William Starrett of the Columbia City Ballet has built a reputation on over-the-top original productions from Dracula to Cleopatra, so when word surfaced that he was putting together a ballet about the early career of Columbia hitmakers Hootie & the Blowfish, there was some curiosity, as well as skepticism about whether it would work.

“There’s an element of, ‘Well, I don’t know what to think about that,’” says Hootie drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld about his initial response to Starrett’s idea. “But he had a pretty good proposal, did some interviews with the band members, and we said to go with it.”

For Starrett, there were several reasons to do a ballet based on the band.

“Selfishly, I love their music,” Starrett says. “And I wanted to celebrate one of the positive success stories that has come out of South Carolina.”

Claire Kallimanis and Torri Counts Photo by Burnie Flake

Starrett says this show also fits in well with his mission for the ballet.

“I’m always looking for ways to expand our audience, and this is a great way for people who wouldn’t normally go to see a ballet to discover dance and see how diverse and professional it can be,” Starrett says. “You can’t just only do fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty.”

The production is divided into two acts, with the first chronicling the childhood years of the band members through their college days, when the band was formed. The second act features the band on stage playing their music, with dancers out front interpreting the songs.

“I auditioned kids from around the state that looked like them for the childhood scenes,” Starrett says.

In his efforts to keep the production true-to-life, the production features a scene at move-in day for USC, with the now-demolished Towers dorms putting in an appearance on the day when Mark Bryan and Darius Rucker ended up living on the same floor. There are also scenes of their cover band days at a Five Points bar modeled after Rockafellas.

“We even have a set that has a blue Econo van, where we follow them through their early touring days,” Starrett says. “The turning point is at their college graduation when they decided to go forward with the band, writing their own songs: There’s a huge fight on a front porch, their original drummer leaves to go into religious life, and when Soni auditions the first song he brings in is, ‘Hold My Hand.’”

Darius Rucker, circa 1983. He wasn't always bald (or cool).

Starrett’s expertise with big productions is sure to make the second act memorable, with huge video screens on each side of the stage to give the audience up-close views of the action.

He describes it as, “like MTV, but even more so.”

Starrett’s only regret with the production is that it will most likely be a one-time thing given the schedules of the band members, one of whom, Darius Rucker, is supporting a hit country album.

“When you see all the work that has gone into this, it’s a shame we couldn’t tour it,” he says. “But you never know, maybe we’ll get to do it again some time.”

The band is donating its services for the production, which will feature the full 32-member professional company, plus four young men playing the child versions of the band members.

Starrett says that the only member of the band who has seen any of the production in advance is Sonefeld.

“Soni was stunned, I think,” Starrett says. “He couldn’t believe the energy and the caliber of the performance, the level of the production, or the sets and the scenery — he says he just didn’t know how to imagine it. I’m always worried initially myself on a production like this, but when it started coming together I got such a high percentage of my original vision onto the stage — I think people are going to love it.”

Performances are at the Koger Center on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.). Tickets range from $22 to $68 and are available online at capitoltickets.com or by phone at 251-2222. For more information, call 799-7605.