Tea parties and princesses will be in the spotlight when Adrian’s Croswell Opera House stages Disney’s “Cinderella KIDS”

Set for Feb. 8-10 and Feb. 16-17, the program includes a bonus tea party luncheon prior to the Saturday matinees on Feb. 9 and Feb. 16.

“The tea party luncheon is $15 per person and includes an opportunity to meet, mingle and get a photo taken with a Disney princess and to do a make-and-take princess art project,” said Jere Righter, artistic director for the Croswell.

Tickets for the tea party are limited and should be purchased in advance by calling (517) 264-7469.

The play tells the timeless fairy tale of Cinderella, mistreated by her wicked stepmother and stepsisters and denied the chance to attend the royal ball. With the help of a fairy godmother, Cinderella attends the ball where she meets her handsome prince and falls in love.

John MacNaughton, creative director for the Croswell, is directing the show.

“Part of the Croswell’s mission is to educate, so doing shows involving children is a natural,” he said. “Providing this opportunity is important to children.”

MacNaughton said he encouraged the children performing  in the show to share their ideas and many of those ideas are being used in the production.

“The pride they take in knowing they came up with a good idea is visible,” he said.

The show’s tea party has been a popular feature in the past with parents and grandparents.

“The Croswell has done princess tea parties in the past and parents and grandparents seem to love having this experience with their little girls,” he said. “They come in princess gowns, the whole nine yards.”

Nearly 100 people auditioned for the show, about 80 of them younger than 12. There are 40 in the cast, MacNaughton said.

“One of the challenges is to make sure the children are meaningfully involved in the story and this group is,” he said. “They provide a lot of the comic relief and are in substantial roles, helping to tell the story.”

“Even though this is a fairly simple story, I thought the roles of the stepmother and stepsisters were too demanding for a younger person to handle,” MacNaughton said. “The three actors I cast — Joyce Lancaster, Kayla Henry and Sarah Garofalo — are hilarious.”

MacNaughton said the show is filled with comic elements, which he found surprising. There are several performers new to MacNaughton who have brought “wonderful comic talent to the show,” he said.

“Noah Beasley as the Town Herald is about 10 and I predict we’ll see him for many years to come,” MacNaughton said. “Another surprise came with Anthony Isom. He’s in his early 20s and has never been in a show and his wacky sense of comedy is a joy to watch. Another new performer for me is Sarah Garofalo, who understands the wicked stepsister Anastasia in the funniest way.”

Music director for the show is Peggy Snead. Ashley Nowak is choreographing the show, while Leo Babcock is the scenic designer. Tiff Crutchfield is lighting designer, Tyler Miller is sound designer and costumes were designed by Emily Gifford. Beth Hale rounds out the backstage crew as the production stage manager.

“Kids’ shows talk to the kid in me,” MacNaughton said. “I love a good pratfall and silly jokes. And coming up with the sets and costumes is always fun, too — lots of color and glitter is usually involved.”

Curtain times for Disney’s “Cinderella, Kids” are Friday, Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 9 and Feb. 16 at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 10 and 17 at 1:30 p.m. An additional evening performance on Feb. 16 will be staged at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students and seniors 60 and older, and $5 for children 10 and younger, and are available by calling (517) 264-SHOW (7469) or online at Croswell.org. Tickets also are available at the door at the Croswell box office, 129 E. Maumee St. in downtown Adrian.

MacNaughton said he never pictured himself as someone who would enjoy doing children’s theater, but he’s discovered he does.

“I absolutely love the enthusiasm kids bring to rehearsals,” he said. “Doing shows designed for a young audience gives me license to be absolutely ridiculous, which is fun.

“This cast of kids seems especially attuned to theater. The choreographer mentioned how quickly they learn choreography and the music director is astounded at the sound the mice chorus makes.

“We’re building the next generation of theater professionals with our children’s shows.”

Cinderella is played by Mallory Erwin, who is a newcomer to the Croswell. A high school student at Hillsdale Academy who lives in Adrian, Erwin “possesses a wonderful sincerity and grounded quality that separates her from her mean and cruel step family,” MacNaughton said. The stepmother, played by Joyce Lancaster, and the stepsisters, played by Kayla Henry and Sarah Garofalo, are adult roles. Michelle Force plays the Fairy Godmother, Matthew Pettrey is Prince Charming, Rob Pettrey is the king and Melanie O. Maneesha is the queen. Other cast members include: Madelena Arriaga, Rachel Bauer, Noah Beasley, Caleb Becerra, Allison Beougher, Brock Boze, Cole Carrico, Rio Doyle, Carly Edinger, Ella Edinger, Audrey Force, Brenya Glisson, Kyle Haeussler, Emma Hammond, Rebekah Hays, A.J. Howard, Anthony Isom, Alexandra June, Emily Kilpatrick, Gabby Kisor, Isabelle Kisor, Arielle Osstifin, Payton Perry-Radcliffe, Ethan Pettrey, Carson Pickles, Leah Reasoner, Arielle Richardson, Julianne Schoonover, Hannah Shindler and Javyn Skeels.

Tags: A.J. Howard, Adrian, Alexandra June, Allison Beougher, Anthony Isom, Arielle Osstifin, Arielle Richardson, Audrey Force, Brenya Glisson, Brock Boze, Caleb Becerra, Carly Edinger, Carson Pickles, Cinderella, Cole Carrico, Croswell Opera House, Disney, Ella Edinger, Emily Kilpatrick, Emma Hammond, Ethan Pettrey, Gabby Kisor, Hannah Shindler, Hillsdale Academy, Isabelle Kisor, John MacNaughton, Julianne Schoonover, Kyle Haeussler, Leah Reasoner, Madelena Arriaga, Mallory Erwin, Noah Beasley, Payton Perry-Radcliffe, Rachel Bauer, Rebekah Hays, Rio Doyle

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2013 at 11:41 am and is filed under Star, Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

After 23 years of marriage, Michael and Betsy Lackey are doing something they haven’t done before — co-directing “Miracle on 34^th Street.”

