 |
| L - Austin Carney, Samantha Spector, Marabel Armstrong |
By Joe Straw
During the production of Xanadu I walked into the Veterans Auditorium
and waited and for my daughter’s rehearsal to finish. I found a seat in the back part of the
auditorium, pulled out my iphone, and mindlessly browsed Facebook.
Above the ruckus of the children’s chatter - getting final instructions
- someone announced, a birthday! And a few
flashes later, the kids broke out into song.
I raised my eyes from the phone because the song was as though the
heavens had parted. Never had I heard “Happy
Birthday” sung this way.
I believe the best sound in the world is the sound of children singing. Tender on the ears and with so many beautiful
harmonies it touched a chord within that stays with me today.
And I wondered to myself: Are these dee-Lightful performers that
exceptional? Or, and, am I witnessing a
once in a lifetime event? Time will tell. – Narrator.
The summer is officially over for dee-Lightful.
And don’t tell anyone but there’s a lot of little theatres
who would have loved to have had the multitudes that come to see a dee-Lightful
production. The lobby was incredibly packed
for each performance and there’s hardly any room to breath.
The first show produced was Into The Woods, Jr., by James
Lapin, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, based on classic fairy tales,
which was showcased May 14-16th 2015, and hundreds came.
 |
| Into The Woods cast |
Then there was Xanadu, Jr., Book by Douglas Carter Beane,
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, Based on the Universal Pictures
Film with a screenplay by Richard Danus and Marc Rubel. That show took place
July 9 – 11th, 2015, and again hundreds more.
And finally Disney Beauty and the Beast, Jr., Music by Alan
Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, August 12th – 15th,
2015. There seemed like thousands.
The performances were held at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in
collaboration with the Culver City Department of Parks, Recreation and
Community Service. And the Music Theatre
International, Broadway Jr. Division, made all of the performances possible.
All the shows were directed by the multi-talented Dolores
Aguanno and each show, in their own special way, found a special place in my
being.
But, my favorite was Beauty and the Beast.
 |
| L - Ben Hilsberg, Samantha Spector |
Of course, Ms. Aguanno doesn’t do it alone; there are a
number of people on board to wrangle fifty or so small performers that range in
ages from 8 to 15 years old. And the end result is just remarkable; beautiful
voices, wonderful harmonies, and movement on stage that is second to none.
This is a craft learned and sometimes it is in small
increments. And those fine folks
instrumental in helping small children learn the art of singing and dancing are
Christine Barocio, Giana Bommarito, Cindera Che, Chris Clark,
Chloe Cohen, Natalie D’Amico, Lily Fanali, Nick Freedson, Ben Hilsberg,
Merrick Padilla, Carly Shiever, Mila Tigay, Mica Williams
and Allegra Williams who is the
Choreographer.
And, you would not believe the results.
(There are also a lot of volunteers working behind the scene
making sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. And anyone with a
moment to spare is welcome to help)
One of the amazing things about a Dolores Aguanno production
is that everyone gets stage time, and even the smallest role is featured, if only for a brief moment. (A star under the lights.) And
being a perfectionist Ms. Aguanno is there every performance, offstage center,
directing – making sure things go as effortlessly as possible.
I saw two casts in Beauty and The Beast, the Crepes cast and
the Croissants cast, and I loved both shows. And there was something about the
individual performances as well as the performances as a whole that would take
you by the heart and leave an indelible impression.
And I can’t let you get away without saying something about
each cast member.
 |
| L Arden Malsin, Sarah Hager, Evyn Armstrong, Nick Freedson |
Bella Veale and Samantha Spector, as Belle, each have a
special appeal and did remarkably well.
Eli Rahamim and Nick Freedson were very funny as Gaston
and each provided glorious strengths in their portrayal. Zoe Alamillo and Evyn
Armstrong did some marvelous work as Lefou, Gaston’s trusty, or untrusted
sidekick.
Aidan Nascimento
had a marvelous characterization of Maurice, Belle’s father, and Mika Stambler, with her hair pulled
back, gave a strong portrayal.
