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Hands-on theater experience
By JOHN PETRIMOULX While other college students are finishing summer internships at area businesses before heading back to school, one group of students is ending the summer break in a barn. They are not learning about farming, but how to run a theater. The ICU theater group, which includes performers from Carrollwood and New Tampa, is capping a summer of preparation with two shows this weekend and next in a converted barn in Riverview. The members of ICU, short for Indigent College Unit, are Blake High School alumni and students looking to polish their performing skills while away from classes, said Michael Parrish DuDell, a cast member who next month will begin his second year as a musical theater major at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. A veteran of community theater since age 4, DuDell says he jumped at the chance to be a part of the group. "Katharine Sullivan, who's now studying directing at New York University, wanted to give fellow Blake graduates and current students an outlet for theater during summer and other breaks," said DuDell, now living in Carrollwood Village. "It's been an amazing learning experience seeing it through." Despite his years performing with the Carrollwood Players and other community theater groups, DuDell, 19, says he never realized the amount of work required to run a theater company. Finding the venue was the easy part. Sullivan's family created the Barn Theater a year ago as part of a planned community they are developing on the surrounding 164 acres of former Riverview farmland. Mounting the productions was harder. DuDell says the group raised funds with car washes, secured the rights to the script of their first play, Neil Simon's Rumors, and created a jazz show called And All that Jazz using 20 jazz standards, including Summertime and Unforgettable. "The biggest challenge was pitching shows for a group no one has heard of," he said. "We're asking people to try something out." DuDell says last weekend's premiere opened some eyes. "I heard people remark about the professionalism of the performers," he said. The group hopes audiences will be attracted to the appeal of Simon's comedy, and jazz classics performed in a cabaret setting. "We're serving drinks and dinner before And All that Jazz," DuDell said. "Each night a different caterer will provide the food." Sullivan and DuDell are not the only cast members who spend most of the year away at a performing arts school. Jazz singer Danyelle Williamson is enrolled in the Boston Conservatory and Rumors actor Chris Rutherford is an acting major at Southern Methodist University. The ICU group plans to follow its debut with new productions during school holidays and summer breaks. DuDell says group members are gaining experience they could not get in school. "It has taught us how hard it is to start from nothing and build something great," he said. Besides DuDell, Rumors features three cast members from Carrollwood: Laurie Stark, Lianne McDonnell and Audrey Haber, as well as Lauren Kinsler of Tampa Palms. Carrollwood resident Jana Jones accompanies the And All that Jazz singers on bass. If you goICU's production of Rumors continues this weekend with performances Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. Call 653-3384 for information and reservations. And All that Jazz runs Aug. 23rd through Aug. 25. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for drinks, dinner is at 7 and the performance begins at 8. Reservations are required. For information and reservations, call 908-6970 or e-mail ICUjazzshow@hotmail.com. Reservations must be made by Wednesday. Tickets for Rumors are $10 for adults and $8 for students. Tickets for And All that Jazz are $25. Group rates are available for both shows. The Barn Theater is at 11215 Bloomingdale Ave., east of the U.S. 301 exit from I-75 in Riverview.
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From the Times |
