“I can’t believe the two hours are over – I want more.”

“You should take this on the road . . . it’s that good.”

Those are just two of the comments Nancy Idland heard following the smash success of “Shine!,” the latest musical fundraiser for the Greenville Area Arts Council. The production featured 50 local talents singing and dancing in numbers from a variety of Broadway shows and musical genres.

All three nights last week proved to be sellouts, said Idland, who directed the production, with Sonya Rice serving as choreographer, performer and David Norrell as vocal director/performer.

“I am so proud of our cast. They put in so much hard work, and they perform better when they know they have a theater full of people wanting to be entertained,” Idland said.

“I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate this community for coming out and supporting this cast. And now we will be able to afford to bring more professional shows to the Ritz for the 2009-2010 season.”

Idland said one of the highlights of “Shine!” for her was getting to put on the second act, featuring the colorful cast of characters from the Wizard of Oz, for 700 area schoolchildren in two performances last Friday.

“It was just a joy to see those kids, who were so excited and had such a marvelous time,” Idland said.

“To know for many of them, it was their first time in the Ritz, and the first live theatrical production many had ever seen, well, it really warmed my heart to be able to give them that opportunity.”

Idland said discussions were going on about plans for next year’s production.