CPAC Filling Spring Stage With Musicals
Cinderella is coming to Ron Bright Theatre this month, and The Wizard of Oz is not far behind.
It’s been a busy time for director Karen Meyer and students of Castle Performing Arts Center, which also is raising funds for its second trip to Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.
In fact, a silent auction will run during the Cinderella production so the audience can help send the 22-member teen troupe to perform the Gershwins’ Crazy for You – a show with plenty of tap dancing – as part of the largest arts festival on the planet.
The abridged junior version of Cinderella, meanwhile, stars more than 60 Castle Kidstart students in grades 5-8 from the complex’s eight feeder schools. Two school shows per day are booked for Jan. 28-30, with public shows at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, and 3 p.m. Feb. 2.
Benjamin Parker Elementary School students were tapped for three leading roles in the classic production: Piper Crisostomo has the title role, Elena Matavale plays her stepmother, and Isaac Scott is her prince. The young maiden’s selfish stepsisters are King Intermediate School students Ashley Hill and Alyssa Ryhn.
Meyer directs the play, while Lloyd Riford designed the elaborate sets and lights, and Alana Morton created the costumes. For tickets, order online at showtix4u.com.
The curtain goes up March 21-30 on The Wizard of Oz, which is the stage version of the beloved 1939 film. Ashley Hill (a Cinderella step-sister) stars as Dorothy, while Cinderella‘s other stepsister, Alyssa Ryhn, is her understudy).
Castle High students Jeremy Hurr plays the Scarecrow, Chevy Baker is the Tinman, Trevor Ahern is the Cowardly Lion, Victoria Rawleigh is the Wicked Witch of the West and Amy Jones is good witch Glinda.
The entire cast numbers over 40 performers, and the troupe will perform before school audiences March 25 and 27.
For more information on either play, to order tickets or to donate to the Scotland fund, call Meyer at 233-5626.
“We actually wouldn’t mind adding a few more to our group,” Meyer said of the Fringe contingent. “We particularly need a few more techies! They have to be public school students in grades 8-12, and the cost is pretty dear. But they can call me if they want more information.”
