In summer the big red barn of Pier One Theatre on the Homer Spit booms with enthusiastic laughter as young actors learn their craft at youth theater camps. When ice fills the harbor and a chill winter breeze blows, the building shuts down for the season. That doesn't mean theater has to stop — including youth theater. Since February, under the Musical Theatre Program, a collaboration between the Homer Council on the Arts and Pier One Theatre, adult and young actors have been learning musical performance skills. Friday, a cast of 27 youth and 11 adults show off what they learned with "Andy." The musical shows Saturday and Sunday and continues next weekend.
Photo by Michael Armstrong
The cast of "Andy" sing "It's the Hard-Knock Life."
Though the performance should please theater fans, the Musical Theater Program's intent is to give elementary and middle school age youth musical performance and theater opportunities. "'Andy' is the tool being used," said HCOA director Gail Edgerly. If the plot of a mop-haired orphan trying to find a home seems familiar, that's because "Andy" is really the musical "Annie," with the gender of the lead role changed to fit the boy playing the part, Falcom Greear. At age 13, Greear already has been wowing Homer audiences with his singing. He's performed in two "On the Wing" Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival concerts and in a solo concert in the fall of 2010. "With such a gifted voice, it needed to be showcased," said "Andy" director Brenda Dolma. Greear also doesn't wear the traditional curly red hair of the role. "We're just going to go with his beautiful, brown curly locks," Dolma said. The Musical Theatre Program came about from Pier One Theatre director Lance Petersen's desire to make theater year-round in Homer. Dolma, a retired school teacher, has run "TheatreShakes," a theater program using the plays of William Shakespeare, the past two falls. High school age students could perform in musicals through Homer High School's annual spring musical, but younger students lacked musical theater opportunities. HCOA also runs a performing arts program for new performers like Greear called the Emerging Performers Program. This year, the Emerging Performers Program was integrated into the Musical Theatre Program to gives youth more musical opportunities. "This was really targeting an after-school age group that hadn't had the opportunity to experience musical theater," Dolma said. For youth ages 8 to eighth grade, the Musical Theatre Program adds a new component: adult mentors. With the idea of producing "Annie," now known as "Andy," the program recruited adults to play older roles like the mean orphanage director Miss Hannigan and Daddy Warbucks, played by Michael McKinney, sporting a distinguished chrome-dome. Christa Collier plays Miss Hannigan, a role she dives into with undisguised glee. She doesn't just chew the scenery — she spits it out and makes it a six-course meal. With the large cast of young roles and some solid adult roles, "Annie" works well for the Musical Theatre Program idea. "There are both youth and adult cast members, so adults have additional roles as mentors," said Edgerly. Having adults working closely with young actors proved to be a learning experience, Dolma said. "It's a wonderful relationship. It's not one adult who's bossing you around," she said. "There's an adult you can go to." Although "Andy" had an audition, it was only to decide who would play which roles. Everyone in the Musical Theatre Program gets to be on stage. Most of the young people play orphans, with some lines split among actors to give as many as possible a speaking — or barking, in the case of the dog Sandy — role. Rehearsals this week worked on keeping the large group of young actors focused. Dolma and choreographer Breezy Berryman taught them a vital part of theater: what to do when not speaking and how to move to support other actors. By the end of rehearsals on Monday, they'd begun to pull it together. If it looked a little rough, well, they are tough-luck orphans. Pier One Theatre is an old uninsulated city warehouse, so even in high summer it can get a bit chilly. May's frosty temperatures made the theater downright cold. "It was like working in an orphanage in the 1930s," Dolma said, joking. "It's a little method acting." In rehearsals on Monday, Greear sang the musical's signature tune, "Tomorrow." On stage with only Jackson Sarber as Sandy, the other actors sat in the back of the theater, fidgeting a bit. When Greear sang "The sun will come out tomorrow," the children fell silent, and when he finished the song, they broke out in spontaneous applause. "Whoever comes will be delighted with our young people," Dolma said. "They've worked so hard." The Musical Theatre Program received funding and support from Wells Fargo Bank and the Alaska Association of School Boards Initiative for Community Engagement. Homer resident Donna Rae Faulkner, who used to manage the Initiative for Community Engagement, helped with the Musical Theatre Program. The Homer Foundation and the Alaska State Council on the Arts also supported the Musical Theatre Program. For video clips of rehearsals, visit www.homernews.com. Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael. armstrong@homernews.com. When:
7 p.m. Friday, Saturday3 p.m. Sunday7 p.m. May 24, 25, 26, 27
Where:
Pier One Theatre on the Homer Spit
Cost:
All tickets $10 at The Homer Bookstore, Homer Council on the Arts and at the door. For reservations call 235-7333
Cast:
Composer: Charles Strouse
Lyricist: Martin Charnin
Librettist: Thomas Meehan
Director: Brenda Dolma
Musical director: JulieAnn Smith
Choreography: Breezy Berryman
Aspen Etzwiler Orphan Tina
Falcom Greear Andy
Morgan Brown Taylor
Olivia Glasman Tessie
Liam James Ken
Vianne Sarber Molly
Clara Stading Orphan Jessie
Lillian Sweeney Orphan Rosa
Maya Kelly May
Simon Lopez Keith
Sophie Morin Orphan Angel
Elizabeth Prescott Pepper
Brita Restad Orphan Kirera
Fiona Rich Orphan Shyanne
Jackson Sarber Sandy
Eleanor Sweeney Orphan Ruby
Emmet Wilkinson Max ( twin)
Ruby Allen July
Roan Rediske Orphan Kyle, Apple Seller
Madilynne Elkington June
Cassidy Wylde Orphan Finney
Rowyn Cunningham Dog Catcher
Marina Greear Moon
Halen Hernandez Duffy
Kaylynn Bunnell Buffy
Nolan Bunting Lt. Ward
Jessica Williams Grace Farrell
Margaret Quarton Miss Drake
Peter Norton Rooster
Maura Gibson Lily St Regis
Sierra Smith Annette
Kate Rich Cecile
Robin McCallistar Mrs. Greer
Tim Quinn Mr. Bundles
Donna Ridener Mrs. Pugh
Michael McKinney Daddy Warbucks
Christa Collier Miss Hanningan
