Living in the Deep South in the 1960s – embracing the poverty that
accompanies a military family’s journey – the finer things in life, like Aqua
Velvet, was the hairspray of fiscal practicability. It was the only thing my single mother of
five could afford.
Aqua Velvet was thick, flashy, cheap, strong holding, and worked so
well that it was, well, I could bounce bobby pins off the impenetrable strands
of my sisters’ plastered hair.
And thinking back, the aerosol that was engulfed into my sibling’s
lungs was the same lofty fluorocarbons that put numerous holes in the ozone
layer.
So many things back then were, just, wrong. – Narrator
But nothing was wrong with dee-Lightful Productions presentation
of Hairspray, Jr. written by John Waters and directed by Dolores Aguanno from
July 9, 10, 11, and 12, 2014 at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Culver
City. Everyone leaves the theatre in a
state of happiness and isn’t that what theatre is all about.
(This is the closest I’ve been to a dee-Lightful Production
and for the sake of conflict of interest I acknowledge that my daughter
performed in this musical.)
So technically, I was embedded, albeit slightly, and this
gave me the opportunity to make a few mental notes while waiting for rehearsals
to end.
Notwithstanding, organized chaos was the order of the
day. But, each person had their own
particular job and you’ve got to hand it to the crew, wrangling that many kids in
this camp has many challenges. In short,
there was a structure to this chaos.
Sign in/out sheets, go here, go to that room, move this way, dance that
that way, missing dialogue, running for costumes, etc., but one has to marvel
at the accomplishments made during the course of the day. They were all tiny steps for sure, but steps
taken forward.
Looking around I note some of these parents and their
children I’ve known since our pre-school days at La Playa preschool in Culver
City. And now here they were, part of
the approximately 73 kids, grown and unrecognizable, participating in this
camp, all waiting to get their chance to perform. All are delighted to be in the spotlight,
however long, however brief, but it is indeed a spotlight.
Everyone takes his or her methodical time, because in the
end you know Dolores Aguanno, the director and producer, is going to make this
all work, somehow, someway.
And watching during the course of a four week camp, toward
the end, the chaos got a little more streamlined, the scaffolding and the
lights started going up, there were things that resembled a set, the movements
were more co-ordinated, dances were coming together, and the parents you’ve
seen time and time again through the years watch with open amazement as their
child is catching on.
Did I mention there were three separate casts? The Pigtails,
Beehives, and The Ducktails and at the end of camp each cast got to perform in two
performances.
Hairspray is a musical that takes place in Baltimore,
Maryland in 1962. It is the story of a plump, vivacious, teenage girl, Tracy
Turnblad (Emily Greenstein), and her friend Penny (Brooke Rosenbloom). Every
day, they rush home to see the Corney Collins (Jeremy Greenstein) Show much to
the dismay of Tracy’s mother, Edna (Mica Williams).
Tracy finds out that the show is holding auditions for a
dancer and Tracy begs her mother to let her audition. Tracy’s plus sized mother,
who doesn’t go out of the house, doesn’t think it will be a good idea. But her
father, Wilber (Misha Reiss) thinks that Tracy should follow her dreams and off
Tracy goes.
While Tracy is at the audition, she bumps into Link Larkin
(Ben Sanderson) and immediately falls in love. But when she auditions with
Velma Von Tussle (Sabrina Lopez), the mean producer, Tussle, rejects Tracy, somewhat
because of her looks, but mostly due to her size. Tussel also rejects Little Inez (Sada
Maryanov) because of her color without so much as an audition.
Later Tracy is sent to detention where she meets Seaweed J.
Stubbs (Brandon Howard) who teachers her how to do some hip dance moves. And when Corny Collins sees Tracy dancing at
the Sophomore Hop, he invites her to be on the show.
Velma Von Tussle doesn’t like this one bit. She wants her daughter, Amber (Isabella Veale),
to be the star of the show and sets out to destroy Tracy. But the ratings on the show are now up and
everyone wants to be like Tracy.
Tracy is now a star and is courted by Mr. Pinkie, owner of
Mr. Pinkey’s Hefty Hidewaway, to wear his oversized dresses. But in order to
sign the contract, Tracy must get her mother out of the house to act as her
agent. She does and “Welcome to the Sixties” is born.
This leaves Amber, a real sosh, in a tizzy. And in a game of
dodge ball, Amber knocks out Tracy (not sure how this can physically happen) and
Link rushes to her side, along with Penny and Seaweed. It is here that we first see Seaweed taking a
liking to Penny. And as Tracy comes to,
Seaweed invites them over to dance, dance, dance.
I had the privilege of seeing the Ducktails cast, the
younger group of thespians, and I’ve got to tell you that one can’t help but
get a little teary-eyed by all that was happening on stage. As a collective,
they sounded fantastic.
Emily Greenstein as Tracy was as cute as a button with a
very fine singing voice. Mica William did a very fine job as Edna. Misha Reiss
had some nice moments as Wilbur. Brooke Rosenbloom was a very fine companion as
Penny. Jules Henderson plays Prudy with aplomb.
Isabella Veale did a very nice job as Amber and has a very
fine voice as well. Sabrina Lopez plays Velma nicely. Ben Sanderson had a couple of very nice songs
as Link and Jeremy Greenstein did an excellent job as the square Corny.
Brandon Howard had his moments as Seaweed and Sada Maryanov
had some very sympathetic moments as Little Inez. Syrus Jones had a very nice dance number as
Gilbert.
