Adults cram into studio for a little playtime comfort
Mentally and physically disabled adults look forward to their sessions at Harborside Studios, where everybody has a part.
By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published October 19, 2004
SAFETY HARBOR - Joey Curl is bespectacled, dimpled and friendly. On this day, he sports a blue roadster-style cap, a paint-splashed denim shirt and dark blue Bermuda shorts. In his mind, the 28-year-old is about to depart on a heroic whaling voyage on the open seas.
But don't call him Joey.
Call him Ishmael.
"I'm not nervous. I am Ishmael," he says with a sweet innocence.
Curl is attending Harborside Studios, an artistic daytime hangout for mentally and physically challenged adults. He has one of the leads in Moby Dick, The Musical , the studio's first theatrical presentation.
About 50 people have squeezed into a makeshift sitting area to watch the show held in the working studio; most of them are members of the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens and their caretakers.
Christina Green, 38, has a case of the giggles.
She is playing the part of one-eyed Chris, a woman disguised as a male sailor, and her drama teacher has just placed a paper mustache under her nose. It tickles.
"I am nervous," she said. "My mustache might fall off, and I have to go out there and do a hula dance."
Moby Dick, The Musical was written and is narrated by one of the studio's art and drama teachers, Patsi Aguero. It is a 30-minute sketch, loosely based on the Melville novel, with just a smattering of dialogue.
This version is more comedy than drama.
The cast of drunken sailors, their wives, an obsessed captain and a blubbery white whale file out and perform their theatrics, more or less on cue. They lip-synch to oldies tunes like The Wanderer , Two Faces Have I and Little Darlin' . They "yo-ho-ho" in harmony. They laugh when the captain's stovepipe hat comes apart.
They are having a good time, and that's what it is all about.
"It gives me friends and a way to do things with others," said Patsy Purdy, who, at 71, is the oldest cast member.
The group of about 30 adults meets Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., in a studio formerly known as Creative Clay, which also served the community's special needs population. When Creative Clay underwent funding cutbacks, UPARC took over the Safety Harbor operation and renamed it Harborside Studios.
The studio is funded through the state's Medicaid program and private dollars.
"It's a small, community-based program that provides UPARC consumers with friendships and entertainment. It helps develop their problem-solving, communication and social skills," said Kim Ross, associate executive director of UPARC.
Besides theater, patrons delve into pottery, woodworking, painting and music. The studio's location at 176 Fifth Ave. N in Safety Harbor allows them to be part of a bigger, well-known arts community.
Holly Rose, 44, is the backstage manager, responsible for making sure the drunken sailors, Capt. Ahab and the rest of the cast appear in the right order at the right time.
After the show, she is jubilant.
"The play was awesome. We're taking it on the road," she said.
Mary DiGregorio, 56, her assisted living coach, said the experience was a boost for Rose.
"She has been working and practicing for this day and was really looking forward to it," she said.
The musical gives people like Michael Spano, who plays the part of a sailor from his wheelchair, a way to become involved.
"He's unable to feed or toilet himself, and he has difficulty speaking, yet he can act in a play," Aguero said.
Curl, a.k.a. Ishmael, swaggers around the room after the play, asking everyone how he did.
Then he answers his own question with the confidence of an American Idol.
"When I was singing, I was great on stage," he said. "The secret is practice, practice, practice."
