Staples High School:
Staples Players’ Musical Comedy Opens Nov. 12
(Appeared on
Westport.Patch.com 11/12)
By Mike Lauterborn
© 2010. All Rights Reserved.
11/9/10
Westport, CT – A production that was initiated on the very first day of the 2010-2011 school year and involved the efforts of over 100 students will make its much-anticipated debut this week.
“Curtains”, a musical comedy with a built-in murder mystery and show within a show, will debut on Nov. 12 at 7:30pm at Staples High School, 70 North Avenue in Westport. The show is co-directed by Staples’ Theatre Teacher David Roth and his wife Kerry Long and stars the high school’s own Staples Players, teens ages 14-18.
As Roth explained, “’Curtains’ focuses on a musical that is being tried out in Boston pre-Broadway. The show within the show is called ‘Robbin’ Hood’ and is a Western version of the Robin Hood story – and it’s just as terrible as that sounds.”
“The opening number of ‘Curtains’ is actually the final number of ‘Robbin’ Hood and, at the end of it, the leading lady faints,” Roth continued. “We later find out that she has died and the Boston police suspect murder. They send in Lt. Frank Cioffi to investigate the case and sequester the cast at the theater – and he just so happens to be a huge fan of musical theater and an amateur actor himself.”
In an amusing and fortunate twist with regard to the fate of “Robbin’ Hood, Cioffi, while investigating the murder, simultaneously helps solve the problems the production is facing – a once married, now divorced composer and lyricist team, a zany British director, a controlling producer and her sleazy husband, a smarmy critic who trashes the show, etc.
Staples is presenting “Curtains” by special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide of NYC. It is based on a stage adaptation by Rupert Holmes and features music by Jon Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, the creators of “Chicago” and “Cabaret”. The original book and concept was developed by Peter Stone.
Roth notes that the book is “really really funny” and that the show is “one of the funniest musicals that people have never heard of. The music, though written less than five years ago, is classic Kander & Ebb and has a big Broadway, retro feel, in the tradition of classic musicals.”
Staples’ own behind-the-scenes production talent includes musical director Justin Miller, choreographer Joanne Kahn, technical director/set designer Dave Seltzer, costume designers Marjorie Watt and Priscilla Stampa and pit orchestra conductor Adele Valovich.
Roth, a 1984 Staples graduate who studied theater at DePaul University and acted professionally before returning to Staples 11 years ago as theatre director, has high expectations for the production. “I hope the audience will be entertained and that the kids will have a great time doing this. This is the big fall musical and should be enjoyable for the whole family. It’s really about the love of theater and being involved in theater, what Rupert Holmes described as a ‘Valentine to theater.’”
Leading cast members include Max Samuels as Lt. Frank Cioffi; Eva Hendricks at Carmen Bernstein, the producer of “Robbin’ Hood”; and Matt Van Gessel as Christopher Belling, the director of the show. Of seniors involved in the cast, nine are going on to study theater in college.
Regarding the cast, Roth said, “They’re doing a phenomenal job. This is a terrific ensemble production that showcases all our terrific kids.”
No comments:
Post a Comment