Essence of Broadway

Students will put on a musical tribute with That's Dancing, a show by the Sells' Broadway Dance Company studio.

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published June 24, 2005

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More than 250 dance students in hundreds of colorful costumes will perform in That's Dancing, the fifth annual summer production by Sells' Broadway Dance Company of New Port Richey.

"It's a dance musical, a tribute to early Broadway through contemporary Broadway," said Chris Sell, who, with his wife Shanna, owns the studio.

The Sells are longtime professional dancers who toured the world in such shows as Cats and My One and Only. In fact, it was during the tour of Cats that they met and married, and later decided to open the local studio together.

"The opening number is That's Dancing, from the movie," Sell said. The show itself covers Broadway favorites from 1934' s Anything Goes to the current hits , Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera . Ashlee Elrod plays Beauty, and Adam Boreland, who was chosen to attend the American Ballet Theatre's summer workshop for the past two years and will go to the San Francisco Ballet's program this year, plays the Prince.

Casey Maxwell (Annie at Richey Suncoast Theatre; Artful Dodger in Oliver! at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre) will sing and dance a medley from Anything Goes and perform with other cast members in songs from Les Miserables, Annie and Gypsy.

There will also be excerpts from Oklahoma!, including a segment with kids riding in a surrey singing Surrey With the Fringe on Top and a soloist performing the Oklahoma! ballet.

"We'll have tap, ballet, jazz, musical theater and hip-hop," Sell said. "The show has every style of dance in the business. We do lyrical (dance) and tumbling from Barnum."

The show will have six fly-in drop backgrounds ordered from California to set the scene for the musical numbers.

"We have special effects for the Phantom numbers and some interesting set pieces," Sell said.

The show is about 21/2 hours long, including an intermission.

If you go

WHAT: That's Dancing

WHERE: Center for the Arts at River Ridge, Town Center Road, New Port Richey

WHEN: 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday

TICKETS: $13, reserved seating. Available at the Sells' Broadway Dance Company studio, 7296 State Road 54, New Port Richey, from 4 to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. Call 376-2600 for information or to leave a message.