So far, it’s an experience they have enjoyed, the couple said.

“It’s been fun,” Michael said. “We’re having a great time.”

The hit Broadway musical, based on the successful 1940s movie, will be staged Dec. 7-9 at the historic Croswell Opera House, 129 E. Maumee St., in downtown Adrian. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 9. Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for students and seniors and $15 for children 12 and younger.

The Lackeys are no strangers to the Croswell stage. They met in 1980 on the set of “Pajama Game,” playing opposite each other, and married in 1989. Michael has spent the last six years with “Phantom of the Opera” in Las Vegas and Betsy is pleased to have him back home. Doing the play together has been rewarding.

“We work well together,” Betsy said. “We keep each other in check. When one is frustrated, the other steps up and the first steps back.”

Adds Michael, “Another cool thing is that Betsy is far more experienced as a director while I have more acting experience. Plus we write music together and that is helpful in working on this musical.”

The hit show was originally titled “Here’s Love” for the stage. Written by “The Music Man” composer Meredith Wilson, the show features the familiar holiday theme, “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.”

“Meredith Wilson is known for his ‘patter songs’ and his marches,” Betsy said. “So this is kind of like a 1960s version of a rap musical.”

The couple knew they wanted to make a few changes when they agreed to direct.

“One of the first things we did was change it back from the 1960s to the 1940s,” Betsy said.

“It has been interesting because we have to change all those references to things that weren’t around in the 1940s,” Michael said.

Another challenge for the couple is the size of the cast.

“We have 59 people in this cast and it is huge,” said Betsy.

The show blends Christmas, kids and music into a memorable performance.

“The kids are adorable — they steal the show,” Michael said. “They’re cute, they’re wonderful, they’re hysterically funny.”

The show includes a variety of performances showcasing the children’s talents, including acrobats, a ballerina en pointe, a Dutch girl on roller skates and others in the opening scene, set during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

The plot is the story of Kris Kringle, portrayed by Mark Hyre, an old man who claims to be the authentic Santa Claus. The controversy surrounding his claims eventually spreads the spirit of the season far and wide, even bringing competing department stores Macy’s and Gimbel’s together.

The Croswell production features Allison Siebold of Toledo as the suspicious and practical Macy’s executive Doris Walker while Arielle Osstifin of Tecumseh portrays Doris’s daughter, Susan.  The cast has exceeded the Lackeys’ expectations, in part because of the way they have chosen to stage it.

“We brought in more experienced actors to work with the new actors and they become this great team,” Michael said.

The play “has become this great big learning experience for everyone — including Michael and I,” Betsy said.

The musical isn’t a commonly-staged show, so much of what has been done on the stage and in the rehearsals has been up to the co-directors. Because it’s not as familiar to casts, crews or audiences, the process has been a learning experience from the start.

“This isn’t a show you’d see in Ann Arbor or Dexter,” Michael said. “It’s not one people know. But it’s really a lot of fun.”

In addition to working on the directing end, Michael also served as “scenic painter” for the production.

The Lackeys agree the experience has been rewarding.

“It’s been a surprising and happy experience,” Michael said. “We’ve got a good company and it’s a good show.”

For more information, call the Croswell at 517-264-SHOW (7469) or visit www.croswell.org.

Tags: Adrian, Croswell Opera House, Miracle on 34th Street

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2012 at 6:21 pm and is filed under Arts and Life, Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The classic story of a guy and a girl stranded with a flat tire on a dark, rainy night in November will hit the Croswell Opera House just in time for Halloween.

Yes, “The Rocky Horror Show” is returning to the stage with all of the oddball, grotesque and strange elements that have made it a cult classic since it was first performed in the 1970s.

Eric Parker, Adrian High School alum and Siena Heights University graduate, is directing the production, staged Oct. 19-21 and 26-27.

“I would never have guessed when I was in college that this show that I thought was so stupid would turn out to be something I’ve been involved in at least 15 times,” Parker said with a grin. “This is the third time I’ve directed and acted in it at the Croswell.”

Parker will play Riff Raff, a servant in the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played with relish by Paul Manger of Toledo. Manger’s last Croswell role was Thomas Jefferson in the 1998 production of “1776.” Scotland Mills of Adrian is Brad Majors while Katy Kujala of Commerce Township, Mich., is Janet Weiss. Rounding out the cast are Kyrie Bristle of Adrian (Magenta), Alison Siebold of Perrysburg (Columbia), Gary Lundy of Adrian (Eddie), Kevin Underhill of Adrian (Dr. Scott), Zane Dickerson of Adrian (Rocky) and Tom Studnicka of Adrian (Narrator). There are also 11 in the ensemble: Lavina Flores, Sarah Garofalo, Ian Graves, Gretchen Hall, Kayla Henry, Chloe Kelley, Kyle Krichbaum, Rob Kuschell, Brian Miller, Jessie Monte and Ashleigh VanNieuwenhze.

The cast of the Croswell Opera House production of ‘Rocky Horror.’ PHOTO BY LAD STRAYER, COURTESY CROSWELL OPERA HOUSE

Parker said the biggest challenge in staging “Rocky Horror Show” is the limited talent pool at this time of year.

“People have a lot of other activities going on, so getting a good cast together that can make it to rehearsals is a bit of a challenge,” he said.