Misha Reiss was
the Beast and was very exceptional at the dinner scene, providing everyone with
a number of laughs. Ben Hilsberg, as the Beast, was a more athletic Beast as he pounced
from one end of the stage to the other in another exceptional effort. I just
wished the hair was away from their face so that I could see the eyes.
There was much to laugh about Socorro Park and Jules
Henderson’s effort in playing Cosworth each giving their all for that
reticent character.
Lumiere was played by Eden
Tigay and Austin Carney and each
were wonderful in the “Be Our Guest” musical number. Austin Carney has a tremendous voice and did
a marvelous job selling the song. The song was certainly one of the highlights
of the show and both sang it to perfection backed by the marvelous dishes,
knives and forks wonderfully choreographed by Allegra Williams.
Katelyn Coon and Mirabel Armstrong, as Mrs. Potts, are
two terrific performers, each with their strengths, Coon has an extremely
lovely voice and Armstrong is a wonderful actor to go along with a simply splendid
voice.
Both Ayla Moses
and Cate Schilling were very cute as
Chip.
(Funny, I didn’t see a “Mr. Potts”. His fall from the cupboard must have proved
fatal while Chip only suffered minor injuries.)
Babette was played by Brooke
Rosenbloom and Mica Williams and
both did extremely well but the costume was such that we were at a loss to what
household item she was. More feathers
for the feather duster please! Both were very funny in the role.
Mila Tigay and Sophia Martin-Straw both demonstrated a
lot of poise in the role of Madame de la Grande Bouche and both were grande
throughout.
The Narrators were excellent, each with their own brand of
storytelling. The Narrators were Malia Reiss, Arden Malsin, Elena Hilger, Grayson Lee, Bella Hilger, Makena Reiss and Sarah Hager.
I particularly liked the enchantress Kacey Oschack and Mira
Saville coming out of their old costume and into their beautiful dresses,
and each having their own dance to break the spell.
Monsieur d’ Arque was played by Sam Jassim and was funny, a little offbeat, and mysterious all in
the same breath.
Doing a delightful job as the Bookseller was Madisen Matsuura and Anna Kite was the baker.
This was a huge cast and the other members of the ensemble
who lifted the show into the stratosphere are:
Evangelia Garza, Sara Herscovitz, Sam Jassim, Anna Kite,Grayson Lee, Spencer Lee, Madisen Matsuura,
Annelise Reilman, Caelyn Salzmann, Ben Sanderson, Reese Schiffman, Layla
Starr-Weiner, Sasha Framularo, Sarah Hager, Eva Hooten, Arden Malsin, Malia
Reiss, Mira Saville, Sadie Tlusty, Josie Winkel, Olivia Andrews, Bella Hilger,
Elena Hilger, Maya Matsuura, Colette Miller, Cosette Okker, Kacey Oschack,
Makena Reiss, Natalie D’Amico, Ben Hilsberg and Misha Reiss.
I enjoy going to as many dee-Lightful Productions as
possible but sometimes I miss a few performances. I did not see the Baguettes
Cast but they do deserve a mention. They
are by order of cast member first then actor:
Belle – Hazel Cupp
Gaston – Merrick
Padilla
Lefou – Cali Kimura
Maurice – Nick
Freedson
Beast – Ben Hilsberg
Cogsworth – Jessie
Grimaldo
Lumiere – Lily Fanali
Mrs. Potts – Isabel
Parra
Chip – Josie Hooten
Babette – Piper
Samuels
Madam de la Grande Bouche – Julia Smith
Villagers – Mira
Saville, Kacey Oschack, Ben Sanderson, Reese Schiffman
Enchantress – Malia
Reiss
Monsieur d’Arque – Sam
Jassim
Bookseller – Madisen
Matsuura
Baker – Anna Kite
Ms. Aguanno has been doing dee-Lightful for many years. It sure would be nice for this company to
have their own home.
No comments:
Post a Comment