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Letter to the editor

Young thespians play it for laughs

By Times Staff Writer
Published November 18, 2007

The Largo High School drama department was spreading Rumors this week.

The Neil Simon kind, that is.

The teens spent hundreds of hours rehearsing the farce over the past two months under the guidance of drama teacher Deborah Wortock.

Backstage on opening night Thursday, the kids wished each other good luck, with the theater standard: break a leg.

Little did they know Wortock broke her foot in the parking lot just an hour before showtime.

It's the sort of strange twist of fate that Simon would include in one of his plays. Rumors is set in the New York home of Charley and Myra Brock, who have invited four couples to a 10th anniversary party for themselves. When the first couple arrives, they find Charley in an upstairs bedroom, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the ear lobe. Myra is nowhere to be found.

The four couples include Ken Gorman, who is Charley Brock's attorney, and Ken's wife Chris. Next to arrive are Lenny and Claire Ganz, who have had a nasty fender bender on their way to the party. Then come Ernie Cusack and his TV cooking show host-wife, Cookie. Last is vain and insecure Cassie Cooper, who is convinced her husband Glenn is having at least one affair. When the police arrive, the couples conspire in a fantastically unbelievable ruse to try to cover up for the Brocks.

Before the opening curtain, the Largo High thespians talked about preparing for their roles and how they related to their characters.

Jenny Shelby, 16, junior, of Largo, as Chris Gorman

"I'm usually mellow but I get to unravel (as Chris). ... None of us are ourselves. We're very different than our characters, so it's a stretch."

Danny Hauser, 17, junior, of Indian Rocks Beach, as Ken Gorman

"I want to make the character my own. ... I try to create a completely different person than myself."

Sara Van Guilder, 18, senior, of Largo, as Claire Ganz

"I wanted to do something really strong. ... It was kind of hard to be (Claire) sometimes. She yells at (Lenny) a lot, and I don't like confrontation at all."

Joshua Henry, 17, junior, of Largo, as Lenny Ganz

"I kind of drew the character from Howard Stern, because he's controversial and he's also very sarcastic. ... I really got attracted to (Lenny's character) because he's funny. "

Roxanne Woltil, 18, senior, of Largo, as Cookie Cusack

"(Cookie's) kinda ditsy, but I tried to make her feisty, too. ... She's like really snippy with her husband. She's got him whipped. He's walking on a short leash. "

Justin Woodward, 17, senior, of Largo, as Ernie Cusack

"The most important thing is getting inside (Neil Simon's) head, because he already knows what the characters are supposed to be."

Brittany Butler, 16, junior, of Largo, as Cassie Cooper

"(Cassie's) just really high strung. ... I just thought about how I would handle a situation and then I do the opposite. I think she's crazy."

Greg Anderson, 17, junior, of St. Petersburg, as Glenn Cooper

"I think I'd treat my wife better (than Glenn Cooper does), but I don't know if I'd marry someone like Cassie. But they say opposites attract."

Niky Sanchez, 17, senior, of Clearwater, as Detective Welch

"I watched a lot of TV shows that had investigators. ... (I learned) to make yourself seem like you already know what happened to make them confess."

Angela Mitchell, 16, junior, of Largo, as Officer Pudney

"... it was easy to relate to the role. (Officer Pudney) is just curious about all the people and kinda nosy, and I really am an inquisitive person. I like to know things."

[Last modified November 17, 2007, 21:27:18]