Kids kick out the kinks at rehearsals

Drama students at Mitchell High School are wrapping up routines for their Broadway Review.

NEW PORT RICHEY - The "tech rehearsal," as it's called in theater lingo, is one of the final stepping stones leading up to opening night.

For the kids in the drama program at Mitchell High School it's time to work out some of the kinks for their upcoming Broadway Review.

This is the work an audience doesn't see. There's no face paint, no costumes, no mics for this night-time rehearsal held at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge. It's time to be casual and comfortable with an array of attire that runs the gamut from jeans to shorts, dance shoes to flip-flops, sparkly halter tops to a Star Wars T-shirt.

Their teacher, Elizabeth Arzillo, snaps time and barks direction while student director Ariel Packard takes notes and senior Audrey Holeman belts out the beginning verse of I'm a Woman.

The number is looking good but Arzillo wants more from her students.

"Spread out! Keep moving! Move, move, move, move!" she calls out while clapping time to the music.

This is a sassy number that has the dancers having to improvise, explains Arzillo. "It's easier when every single move is choreographed. They're improving but they're a little uncomfortable in their skin right now."

And although some of her students have been in numerous productions, others need this rehearsal to get a real feel for the stage.

"We're usually in a small classroom (at Mitchell High)," Arzillo explains. "We have to choreograph for a small classroom so we have to modify that to a bigger stage."

"It helps their self confidence," Arzillo says of the tech rehearsal. "I want them to be able to go back to their classroom and feel the stage."

For junior Victoria Cooper, it's time to see how her choreography for songs like No Business Like Show Business is working out. Victoria, who has been dancing ever since she was 5 years old, has performed plenty before. This time she said she was up to the challenge of designing dance for her classmates.

"It was hard. You have to put the right moves with the right music - some people are more advanced than others so you have to think of that," she said.

Still, so far so good, said the student director.

"We've got most of the numbers to the point we want them to be at," Ariel said. "We have a few problems, but that's just part of it."

And as it's just a tech rehearsal, there's always one more time to "take it from the top."

Cast members include: Jennifer Borusky, Brian Buyea, Elysia Camp, Cynthia Carney, Victoria Cooper, Rob Creedon, Kate Dixon, Alyssa Gerlack, Matt Hixon, Audrey Holeman, Cynthia Lewnes, Jessica Martin, Krystal Molton, Mita Pandya, Laura Ramos, Sean Piersol, Jennifer Timmons, Arona Whitaker, Kristen Wood.

Mitchell High School's Broadway Review will be at 7 p.m. Nov. at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge, 11646 Town Center Road, New Port Richey. The show will include numbers from Chicago, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, West Side Story and more. Tickets are $5. For information or tickets call, Elizabeth Arzillo at (727) 774-9358.

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