High school students will do a song and dance tribute to the classics in a 90-minute show.
By Barbara Fredricksen
Published October 29, 2004
The music blares from the CD player as a line of serious-looking high school students count - "5, 6, 7, 8" - and start singing and dancing to the music of Oklahoma! , A Chorus Line , Guys and Dolls , Thoroughly Modern Millie and tunes from a half dozen other Broadway shows.
It's rehearsal time at Mitchell High School, in preparation for this year's song and dance show, Anything Goes: Broadway Review 2004. The show will be presented at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 and 6 at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge.
The show's title isn't referring to the Cole Porter musical now playing at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, though there are two numbers from that show.
Instead, the title refers to the spirit of the show itself, said Beth Arzillo, theater director at Mitchell and the force behind the production.
"We had a really great response last year to a similar show," Ms. Arzillo said. "But this year we're doing more dance numbers."
A big reason is Jessica Martin, a senior, who choreographed all but two of the 20 numbers in the show.
"This is her senior project," Ms. Arzillo said. "She's amazing."
Jessica has choreographed for other shows, most notably a number in the 2003 Christmas show at Richey Suncoast Theatre.
"I could see something really special in her," said that show's director, Marie Skelton. She'll also be in the Stage West Community Theater production o f You Can't Take It With You in January, this time in the lead role of Alice.
Several others in the production are students at Sells' Broadway Dance Company or John Leggio's Center for the Performing Arts, giving a solid base to the dance line, Ms. Arzillo said.
Each member of the 32-member cast will be featured in one or more of the numbers, the theater director said. "It's a chance to spotlight all of them."
The show has 10 numbers in each of two acts and will be about 90 minutes long. The costumes were purchased from a New York costume shop. All the cast and backstage crew members are students at Mitchell. The student director is Taylor Giany.
If you go
WHAT : Anything Goes: Broadway Review 2004
WHERE: Center for the Arts at River Ridge, Town Center Road, New Port Richey
WHEN: 7 p.m. Nov. 5 and 6
TICKETS: $5, open seating. Call (727) 774-9358 or at the door. Box office opens at 6 p.m.
