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Schools stage solid shows

By BARBARA FREDRICKSEN
Published March 10, 2007

After years of going to area theaters, I've learned that some of the best entertainment values around here are high school productions.

And why not? The directors are trained professionals, many of them veterans of the professional stage. Some of the students in the plays are community theater regulars, many have been involved in school theater for years, and others take lessons in the area's top-notch dance and theater studios. At least one student, Brandon Mauro, has appeared in several top television shows, including Malcolm in the Middle, CSI and Touched by an Angel.

I was reminded of the possibilities of high school theater when I recently went to see the delightful musical Damn Yankees at River Ridge High School in New Port Richey. Director Diana Rogers, who played on Broadway in Les Miserables for years, called in dancers Chris and Shanna Sell, who toured in Cats and with other professional companies for ages, to do the choreography.

As the school year comes to a close, other high schools around here will be doing their shows, and we'll be showcasing several of them on the Diversions pages in Hernando and Pasco.

I'm particularly excited to see Moby Dick: The Musical being done by students of J.W. Mitchell High School on April 13-15 in the Center for the Arts at River Ridge.

The director is Tampa Bay theater legend David O'Hara, who is the drama teacher there. For another, one of his helpers is Center Stage Academy instructor George Cahill, who is one of this region's top performers.

It's set in a girls' school that is financially foundering, so the girls decide to save the day by making the dark and ominous literary classic Moby Dick into a musical, with the headmistress playing the role of Captain Ahab (shades of Nunsense?).

This should be a real hoot.

Time for class

Oh, my, is it already time for the Senior Academy theater seminar at Pasco-Hernando Community College?

This is the third time I've been moderator of a four-week series on theater in the Performing Arts Center there, and I'm really looking forward to it. We'll have two-hour sessions of the inside workings of community and professional theaters from 10 a.m. to noon the next four Wednesdays, with panelists from Richey Suncoast Theatre, Stage West Community Playhouse, Avenue Players and the Show Palace Dinner Theatre.

March 14: Show Palace Dinner Theatre set designer Tom Hansen, photographer Bud Thacker and company manager Todd Eskin are going to demonstrate how things work on stage and backstage before and during a show.

March 21: Community Theater Day, with Charlie and Marie Skelton and John Masterson talking about choosing a season's shows, as well as casting, directing and performing in shows. Actors Jim Poe and Chuck DePalo will talk about preparing to audition and actually taking direction.

March 28: Show Palace Day, with managers, actors, and crew from the Show Palace talking about the same things as on community theater day, but from the professional theater viewpoint.

April 4: Shakespeare Day, with Shakespeare student and scholar Diana Forgione sharing tidbits that we never knew about the Bard of Avon. The other half of the day's session will cover "where blocking stops and choreography starts," the often knotty problem between director and choreographer.

The fee is $50.64, payable at Student Development on any PHCC campus 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays or at the door before the opening session.

[Last modified March 10, 2007, 00:09:47]