WCHS Takes On Broadway/Hollywood Debate In 'Stage Door'
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Which is better - acting on Broadway or in a Hollywood film?
Terry Randall (Ariel Howard) loves the New York stage, but Hollywood beckons her to the silver screen. She's torn between her love of Broadway and making it big in Tinseltown.
To see what she decides, see Warsaw Community High School Drama Department's production of the Broadway classic "Stage Door."
Performances at the WCHS Performing Arts Center are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults.
Set in the 1930s, Terry lives in a boarding house for girls in New York. She begins dating a playwright, Keith Burgess (Jake Kolton), who initially has the same goals as she, but then goes to Hollywood. He urges her to follow him. But then Terry meets a Hollywood producer, David Kingsley (Andrew Morris), who has come to New York. He falls in love with the stage.
Director Dana McAfee said that with the many school cancellations because of weather, the cast hasn't had much time to rehearse. However, in the time they've had, she said, they are doing a great job.
"People will enjoy it immensely," she said.
The 1937 film version of "Stage Door" starred Katharine Hepburn, but was vastly changed from the play version.
Forty-three students make up the cast and crew of the WCHS production. A comedy/drama, the cast of the three-act "Stage Door" includes Ashley Skaggs as Bernice Neimeyer; Emily Readle as Olga Brandt; Haley Owen as Mattie; Liz Watson as Mary Harper (Big Mary); Laura Long as Mary McCune (Little Mary); Melody Vida as Madeleine Vauclain; Erin Mills as Judith Canfield; Molly Lewis as Ann Braddock; Susan Grothouse as Mrs. Orcutt; Jenna Moore as Kaye Hamilton; Tara Akers as Linda Shaw; Bebhinn Priest as Jean Maitland; Ally Ferber as Bobby Melrose; Lawney Francis as Frank; Alyssa Taylor as Louise Mitchell; Kristen Schwenger as Kendall Adams; Sanda Fredericks as Susan Paige; Cecilia Southworth as Pat Devine; Ariel Howard as Terry Randall; Zach Tucker as Sam Hastings; Shay Dixon as Jimmy Deveraux; Chris Moyer as Fred Powell; Shawn Bianchini as Lou Milhauser; Andrew Morris as David Kingsley; Jake Kolton as Keith Burgess; Marissa Vogel as Mrs. Shaw; Tim Savage as Dr. Randall; Laura Eberhardt as Tony Gillette; Abby Schwenedeman as Ellen Fenwick; Josh Savage as Larry Wescott; Trey Kempton as Billy; and Max Heckert as Adolph Gretzl.
