Fayro, Texas, is the scene.

It’s a town sort of like ours — small, Southern, desperately in need of funds.

To the rescue — of Fayro, not Anniston — are the Futrelle sisters, who have made it their duty to save the town by having, among other moneymaking ventures, a Civil War re-enactment to impress a rich prospector. (They recreate the Battle of Vicksburg, Miss., since there was no battle to speak of in Fayro.)

Thus is the backdrop for Southern Hospitality, the third in a trilogy written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten that opened Thursday night and continues through Feb. 14 at the JSU/McClellan Theater in Anniston. CAST performed the first part, Dearly Beloved, in 2008.

Those who follow CAST know well

this feisty foursome, or at least three of them. All but oldest half-sister Rhonda Lynn, played by Lolly Payne, were prominent in Dearly Beloved. Rhonda was revealed to be the sisters’ long-lost half-sister in the second part of the series, Christmas Belles.

Those same followers of CAST should also expect the same hilarious antics from the sisters.

“One thing about the South is that we don’t hide our crazy people. We parade them around. Very proud of them,” said Debbie Tyson, who plays second-oldest sister Honey Raye Futrelle.

“The sisters get angry with each other and aggravated with each other from time to time and love to push each others’ buttons,” Tyson said. “But when somebody like Aunt Iney comes to town and starts insulting one of them, well then they all bond together. ‘You can’t talk to my sister like that! I can talk to my sister like that but you can’t!’”

Tyson would be reprising the same role from the 2008 production of Dearly Beloved if not for an ovarian-cancer scare two weeks before the show was scheduled to open.

“I’m fine now,” she said. “It was very disappointing to put in all that work and not even get to do the role then.”

She had to give up the role, and is glad to finally play Honey Raye in Anniston. She’s played the same role since in Christmas Belles and Southern Hospitality in Gadsden productions, so she’s quite familiar with the role.

Kimberly Dobbs directs — her 26th such time in her six years with CAST — and she said the closeness of the actresses off-stage makes the sisters so viable on-stage.

“The Futrelle Sisters are quirky, they are odd, they are fun-loving,” Dobbs said.

“And they are the heart of the town.”

The youngest member of the cast, JSU drama student and gorgeous red-head Erin Mahaffey, gets the benefit of working with all the sisters through much of the show.

“Everybody is really loving. They get along really well,” Mahaffey said. “If you saw them out, you would probably think that they really are sisters, just because they speak to each other. And their hair is all the same color. It’s kind of weird. It’s crazy how they all look alike.”

Mahaffey plays Gina Jo, a local ... ahem ... cow inseminator, and daughter of Frankie Futrelle Dubberly, who is played by Michelle Deese.

“GJ,” as they call her, is just one of the many quirky residents of Fayro.

With a quick look at the four sisters — Rhonda Lynn, an admitted “cougar;” Honey Raye, whose name should all but tell you her status with the opposite sex; and mother-of-four, married-to-an-idiot youngest sister Frankie — the one who probably stands out as most different is Twink, who has been engaged several times but never married.

“She’s desperate for men,” said Denise Davis, who is the only of the four actresses to reprise the role from the 2008 CAST production of Dearly Beloved.

“It’s fun to get to work with the same people,” said Davis, also the only non-Southerner of the bunch. “This is a really great group of people. The audience will probably tell how much fun we’re having.”

Deese came to the role of Frankie after the unexpected death of Kathy Ewing,

who was supposed to play the role. Southern Hospitality is dedicated to her memory.

Ewing’s death hit close to home for Deese, who considered her like a sister.

Luckily, though, she has her fictional sisters by her side every day, both on- and off-stage.

“I’ve done shows with all of (the sisters) before … I love them,” Deese said. “They’re like a second family. I recently went through a divorce, and Lolly and Denise helped push me through it. Basically, if you don’t have a good support system in your family, they’re there.

“We’re stage sisters.”

That’s something they all can agree on.

“I think it makes it so much easier,” Payne said. “We all know each other so well. In fact, some of us may actually be related to each other.

“All of the sisters are different. But they all love each other.”

CAST presents ‘Southern Hospitality’

The third production of CAST’s 10th season opened Feb. 4 and will be presented through Feb. 14th at the McClellan Theatre in Anniston.

Show times are 8 p.m. Feb. 4-6 and Feb. 11-13 with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 6-7 and Feb. 13-14.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students. Thursday-night performances at CAST are offered for “Pay What You Want” admission. Groups of 12 or more individuals qualify for a discount admission rate to all other performances.

For more information or to make reservations, call 256-820-CAST or visit

castalabama.com.