And I love Alexis Turner role as MM Maybelle. (MM is Motor
Mouth)
Zoe Alamillo, Breanna Howard, Anya Nelson & Maya
Calderon were Judine, Kamilah, and Shayna respectively as The Dynamites.
Izzy Kessner played Mr. Pinkie. Arden Malsin was the Matron. Lucas Calado was the Male Guard. Maya
Calderon played Gilberta. Anya Nelson
was Lorraine. Thistle Boosinger was the
Gym Teacher and Principal and Sophia Martin-Straw was the Newscaster.
Filling the empty spots in the stage in some very nice
numbers were “The Nicest Kids” and they were as follows: Eve Mott as Brad,
Gwyneth Seelinger as Tammy, Cali Kimura as Francie, Arden Malsin as Sketch,
Sunny MacGaffey as Shelly, Anna Kite as IQ, Jady Plesent as Brenda, and
Harrison Anderson as Lou-Ann.
The nicest kids ensemble were Kate Bancroft, Happy
Boosinger, Ashleigh Cogan, Brooke Cogan, Keira Cranach, Isabella Davis, Makena
Davis, Dagny Hatch, Zoe Lynch, Holly MacGaffey, Sophia Martin-Straw, Makena
Reiss, Audrey Rothenberg, and Elizabeth Thomas.
The R & B Ensemble was Evyn Armstrong, Mirabel
Armstrong, Austin Carney, and Jade Lewis.
The Pit Singers were Lily Fanali, Carly Shiever, Joe-May
Silvers, and Khamiya Terrell.
To put on a show of this magnitude requires a lot of help
from crew, family and friends. And a few of those who participated are
mentioned below:
Assistant Director for Ducktails Cast – Allegra Williams
Choreographers – Louie Chavez, Allegra Williams
Vocal Director – Zoe Petersen
Vocal Assistant – Carly Shiever
R & B Vocal Coach – Lyndraice Papa
Set Design – Dolores Aguanno, Joey Guthman
Lighting Design – Chris Clark Samuel Petersen
Stage Manager for Ducktails – Zoe Petersen
Costume Designer – Joey Guthman
Hair & Make-up Crew Head – Chloe Cohen
Email Communications – Laura Peterson (As well as a
thousands other jobs.)
Everyone loves this show including the enormous cast that
tried out for it. There are two other
casts that I did not see. They are as
follows:
Character Pigtails
Beehives
Tracy Katelyn
Coon Jessie
Grimaldo
Edna Max
Lianos Carly
Shiever
Wilbur Mika
Stambler Keaton
Asma
Penny Grace
McFalls Lily
Fanali
Prudy Mirabelle
Baer Julia
Rais
Amber Lindsay
Gross Siena
Neillis
Velma Angelina
Cicchini Katy
Engel
Link Ben
Hilsberg Chris
Clark
Corny Keaton
Asma Nick
Freedson
Seaweed Austin
Carney Nehi
Thompson
Little Inez Evyn
Armstrong Breanna
Howard
MM Maybelle Mirabel
Armstrong Khamiya
Terrell
The Dynamites:
Judine Joie-May
Silvers Sabrina
Lopez
Kamilah Khamiya
Terrell Joe-May
Silvers
Shayna Alexis
Turner Reese
Schiffman
Mr. Pinkie Misha
Reiss Max
Lianos
Matron Mica
Williams Mica
Williams
Male Guard Lucas
Calado Lucas
Calado
Gilbert Syrus
Jones Syrus
Jones
Lorraine Jade
Lewis Jade
Lewis
Gym Teacher/Principal Malia
Reiss Carolina
Robles
Newscaster Misha
Reiss Misha
Reiss
The Council: “Nicest
Kids”
Brad Nick
Freedson Keaton
Asma
Tammy Dyllen
Nellis Dyllen
Nellis
Francie Mica
Williams Mica
Williams
Sketch Lucas
Calado Lucas
Calado
Shelly Clara
Franz-Arau Clara
Franz-Arau
IQ Carly
Shiever Ben
Hilsberg
Branda Siena
Nellis Lindsay
Gross
The Council: “Nicest
Kids” Ensemble:
Sarah Daghigh, Vivian Daghigh, Kyra Lianos
R & B Ensenble:
Zoe Alamillo, Brandon Howards, Breanna Howard, Maya Calderon, Sada
Maryanov
Ensemble: Thistle
Boosinger, Jeremy Greenstein, Misha Reiss.
dee-Lightful, the staff, and Dolores Aguanno deserve a
hearty round of applause for giving everyone a chance to shine, a chance to
learn, and a wonderful place to hone their craft. And isn’t that what we need in Culver City.
Next on the agenda for dee-Lightful is “Once on This Island,
Jr.” You cannot beat the price to see wonderful kids working their hearts out!
4 performances with 2 different casts:
Thursday, August 14 at 7:00 PM (Seashells cast)
Friday, August 15 at 7:00 PM (Coconuts cast)
Saturday, August 16 at 3:00 PM (Coconuts cast)
Saturday August 16 at 7:00 PM (Seashells cast)
Veteran's Memorial Auditorium
4117 Overland Avenue (corner of Culver Blvd)
Culver City, CA 90230
$10 all tickets (except CCUSD teachers & staff are free!)
Tickets available at the door only
Questions? E-mail us at deelightfulproductions@gmail.com,
or go to our website: www.dee-lightful.org
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