Parker, most recently featured in “Obsession” as Victor Frankenstein and in “Avenue Q,” which he also directed, has been involved in theater since his childhood. A 1992 graduate of Siena Heights, with a degree in theater, Parker calls the stage “my real job.” When he’s not in Adrian working with the Croswell, he’s at The Barn in west Michigan or at Tommy Gun’s Garage in Chicago, where he performs musical numbers as Knuckles Andwich. Besides the Croswell, Parker has staged “Rocky Horror” at The Barn at least dozen times.

“It’s a naughty show and we are advising folks that it is R-rated,” Parker said. “It is adult content, adult themes and adult language. There’s a horrifying ice pick murder in the show. Definitely not for kids.”

The musical, a spoof of classic sci-fi films of the 1950s, features such tunes as “Sweet Transvestite,” “Science Fiction Double Feature” and “Time Warp.”

“This show has a lot of familiar music,” Parker said. “People will recognize it.”

Another challenge of the script, he said, is in its latitude.

“The characters are so closely identified by the movie that people have their expectations,” he said. “There is danger in the latitude of the script — you can do it sloppy or you can do it tight but people want to participate how they want to participate and you want them to be able to do this.”

In fact, “participation packs” will be available for purchase at the door for $5. The packs will include glow sticks, poppers, noisemakers, playing cards, rubber gloves and newspapers.  Patrons are invited to come in costume to the production, according to artistic director Jere Righter.

“We encourage people to yell and to throw things,” Parker said. “But we don’t want them throwing hot dogs, rice or toast.”

Todd Schreiber of Whiteford, Mich., is the musical director for the show.

“I’ve worked with Todd before on this show and he knows what cuts I like,” Parker said.

Stephanie Stephan of Toledo is the choreographer and Cindy Farnham is doing costumes. Tiff Crutchfield of Ann Arbor is the  lighting designer and Tyler Miller of Adrian is the sound designer.

“It’s really rewarding to be at a place like this in my life,” Parker said “This is the 35th show I’ve done in this building. Seeing how I’ve progressed from the time I was a kid to being a director is fulfilling. If I didn’t do theater, I don’t know what else I would do.”

Remaining show times are Friday, Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. and a special midnight encore Oct. 27. Cash bar and doors open 30 minutes before showtime.  Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for seniors ages 60 and older and students with a valid ID. They can be purchased at the Croswell box office, located at 129 E. Maumee St. in downtown Adrian, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets also are available by phone at (517) 264-SHOW (7469) or online at www.croswell.org.

Tags: Adrian, Croswell Opera House, Halloween, Rocky Horror

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 at 9:51 am and is filed under Star, Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

“Legally Blonde,” the musical version of the hit movie, opens June 15 at the Croswell Opera House.

The show, which charts the journey of fashion merchandising major Elle Woods from sorority sister to successful law school student, is a perfect pick for a fun Croswell event, according to executive director Jere Righter.

“Most people know this as a movie with Reese Witherspoon, but the story line translates so well to music and the characters are larger than life,” Righter said. “The day the rights became available for community theater I secured them for this spot.”

The “spot” Righter refers to is part of the Croswell’s annual “Great Big Night” fund-raiser.

“We have an opening night pre-party with dinner catered by the Hathaway House, a full bar, a small live auction and then after the show, there is a dance party out in the street in front of the Croswell.”

Patrons may purchase tickets for all three events for $100. Pre-party tickets are $50 while admission to the show is $28 and the post-party, $25. Tickets are available by calling (517) 264-7469 or by logging on to croswell.org.

“We are creating some faux magazine covers to decorate the library for the pre-party,” she said. “It’s clever and cute. The pre-party is a great way to support the Croswell and we’ll also be presenting the Lenawee Arts award.”

Righter is thrilled with the upcoming show.

“The play centers around Elle Woods, who should be someone you don’t like,” Righter said. “She’s so into fashion, pink is her signature color, yet she’s funny, smart, moral and wants to do the right thing.”

Marlena Hilderley of Tecumseh is cast as Elle. A student at the University of Michigan where she is studying vocal performance and music education, Hilderley has a long list of Croswell credits, including “High School Musical 2,” “Fame,” “A Chorus Line” and “Hairspray.”

“I really like the play,” Hilderley said. “I liked the movie and I started listening to the soundtrack when I found out the Croswell was doing it. I found I really liked the soundtrack — Elle is the kind of character I like to play, a challenging role. She’s perceived as superficial but on the inside, she’s not.”

Hilderley said one difficulty in playing the role of Elle is finding a balance between being likeable and overly obnoxious.

“She sees that she actually belongs (at Harvard) and that she’s meant to be there after all.”

Jen Letherer, a theater and film professor at Spring Arbor University, is directing “Legally Blonde.”

“One of the things that makes the character dynamic is that she’s fun, she doesn’t dwell on things that aren’t important throughout the entire play.”

Letherer said it is important to understand the nature of the story and not feel compelled to depend on gimmicks.

“Any moment in a successful play comes from performers and the strength of the production,” she said. “So here we look at how we can make what is natural work, look at what is the real intention of the play and how we can make it work. In other words, not looking for the easy laugh but for what a character would really do.”

Letherer praised her cast and the talent they will bring to the final production.

“We have 20 cast members but they are all utility players, playing a lot of different things, and they understand the nature of the space, the community and the time,” she said. “We have a strong choreographer in Deb Calabrese and a great musical director in Dave Rains. Those are major essentials for me and it contributes to the fun (of staging the musical).”

Letherer said the “rehearsals are a joy.

“This is a delightful group of performers who understand how to make the play wonderful for them and for the audience.”

Selecting the right show for the fund-raiser is a challenge.

