Barbequing Hamlet at South Lake High School 1/10/2013

 

What can be as rewarding as being a part of a production of a classic Shakespearian play like Hamlet? How about trying to direct the prestigious play with a tiny cast of odd balls in an old funeral home with added “old west” flair? Well, that is exactly what the characters of Barbequing Hamlet had to do.

South Lake High School in Groveland put on dinner and a show for their winter production. The drama club teamed up with the culinary class to create this fabulous evening for everyone. The meal was a delicious down home barbeque chicken dinner with all of the fixin’s made by Chefs Candace Huxhold and John Thunberg and the students of the South Lake High Culinary Arts Department.

The actors performed a rousing rendition of Barbequing Hamlet for their dinner guest. This play gives theater goers a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes of a production. In this case, we get to see what happens behind the scenes of a particularly dysfunctional production but this makes it all the more entertaining! Marissa Weis plays Margo the wide eyed and idealistic director from New York who comes to direct the Community Theater’s production of Hamlet. She is instantly greeted by Sarge (Mario Gutierrez) who is only there to “set up chairs” and the unenthusiastic board of commissioners.

Margo is discouraged by the small group of people that shows to audition. Each character offers their “best” audition and the pizza boy (Dalton Kersey) just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and get’s cast as well. But things get even crazier when the board decides they want to be in the play too because they play must now carry an old west theme.

The play brings together quite the group of quirky community members. The board of commissioners includes a Negative Nancy named Hope (Skylar Sorensen) who is upset she wasn’t chosen to direct, Duncan (Austin Kry) and Tamara (Heather Harris) who both try to make the best of everything and don’t see the problem with using an old funeral home for a theater or any other odd problems, and Mary Beth (Leta Palmer) the treasurer who diligently takes notes on an “Avengers” notepad.

In addition to the unfortunate board Margo must work with a unique cast as well. Those who audition are Lamar (Cody Howard) who when he’s not stuttering his way through the audition is trying out new accents, Zoey (Madison Gilbert) who is often brutally honest, Opal (Shana Nichols) who just wants to play with swords, Theadora (Maddie Drawdy) who is the only one in the play with any experience but she lets that get to her head and the only saving grace for Margo is when her boyfriend, Hal (Payton Coppage) shows up.

It was a riot to watch these guys stumble their way through a “rootin tootin” rendition of Hamlet. South Lake does has done a great job this year making their productions up close and personal. And with such an amazing cast who can help but love these guys?

It’s a Wonderful Life by the Caponi’s Cannolis 12/19/2012

Although the holidays can often be stressful, one sure fire way to snap back to reality is to watch the classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life. The film is so popular that is has been translated to radio and the radio show is so popular that it has been translated to theater and the theater production is so popular that is has been translated for the Caponi’s Cannolis School of the Arts.

The Caponi’s Cannolis put on a fabulous dinner show at the Wesley Center in downtown Clermont this Christmas season. They performed the touching holiday story so perfectly that it was hard to keep dry eyes at some points.

The cast of It’s A Wonderful Life was comprised of upper elementary and middle school students while the younger Cannolis performed a fun opening act which was a showcase of the entire years’ best performances. All of the children did a wonderful job as they entertained their dinner guest.

It’s A Wonderful Life is a radio show acted out on the stage. The characters were in traditional 1940’s attire and used a few props, but instead of an extravagant set, certain sound effects were used to draw audiences in. For example, a box of cornflakes would be shaken to sound like snow or a small door was opened or shut every time a character entered a new room.

The stars of the show are George Bailey (Harrison Keaton) and Mary Hatch Bailey (Katie DeCouto) who both touched everyone’s hearts the night of the play. Some other honorable mentions are Ainsely Berg as Clarance the Angel, Noah Johnson as Uncle Billy, Joshua Rose as Potter and Violet Hewett as Violet. Of course the entire cast and crew did a magnificent job and the work put into this production was highly evident.

The Caponi’s went out on a limb to direct a children’s version of this play which is usually performed by adults. And with the slight risk they reaped a big reward because the show was a hit.

The Caponi’s Cannolis School of the Arts encourages students to express themselves through
the arts and the kids sure seem to have a fun time doing it. The next Caponi’s Cannolis show will be Beauty and the Beast, Jr. which will run in June. For more information about future shows or classes visit http://www.caponimusic.com.