VGCC Carpentry students lauded for theatrical set


From left, students Keith A. Tunstall and Jonathan Calamaco, Carpentry program head/instructor Keith Tunstall, and students Brian Edwards and V'Randre Richardson stand on the set they constructed for the VGCC production of “Smoke on the Mountain.” (VGCC photo)

From left, students Keith A. Tunstall and Jonathan Calamaco, Carpentry program head/instructor Keith Tunstall, and students Brian Edwards and V’Randre Richardson stand on the set they constructed for the VGCC production of “Smoke on the Mountain.” (VGCC photo)

Students in the Carpentry program at Vance-Granville Community College have built many structures while in class over the years, including houses, storage buildings and gazebos. But this semester, they branched out into a new field when they constructed the set for the most recent VGCC Dinner Theater production.

For the first time, the Carpentry department was involved in bringing a play to life, as they built from scratch a representation of a country church in 1938, the setting of the musical, “Smoke on the Mountain.” The set included two wooden crosses, two doors, two pews, a lectern and two signs that were used to display the numbers of hymns to be sung by the congregation or other information.

The play’s director, VGCC Department Chair/Instructor of Humanities and Fine Arts Betsy Henderson, described the Carpentry program’s contribution to the play as “spectacular” and expressed her pride in their achievement. Henderson noted that the successful dinner theater was the result of collaboration involving several departments and programs at the college: Drama, Culinary Arts, Carpentry, Music and Art.

Among the students who helped build the set under the supervision of program head/instructor Keith Tunstall were Jonathan Calamaco, Brian Edwards and V’Randre Richardson, all of Henderson, and Keith A. Tunstall of Raleigh.

For more information on the VGCC Carpentry program, call Keith Tunstall at (252) 738-3261 or (252) 213-1266.