“For all our musicals, which run from May to December, we are looking for shows that have broad appeal but also we have to be confident we can cast a show,” Righter said. “For June, for our ‘Great Big Night,’ we wanted something uplifting and fun and in this show, we have it. We have a show that has a message of loyalty, integrity and intelligence winning out but it’s told in a clever and fun way so it’s not heavy-handed.”

Besides Hilderley, the cast includes David Blackburn of New Boston as Warner, Darin DeWeese of Ann Arbor as Emmett, Natasha Ricketts of Adrian as Paulette, Mark Hyre of Tecumseh as Professor Callahan, Callie Cothern of Tecumseh as Vivienne, Ashley Greer of Bedford as Margo, Abby Dotz of Saline as Pilar, Katie Ialacci of Temperance as Serena, Hallie Toland of Holland, Ohio, as Brooke and Emily Wyse of Wauseon as Enid. The ensemble cast features Ryan Chang of Onsted, Dan Evans of Adrian, Mia Gladieux of Perrysburg, Kyle Krichbaum of Adrian, Jocelyn Near of Sand Creek, Austin Olano of Onsted, Alissa Reeder of Tecumseh, Austin Terris of Saline and Brandon Wright of Toledo.

“There is something for everyone in this show,” Letherer said. “It has had a wonderful life with MTV and that generation, there are lots of really fun parts, a lot of humor and a lot of heart.”

Tags: Croswell Opera House, Jen Letherer, Jere Righter, Legally Blonde, Marlena Hilderley, Renee Lapham Collins, “Great Big Night” fund-raiser

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 at 8:05 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Think of it like a four-course meal for the ears — and the heart. That would be John Thomas Dodson’s advice for listening to the latest concert planned by the Adrian Symphony Orchestra (ASO), set for April 28 at the historic Croswell Opera House. Curtain time is 8 p.m.

“Enchanted Garden” is the final offering in the Croswell trilogy for this ASO season and it features music by Maurice Ravel, Ottorino Respighi, Sergei Prokofiev and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

“This is a really beautiful concert,” Dodson, the concert’s principal conductor, said. “Every conductor thinks his or her concert is beautiful but I think in this case I’m truly not gilding the lily when I say it. It really is enchanted music.”

Opening the concert is Maurice Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite,” a work Dodson considers “a look at childhood viewed from a very adult perspective.”

“Ravel’s take on the ‘Mother Goose’ stories is a musical, self-aware innocence, a daydreaming look at how ugliness is transformed through character,” he explained. “It’s the kind of innocence you can only have if you’ve lived past your innocent years.”

Dodson said the Ravel is filled with birdcalls and some of the most sensuously beautiful music ever written.

“It has a softness, a rounded quality — with a full range of the colors of the palette available,” he said. “The orchestration has the instruments doubling — that is, a musician will play the flute, then put that down and pick up a piccolo or another will put down the bassoon and pick up the contrabassoon. The result is a deceptively simple, yet deceptively sophisticated piece with a remarkable sound.”

John Thomas Dodson, music director of the Adrian Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Jean luc Fiévet

The suite is divided into five “stories,” including “Sleeping Beauty,” “Tom Thumb,” “Empress of the Pagodas,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Fairy Garden.”

The story hiding inside the fairy tales, Dodson said, “is the idea of how beauty is brought about by risking dealing with something which is ugly or unavailable.”

For instance, he said, the listener hears this in the orchestra when the Beast is transformed into a prince because of a woman’s willingness to love and in another place, when the serpent king is able to love the ugly princess, Dodson said.

“In the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ there is a blurry moment in the music, and suddenly that which was not beautiful is absolutely perfect. You can almost see what Ravel is illustrating,” he said.

Like words on a page evoke images in the mind of a reader, so it is with a musical score. A reader hears with his or her eyes.

“You open a book and begin to read, it begins to form a sound, an image, a feeling,” Dodson said. “A score is the same.”

For Dodson, looking at the musical notes on their staffs, with key signatures and treble clefs helps him to hear with his imagination as he plans the music for a concert.

“I was trying to map out ‘Mother Goose’ and came to this moment in the final movement. Ecstasy is how I would describe that moment,” he said. “The ecstasy of sound.”

The goal of “Enchanted Garden,” Dodson said, is to take listeners on a journey. He said once he pictured the four titles together and “played with the order until it was right,” he knew what he wanted soloist Pip Clarke to play.

“For all the softness of the Ravel piece, Prokofiev’s ‘Violin Concerto 2’ in G minor has the crunch,” Dodson said. “It is salt and pepper, sweetness and salty, very much a foil to the Ravel.”

Prokofiev’s work is a signature piece for Clarke, a violin virtuoso born in the United Kingdom.

“The nature of the harmonies ramps everything up in this music, it’s spicier in a way,” Dodson said. “After the ravishing quality of the Ravel, we now have this quality of lively music, with a very Russian soul, a sardonic humor, a cleverness.”

In the finale, Prokofiev chooses the “right wrong note, a bit of a pinch” to demonstrate “not everything is meant to be a furrowed brow.” Prokofiev uses expectation and shock to “pull you out of whatever you may be in,” Dodson said.

The first movement carries the sound of a Russian folk song and takes the soloist from the simplest materials to the most demanding passages, he said.

“The next movement is a simple harmonic pattern overlaid with a sublime and ecstatic violin melody,” Dodson said. “Then the last movement is the jester. The composer lets notes come out to relieve the heaviness, a sarcastic, acerbic sound with explosive energy right up to the very end.”

The second half of the concert opens with the opposite of Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending,” which premiered in 1920. Dodson described the work as “the flight of a single lark, a love song of Williams to the English pastoral landscape.

