It's the Christmas season and this means Miss Daisy is back - and fans need to beware because you not only have to contend with Miss Daisy, but her family as well in "Daisy The Valley and The Shadow of Death".
The full-length comedy show, which is rated "family" so the youngest to the oldest can attend, introduces you to Miss Daisy's "dysfunctional" family as some people would call them -- her mother, her two brothers and a sister (Daisy's father is deceased).
Daisy's younger sister, Red, is hot like goat pepper as described by Daisy; a brother who they call Doug for short is into saying things like "I-man", and "I-rie", but that's not to say he's a Rasta, but rather in his own world; Henry, the brother who is a doctor, lives in the United States with his wife Gladys, who thinks they are better than Daisy and the family. And then there's mama, the matriarch of the family, who is into gambling and going to church to get the numbers. She's a sweet woman but she can be little rough. And in the middle of them all is Daisy who acts as the buffer through the show.
In "Daisy The Valley and The Shadow of Death", someone is going to kick the bucket, and true to human nature the show chronicles how families get itchy, edgy and greedy as they figure out who gets what, and also who decides what will be done. With that person's death, the family struggle begins. But the sad part is that the family struggles take place even though the deceased had left clear wishes as to what they wanted done and that the deceased's wishes is in clear conflict with what the surviving family wants -- and therein lies the plot line of the play.
"We're dealing with a crisis point for Daisy and her family," said Lynn Terez Nixon, the woman behind the Miss Daisy character on paper and on stage.
While the topic is true to what happens in society and is serious, she said the play will look at it in a comedic turn, and will not at all be gloomy.
"People are suddenly dying and not leaving a will or letting their wishes be known, and I think we can stop a lot of the sibling squabbles if people could be forthright as to their wishes and think ahead, realizing that they have to go and not leave their family in a state of limbo," she said. "Drama and theater is a mirror of what happens in society, and it's all about trying to laugh at yourself at some points and being critical at some points."
"As Daisy would say, during Christmas, this is a good time to put water under the boat and put down the old hurts, and it will be seen in the play."
Daisy fans will also be introduced to Daisy's half-sister, who Nixon says is more "tanked up" than Daisy herself, in a prideful, arrogant, out-of-control way.
"Daisy The Valley and The Shadow of Death" is a play that was written by Nixon in 2008 and which is finally making it to the stage. The production has eight speaking parts with extras. Lynn Terez Nixon is of course the inimitable Miss Daisy; Sharon Whylly plays Mama; Edna Myers play Red; Navarro Gibson plays Doug; newcomer Todd Beaumont plays Henry; newcomer D'Adra Smith-Owen plays Gladys; Davonia Josey plays Sussy; Ricardo 'Mr. Beads' Forbes plays Jackson, and Duran McNeil plays the priest.
For this production, five audience members will get the opportunity to take a turn as an extra in a Miss Daisy production. During the funeral scene, the cast will welcome five people out of the audience onto the stage, so if you're interested in being one of them, Nixon encourages you to speak up when asked. And she promises they will not miss any of the show, as their turn won't come until the very end.
Directing the stage play are Trent Davis and Antonio Forbes with production assistants Leslie Tynes, D'Ondre Miller, Christa Petty and Kendia Ferguson.
The staging of "Daisy The Valley and The Shadow of Death" is the 13th year for a Miss Daisy production.
The show will be staged for one night, Thursday, December 26 at the Rainforest Theatre with a matinee showing at 3 p.m. and an evening show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 matinee and $30 evening. For preferred seating for the night show, telephone 341-8164 or 361-3346. Tickets can be purchased at Scent-Sations, Prince Charles Shopping Centre, 100% Bible Book Stores, Palmdale and the Mall and Captain Vinny's Downtown and Golden Gates Ministries.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian