Packed houses expected for all six performances starting
Thursday
Spring is here again and along with the flowers, the birds, the bees and the love that fills the air, the Live Oak Drama Guild will be performing their spring musical starting Thursday.
The guild will stage A West Side Story, the 1950s version of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet by Leonard Bernstein The play centers on a young man and woman, Tony and Maria, who fall in love.
The only problem is that Tony is the leader of a New York gang called the Jets and Maria is the sister to the leader of a gang called the Sharks.
According to director William Klipstine, the play is running smoothly and is on schedule for the Thursday night opening. He says he has been working with everyone since January and the work the kids have put in is amazing.
“Their work ethic is outstanding,” Klipstine said. “I don’t have to tell them to warm up their voices or stretch out.” The play is a musical full of singing and dancing that will extend into the audience.
Normally, Live Oak Drama plays are entirely student-performed, but this year an exception was made. There will be two adult cameos during the play: Steve Spencer, who will play Doc, and Loren Lewandowski, who will play Shrank.
Along with the adult cameos, Klipstine is also using two alumni for his choreography: Claudia Ponce and Jesse Sinohui who both performed in Grease in 2000.
Klipstine has used cameos in the past, including the first time he staged A West Side Story where he used alumni. This year he says he wanted to keep with tradition, along with one other reason.
“I wanted to show the difference between adults and teens,” Klipstine said. “A lot of this play is a generation conflict. Also, we ran out of males to perform the parts.”
Musical conductors for the play have been juggled, but Klipstine will be using Mike Rubino, the conductor from the original Live Oak performance of the play.
The play’s house manager, Evan Sarina, says that he is preparing for a packed house for all six performances.
“House opens a half an hour before the show starts,” Sarina said, “but I recommend you come a half an hour before that.”
The show will be performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights this week and next. The Thursday shows will begin at 7 p.m. and the Friday and Saturday shows at 8 p.m.
Sarina says the show will be a good one to see; however he as a few cautions. There will be several scenes with violence, including a rape scene, so he warns against small children seeing the play.
Sarina also asks that no cell phones or cameras of any kind be brought to the performances because of contractual reasons.
Tickets are $7 and may be purchased at the door or preordered by calling 201-6100 ext. 2173 and leaving a message.
