For the last few weeks, Randy and Tracey Magruder have been dancing their way across the Plant City Entertainment stage in rehearsals for the community theater’s upcoming benefit show, “Marry Me a Little.” The production follows the stories of two single New York residents who are alone on a Saturday night in the same apartment complex. The two-character musical will hit the PCE stage for one weekend only beginning Friday, March 18.
Though their onstage characters are looking for love, the show’s stars have already found it: Randy Magruder proposed to his wife, Tracey Magruder, four years ago on the Plant City Entertainment stage.
MARRY ME, MAGRUDER
In 2010, the Magruders had been cast as former high school sweethearts in a StageDoor production, a community theater based out of Brandon. Their onstage chemistry blossomed into friendship — and then a romance.
Two years later Randy Magruder still hadn’t scripted a proposal and Tracey Magruder started to hint that her finger was getting lonely.
Randy Magruder was at a cast party with friend Greg Summerall, the current director for the upcoming production of “Marry Me a Little,” when Summerall mentioned doing that same show. Randy Magruder decided to propose to Tracey after the production, though no timeline was officially set for the show.
“I said we would get to do it someday,” Summerall said. “But not for a while. We hadn’t made any plans.”
As the months went by, there still weren’t solid plans for “Marry Me a Little.” Instead, Randy and Tracey Magruder were cast as one of the couples in a PCE production of “Coffee Shop,” for Valentine’s 2012.
Knowing he had to propose properly, Randy Magruder planned on asking Tracey during curtain call.
“I think she was kind of getting suspicious,” Randy Magruder said. “If I proposed on a jumbotron at a sports stadium, she would have said no.”
“I have my standards,” Tracey Magruder said, jokingly. “I just figured it would be after the last show, closest to Valentine’s Day.”
But Randy Magruder popped the question earlier than expected at the surefire “yes” spot — right on the PCE stage.
Tracey, of course, gladly accepted. The couple married in June 2012 and has a two-year-old son, Cameron.
Since then, PCE has become the couple’s main stage.
“Plant City is kind of home base for us,” Tracey Magruder added. “There’s people we like woking with, so we keep coming back.”
RAISE THE ROOF
Last year, PCE accrued a big expense replacing the theater’s aging roof. To help make up the cost of the new roof, Randy Magruder and Summerall finally suggested doing “Marry Me a Little” at a PCE pitch meeting last August. The show was approved in October.
Derek Abbott serves on the theater’s board of directors and is the show’s choreographer. He hopes the benefit production can pack the theater.
“We have a building now, we can do shows when we want,” Abbott said. “I pushed for it going through. There are people who come and see every show. It’s only one weekend.”
Once the show was approved, the Magruders were cast in the title roles. Since making PCE their theater of choice, the Fishhawk residents have appeared in or assisted with a number of shows, including “A Catered Affair,” “South Pacific” and, most recently, “The Music Man.”
The couple has never appeared in a two-person show before.
“It’s exciting,” Randy Magruder said. “It’s a little bit of a tight-rope. We’re investing in it.”
Theater patrons will likely recognize some of the music in “Marry Me a Little.” The musical features mostly unused songs by Stephen Sondheim, the Academy Award and Tony Award-winning composer of “West Side Story,” “Sweeney Todd” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
“To do a show like this, it doesn’t come around that often,” Abbott said. “People love Sondheim. Here’s some music that you will simply never hear anywhere else.”
The cast and crew hope to raise $4,000 dollars from the benefit show, with tickets at $16 dollars for general admission. They also hope to make others aware of PCE and grow their volunteer base.
“I want to prove that we can do it,” Abbott said. “We do this simply for the love of doing it.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.