With the actors performing as the orchestra in this musical, it causes the play to come to life in ways that some musicals cannot replicate. It really is a special show in that regard."

Smoke on the Mountain is a bluegrass gospel musical set in 1938 in the Appalachian town of Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. After a 5-year hiatus, the Sanders family has decided to play the gospel circuit once again. First stop, Mount Pleasant Baptist church, which is not far from the pickle plant where so many in the town earn a living. Despite efforts to appear otherwise, the hilariously imperfect natures of the family, and Pastor Mervin Oglethorpe, unravel throughout the evening. What ends up being endearing to the congregation is their genuine weaknesses and strengths which are revealed through songs and stories.

Director Will Sevier notes that this show does contain a mild expletive at the end of Act 1 that is not typically heard in Springhouse Theatre Company productions. "But I think it is vital to the only real conflict in the arc of the show," Sevier explains. "The reconciliation that follows in Act 2 requires that use of language before intermission. I honestly do not think another word would be sufficient in causing the uproar that concludes the first act. After storming out in Act 1, the character returns to the family in Act 2 in a redemption that is the definition of the gospel - revealing that we are all broken, flawed, and need the love of Jesus."

Smoke on the Mountain runs November 10, 11, 17, 18 & December 1, 2, 3

Springhouse Theatre is located on the campus of Springhouse Worship & Arts Center at 14119 Old Nashville Highway, Smyrna, TN. Tickets are available at www.ticketsnashville.com. For more information contact Springhouse Theatre Company at (615) 852-8499, or visit us online at www.Springhousetheatre.com.