The violin is on either side of the intermission and then “we’re finally back to the land of enchantment with ‘The Birds’ by Respighi.

“This piece goes back to baroque music, illustrating different bird calls and sets them in modern orchestral garb,” Dodson said.

Although music carries an aural definition, most of Dodson’s preparation is done in silence.

“The work of a musician is to imagine,” Dodson said. “It’s really a creative act, you re-create, you look at the score, trying to imagine what it sounds like. Your work is to try to find within it the best balances or particulars you’ve noticed that you think the composers want the audience to hear. What is silent is turned into sound. Ultimately, it is an act of love.”

For information and to purchase tickets, call (517) 264-3121 or order online at www.adriansymphony.org.

Tags: Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Croswell Opera House, John Thomas Dodson, Maurice Ravel, Ottorino Respighi, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sergei Prokofiev

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 at 12:10 pm and is filed under In Concert.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

• NOTE: Win tickets to this show by watching our Facebook page

A long time ago (about 30 years) in a galaxy far, far away (Hawaii), a young Canadian boy named Charles Ross was taken to a theater by his father to see “Star Wars” for the first time. Actually, he saw two movies that day — they were showing a double feature of the original film and “The Empire Strikes Back.”

“But he didn’t tell me that it wasn’t the end of the story. I was convinced that the sort of lame tone left over at the end of ‘Empire Strikes Back’ was the way the story actually ended. And I was like, ‘What a bummer of a story!’ I was really angry at George Lucas for doing that,” Ross said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star.

His dad did eventually tell him that another movie was still on the way, and thus a lifelong fandom of “Star Wars” began in earnest — one which has manifested itself in the show that Ross performs, “One Man Star Wars Trilogy.” He will be at the Croswell Opera House in Adrian, Mich., on April 21.

Charles Ross

“It’s basically me onstage — with no costumes, sets, props or real talent —me, onstage, retelling the original, bad hair, 1970s-1980s ‘Star Wars’ trilogy, basically using my own body and my own impressions,” Ross said.

“It’s really a tongue-in-cheek homage to ‘Star Wars.’ It’s probably as close to watching an 8-year-old kid pretending to be all the characters in ‘Star Wars,’ except that I’m trapped in a 37-year-old body.”

Ross’ familiarity with the films — or at least the first one — extends back to his childhood growing up on a farm in western Canada, far from the range of conventional television signals. If he wanted to watch TV as a kid, he had to watch a videotape.

“So, I had the first ‘Star Wars’ film recorded off of television from before we moved up there, we had ‘The Blue Lagoon’ with Brooke Shields, if you ever saw that film — and be happy I don’t do the ‘One Man Blue Lagoon’ — and the other film was actually the miniseries ‘Shogun,’ which had Richard Chamberlain in it. It was something like an eight- or nine-part miniseries, and it was missing the last 20 minutes of the final episode. And I never had any idea how it ended! Once more, I just thought it was a bummer of an ending.”

As a result, whenever Ross wanted to watch TV, he watched “Star Wars” — over and over again. Four-hundred times before he was 10, by his count. And as an adult, his familiarity and love for the film led to the idea to perform it onstage himself.

“It was sort of a slow process. I ended up trying to do the first film — it ended up being about 25 minutes, sort of like a comedy sketch, just to see if people would get it. And I was surprised at how much people got out of the 25-minute thing.”

The positive response led to Ross developing the full show with director TJ Dawes as a full, one-hour, one-man show — 20 minutes per film in the trilogy.

“It was perfect; I started to tour this on the fringe theater festivals,” Ross said. “I was able to tour it around America and around Canada, and basically tap into all the fandom of ‘Star Wars.’”

That’s when LucasFilm first heard of the show.

“They were completely intrigued, because I wasn’t using any artwork from ‘Star Wars,’ I wasn’t selling ice cream bars with my face on it — it was just simply one guy, three films, on a stage, and celebrating the love of all things ‘Star Wars.’ So they were totally up the alley of letting me keep doing it.”

Ross performs with the full permission of LucasFilm and said he is genuinely thrilled to get the chance to share his love of “Star Wars” with audiences.

“The weird thing is, I never set out for this to be the case. It’s odd to think that I kind of arrived at that place, having never actually set out to arrive at that place. It was something where it was kind of a lucky mistake, or a bit of a fluke.”

Tags: Adrian, Brooke Shields, Charles Ross, Croswell Opera House, George Lucas, Jeff McGinnis, One Man Star Wars Trilogy, Pop Goes the Culture, Richard Chamberlain, Shogun, Star Wars, The Blue Lagoon, The Empire Strikes Back

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 at 9:21 am and is filed under Star, Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The “Greatest Story Ever Told” has been recounted in various forms over the past two millennia and, in 1981, popular folk singer Harry Chapin penned the music and lyrics to “The Cotton Patch Gospel,” a musical written by Tom Key and Russell Treyz, based on Clarence Jordan’s book, “The Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John.”

The musical kicks off the Croswell Opera House 2012 season with performances April 13-15 and Sunday, April 15. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. for Friday and Saturday performances. Matinee performances are at 2:30 p.m. April 14-15. Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for students and seniors and $15 for children 12 and under. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling (517) 264-SHOW (265-7469) or at the door.

The familiar stories of the Bible are transplanted to rural Georgia, with Gainesville as a stand-in for Bethlehem, Valdosta for Nazareth and Atlanta for Jerusalem.

From left, Barb Vaught, Rick Vaught, Michelle Miller, Margaret Hyre, Charlie Steffens, Marianne Steffens. Seated, James Swendsen.

Director Joyce Cameron of Clinton, Mich., said she first saw the film a few years back.

“At first, I thought it was the strangest, hokiest thing I’d ever seen, but it grew on me,” she said. “When I found out the Croswell was producing this show, I asked who was directing. They said they didn’t know so I suggested myself.”

She got the job. Cameron said she loves the Passion story and “I wanted to help tell this quirky version.”

The music of Harry Chapin also drew Cameron to the production.

“I have always loved Harry Chapin and folk music,” she said. “This is the bluegrass ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’”

Imagine the Gospel of Matthew set in Georgia in the 1960s and all of the possibilities for character interaction and that is “Cotton Patch Gospel,” according to Cameron.

“We held auditions at the Croswell and decided to take all those who could read and sing well, regardless of their looks,” Cameron said.   “This is a show that needs a wide variety of people, looks and ages.”

“Cotton Patch Gospel” is James Hanley’s third Croswell production. A political science professor at Adrian College, Hanley toured with a college drama group when he was attending Greenville College in Illinois, but had not performed in more than 20 years when he landed a role in “Of Mice and Men” in 2009.

Johanna Hanley has been in five Croswell shows and had no professional theater experience.

“My only stage experience was in college and community choruses,” she said. “I became interested in being onstage after I was working at the Croswell and volunteered to be part of the chorus in ‘A Christmas Carol’ when they needed more adults. It was so much fun, I wanted to do more.”

The Hanleys’ three daughters, Olivia, 14; Ivy, 10; and Ava, 9, are joining their parents onstage.

“They all have been onstage at the Croswell before and have small roles in this production,” Johanna said.

Cameron, a music teacher at Clinton Community Schools for the past 22 years, earned her bachelor’s degree in music from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and her master’s degree in music education from Western Michigan University.

“My theater background is all experiential,” she said. “I started out performing in musicals in junior high and have continued right up until recently.”

Cameron has four children. Her youngest is playing Young Jesus in the show, one of a handful of actors playing multiple roles throughout the production.

Also in the cast are James Swendsen of Adrian as Jesus and Mark Hyre of Tecumseh as Matthew. Josie and Michelle Miller and Rick and Barb Vaught of Adrian and Margaret Hyre, Charlie Steffens and Marianne Steffens of Tecumseh round out the cast. The bluegrass band for the show, which joins the cast onstage and gets involved in the action, is led by David Rains of Adrian on keyboard, Amy Marr of Britton on fiddle, Nate Bagby and Jeremy Blaska of Tecumseh on guitar, Chris Livesay of Saline on bass and Mark Palms of Manchester on banjo. Rains is the show’s music director.

Tags: Adrian, Croswell Opera House, Harry Chapin, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Cotton Patch Gospel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at 10:50 am and is filed under Star, Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Back in 2005, in McAllen, Texas, a team from Disney wanted to do a theater project to attract the area’s large Hispanic community. They worked with the local high school to develop a script of “Aladdin” in English and Spanish.

The result is a story that even if you don’t (understand) both languages, you can still understand the story.

The dual-language script caught Croswell Opera House artistic director Jere Righter’s interest in part because Lenawee County also has a sizable Hispanic community and she felt this “Aladdin” would appeal to a larger audience in the community. “Aladdin” will be staged at the Croswell on March 16-17 and 23-25. Creative Director John MacNaughton is directing the Disney musical. “White Christmas” was his most recent production.

“The Spanish is a challenge,” said Cody Robison of Tipton, who plays the title character. “I don’t have an extensive background and memorizing the script is difficult enough along with that. The translation can sometimes be hard to act out, due to the differences in the emphasis on the words.”

Aladdin (Cody Robison) and Jasmine (Candace Ostrander) on the flying carpet. Photo by John MacNaughton/Croswell Opera House

Robison, 18, is on his 10th show and his second at the Croswell. Most recently, he was in the October production of “The 39 Steps.” Robison attended Onsted Schools and is currently enrolled at Jackson Community College studying theater. He hopes to transfer to a four-year school, but said he has not yet found “the right college.”

Fifteen-year-old Candace Ostrander of Manchester is starring as Jasmine, the princess who flees the oppression of her sultan father’s household.

“I like Jasmine, she has kind of an attitude, she’s sassy and standing up for what she believes in,” Ostrander said.  “Her father, the sultan, is forcing her into a marriage and she runs away after an argument — it’s a real teenage moment.”

“Aladdin” is Ostrander’s seventh Croswell show. Most recently, she appeared as Aunt Em and the Pizza Boy in the Croswell’s production of “The Wiz,” and also was featured in “White Christmas,” “Obsession,” “Dora the Explorer” and “Footloose.” Theater is a career she “definitely” plans to pursue.

“I love to sing and act,” Ostrander said.

Stuart MacDonald, magician and the producer behind “The Haunting” haunted house, plays the Genie.

“It’s a pretty cool role because I’ll be totally blue and bald,” MacDonald said with a grin. “And I’ll probably be sweating a lot, too!”

MacDonald first appeared on the Croswell stage when he was in the sixth grade, with 2004’s “Grease” being his most recent production. He said he has not had a solo on the Croswell stage since he was in high school.

“The Genie is a wild character, kind of manic in a Robin Williams way,” MacDonald said. “I still have a lot of polishing to do, but it is getting there.”

D.D. DuRussel of Manchester will play the part of Jafar, the evil royal vizier to the sultan’s household, who pursues Jasmine and Aladdin. DuRussel also is a familiar face to Croswell-goers, having played the rocks and the Whale in “Dora the Explorer” and the Surfing Dude Sun in “Blue’s Clues.”

“The music is so familiar that it is a joy to sing,” DuRussel said. “Jafar is so deliciously evil and conniving that I am sure to give many a child nightmares.”

DuRussel has acted in numerous shows, starting at the old Black Sheep Theater in Manchester and later in Opera! Lenawee productions and Tecumseh Players’ musicals.

“When I was a kid, my mother was always asking me, ‘Don’t you know how to act?’” DuRussel said. “So, I’m always learning — always acting. If the audience leaves knowing how important the truth is and to always be yourself, then our work here is done.”

The production will feature a flying carpet and other special effects, including lots of magic tricks,” along with a chorus of about 15 children, MacNaughton said.

“They are hilarious and fun,” he said. “I’m enjoying it. They are either this tall,” he said, gesturing with his hand at his knee, “or this tall,” gesturing with his hand at his shoulder. “And it works!”

MacNaughton is keeping the pace moving to accommodate the children in the audience.

“Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ is a well-known movie and we’ll have flying carpets, lots of magic, lots of bright colors and lots of movement and energy. It will be a real spectacle and the kids will know all the music,” he said. “This is a chance for people to see it live.”

Tickets are available at the Croswell, by calling (517) 264-SHOW or visiting the website at www.croswell.org. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children 5 and younger. The show opens Friday, March 16; curtain times are 6:30 p.m. for evening shows and 1:30 p.m. for the Sunday matinee.

Tags: Aladdin, Croswell Opera House, Disney, the Croswell Opera House in Adrian

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 at 10:24 am and is filed under Star, Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Although the stereo in the background isn’t playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s symphony No. 40 in G minor, K.550, the melody and rhythms are ringing in John Thomas Dodson’s ears. He’s punctuating the rising and falling musical notes with his hands, maestro-style, as he hums them, describing one of Mozart’s most recognizable works.

“This is a very unusual symphony,” said Dodson, music director and conductor of the Adrian Symphony Orchestra (ASO). “It was written in the later part of Mozart’s career — just three years before he died — and even though its composition is solidly classical, one part of it is aimed forward at what might be — a new era of music.”

At the performance, the ASO will present the Mozart symphony along with Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major” and a premiere of a work by American composer Robert Jager titled “Of Things Remembered,” from which the March 10 concert takes its name. Curtain time in the historic Croswell Opera House is 8 p.m. An hour beforehand, Dodson will talk about the music at a free classical conversation presentation in the theater. Dodson said he got the idea for the concert after receiving the composition in the mail from his mentor and friend Jager, who lives in Tennessee. The work was written for a couple Jager knows and who are known in classical musical circles for their piano virtuosity. Jager’s composition will be sandwiched between the works of two of the world’s most beloved composers. All three share symphonic themes.

John Thomas Dodson, music director of the Adrian Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Jean luc Fiévet

“Mozart wrote two versions of the Symphony No. 40,” Dodson said. “We’re doing the original version, which has the flute, oboe, bassoon and horn. Most people never get to hear it because the second version, with clarinets, is more widely performed. The clarinets change the symphony — they darken it, but I wanted to connect the original scoring to the Beethoven concerto we’ll also have on the program, so we’ll perform the first version.”

Beethoven’s second piano concerto was the composer’s first major orchestral work, Dodson said.

“It has the same orchestration as Mozart’s 40th Symphony, so having them juxtaposed one against the other makes for an interesting concert,” he said.

Mozart and Beethoven both composed their works in 1788. Dodson said Beethoven’s piano concerto and Jager’s composition contain nods to classical composer Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and Mozart’s concerti were the model for the Beethoven work, which gives the March 10 show an added dimension of musical history.

The Mozart symphony, Dodson said, “is very condensed in the materials Mozart uses.

“In the beginning, the famous little sighing phrase with a leap up that is then filled in with descending notes — that material pervades the whole first movement,” he said. “You hear its rhythms, its melodic shape throughout, even while he makes every measure sound fresh and new. It’s never predictable, and a closer look at the remainder of the symphony reveals that he never really leaves any of that behind. It’s the same DNA throughout the symphony — truly  remarkable, innovative and unique.”

In the same way, Dodson hopes to show a progression from the all-strings sound of the Feb. 11 concert, adding winds, horns and a piano soloist for the March 10 event. This will lead to a final full complement, with brass, percussion and harp April 28 with the “Enchanted Garden” concert featuring works of Prokofiev, Williams, Respighi and Ravel. Having all three of the concerts in the Croswell, Dodson said, is icing on the musical cake.

“The dimensions of the Croswell correspond to what Mozart and Beethoven would have hoped to have had for these works,” Dodson said. “This repertoire really shows off the theater.”

Guest soloist Rieko Aizawa will make her fourth appearance with Dodson and her second with the ASO.

“She was the pianist for my first concert here as music director,” Dodson said. “She has a fabulous technique; it is very elegant and clean. She has a real sense of the classical style, it fits her temperament and what she does well.”

Even after 11 seasons with the ASO, Dodson continues to develop awareness and knowledge of the people he works with.

“I wish the audience could see the instrument cases of all the musicians,” Dodson said. “Their open cases are filled with 3 by 5 photos of kids, cats, cousins. This is a unified orchestra, but also one full of individual stories and relationships. That’s one of the gifts of this field. I’m mindful when I make music that it is steeped in the matrix of people, relationships and human beings.”

Piano virtuoso Rieko Aizawa to make second ASO appearance

Piano virtuoso Rieko Aizawa will make her second appearance with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra on March 10.

Rieko Aizawa

Aizawa, born in Kobe, Japan, moved to the United States just after her 15th birthday to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she completed her undergraduate degree. She earned her master’s degree from The Juilliard School in New York City, entering graduate school at the age of 19.

“Because of visa restrictions I had to finish high school and Curtis at the same time,” she said.

Although her aunt was a piano teacher, Aizawa is not from a family of musicians and really didn’t plan to be a concert pianist.

“I actually wanted to quit piano when I was about 13,” she said. “I’m glad I didn’t. Coming to the states and working with wonderful teachers and colleagues definitely changed my life. It made me realize how inspiring music is for me; it allows me to keep working and growing.”

Aizawa said music is “a big palette of colors which you don’t see but which let you feel emotional nuances.”

For the March 10 concert, Aizawa will be playing one of her favorite composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G-minor, Kv. 550, along with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The Mozart symphony, one of the last three he would write, was composed for piano

and orchestra.

“I love Mozart,” she said. “I also love Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, especially his chamber music. I enjoy listening to Stravinsky, too.”

Aizawa said when she prepares for a concert, such as the one on March 10, “You can’t avoid actual physical practice, of course, but even if I’m working on a piece I’ve already performed before many times, I always try to find ways to experience it in a fresh way.”

Her gigs take her around the world. Each year is different, but she said, she usually performs 50-60 times a year, as far away as Japan, where she will visit her parents and as close as New York City, where she now calls home. One of her most memorable concerts was performing a Mozart concerto in Vienna’s Konzerthaus. Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

“It was a wonderful experience,” she said. “I’ve also performed Ravel’s concerto in Russia with [ASO] Maestro [John Thomas] Dodson several years ago and that was a memorable country to visit in many ways.

“I’m looking forward to collaborating with him and his orchestra again in Adrian,” she said.

If you go:

• What: “Of Things Remembered” concert
• Who: The Adrian Symphony Orchestra
• When: 8 p.m. March 10.
• Where: Croswell Opera House, Adrian
• Tickets:  Premium seating: $25 adults, $23 seniors, $13 students; General seating:  $22 adults, $20 seniors, $10 students. For ticket information and to purchase tickets, visit www.adriansymphony.org.

Tags: Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Croswell Opera House, Franz Joseph Haydn, John Thomas Dodson, Ludwig van Beethoven, Rieko Aizawa, Robert Jager, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Featured, Music, Star.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

After playing every male character in “Spring Awakening” on Broadway, Lucas Wells is taking it easy playing only the lead role in the Croswell Opera House’s production of “Hairspray.”

“I jumped at the opportunity,” Wells said. “I love this show, and I wanted to come home and see my family. I wanted to do a musical again, too. I hadn’t done one for a couple of months.”

Wells, a Lambertville native, was not involved in theater while growing up. After playing in “The King and I” in the first grade, he didn’t perform until his sophomore year at Bedford High School. He dropped basketball to be in “Les Miserables.” He played the leads in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Footloose.”

“In my senior year, I realized this is what I want to do for a living,” Wells said. “I didn’t do a whole lot of it growing up. I was in choirs. I learned how to sing that way and by listening to ‘N Sync.”

The cast of "Hairspray."

He saw “Spring Awakening” during Christmas break of his freshmen year at Sienna Heights University.

“It was the first Broadway show I ever saw,” Wells said. “I was sitting there thinking, ‘I can do this, too. I could be in this show’.”

Wells and his roommate recorded an audition video in the girls’ bathroom in the performing arts center because of its good acoustics. After receiving dialogue and music from the show and sending in another video, he was flown to New York City for a series of seven auditions in four days.

“It was pretty crazy,” Wells said. “[Composer] Duncan Sheik was there. He is one of my idols. It was very intimidating, but it was also one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

Sheik must have liked what he saw, because Wells was cast as the understudy for every male role, a first in the history of Broadway.

“It was crazy when they told me that’s what I’d be doing,” he said. “I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ I knew I could do it though. There was a bit of me in every one of those characters, so it wasn’t a stretch for me. Sometimes I felt a little schizophrenic. There was a time when I played all six roles in a matter of a week and a half. It was pretty crazy.”

The “Spring Awakening” tour ran from August 2008 until May 2010. Since then, Wells starred in “The Who’s Tommy” and performed in four Tennessee Williams plays. He also did a workshop for “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.” He is going to England this summer to continue working on the musical and hopes to be cast when it hits Broadway this fall.

The transition from Michigan to New York has been smooth for Wells.

“I feel like I was born for it,” he said. “It’s really high paced, and I’m kind of a high-paced person. It’s non-stop auditioning. You always get more no’s then yeses, so you have to have thick skin. You never know what your next job is. It’s a little scary, but I like that.”

Wells is also pursuing a career as an author with two plays in the works. The first is based on serial killer Dennis Rader and the devastation his children face after discovering his lifestyle. The other play is slightly more lighthearted.

“It’s based off the funny stories of my family,” Wells said. “I come from a huge family, so I felt I had to write something about them. I’m the seventh of nine children with six boys and three girls. We’re all very close.”

He plans to hold workshops for the plays in the fall of 2012, possibly at the Croswell. Wells also plans to write a musical with close friend and musician Sam DeArmond.

Before tackling any of those projects, Wells has another week ahead as teenage heartthrob Link Larkin in “Hairspray.”

“Link has been a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s not what I’m used to, because it’s a funny role. I’m not used to this lighthearted comedy. I usually do more serious acting. I’ve really enjoyed this. It’s a role I’ve wanted to play for a long time because it’s a cool singing role for a tenor.”

Bridget Harrington, a junior at the University of Toledo, stars opposite Wells as his love interest Tracy Turnblad.

“He’s easy to play off of with all he gives to the stage,” Harrington said. “I feel really good about the connection we have.”

“Hairspray” plays at 8 p.m. on June 24-25 and at 3 p.m. on June 26. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors and students and $15 for anyone younger than 12. Visit Croswell.org for more information.

Tags: Croswell Opera House, Hairspray

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.