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The young actors of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket present
To them, the show's older, veteran actors (the oldest is 21) are the gods of theatre - the standard bearers and the role models. She expects them to behave at all times with the nobility and the politesse of their characters. "I've said, especially to kids who have been with me in the past, that they are setting an example for the younger ones. When they walk in, especially when Cinderella walks in, the temperature of the room changes for the little girls," said Gallagher-Byrne, who was set on two things when she assumed the show's directorship: that the show maintain all the classic poise of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's famous script - with all the numbers you remember, like "Ten Minutes Ago" and "In My Own Corner" - and that she cast only young actors.
Gallagher-Byrne has been teaching drama to Nantucket kids for years now. She worked with many of the older actors when theirs were the little faces tilting up towards bigger actors, dreaming of who they might be on the perform- ing side of the red curtain. At the end of an eight-week rehearsal run, the 28 cast members (ranging in age from 7 to 21) are readying themselves for 12 performances with no understudies. "It's fun to be a mentor and watch these people I've known since they were little kids be able to stand up in front of peers and pull it off," said Gallagher-Byrne, whose music director for the show is Robert Behrman, who is known for being able to help young singers improve without intimidating them.
The show's prince, 18-year-old Bryan Chitester, began his young acting career as one of Gallagher- Byrne's middle school students performing in "Oliver." "And he is Prince Charming," Gallagher-Byrne said. "He is incredibly charming and has a great way of delivering these lines, which can sound kind of schmaltzy, in a way that makes them ring true. I told my Cinderella all she has to do is look into his eyes, listen and respond." Gallagher-Byrne worked with her Cinderella, Lia Newman, when Newman played Rosie in "Really Rosie." That Gallagher-Byrne has been able to stage a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical in its original state with island performers - from the actors all the way to ballerina Julia Wendelken - bespeaks the talent on this island.
"It's a true book musical, and they've embraced the language." The director kept the show as true to its original staging as possible. In the wake of all the recent Cinderella remakes, Gallagher- Byrne wanted to show both the young actors and the young audience members how beautiful the "old" can be. "I feel like I've seen so many people modernize Cinderella, and it doesn't need to be modernized. There's nothing like a classic book musical, and what I said to the kids is that we're not modernizing this show in any way, shape or form," said Gallagher-Byrne, who even encouraged the female cast members to wear skirts to every rehearsal. "I wanted them to get used to how that feels. If they came in wearing flip-flops and jeans, they knew they would be given the evil eye." The young cast has the backing of some remarkable adult talent. Set designer Eric Schultz is creating a fairy tale wonderland, Sarah Horne has fashioned a treasure chest of a costume closet and local puppeteer Joe Zito is even constructing a pumpkin carriage for the show. All this support buttresses the young actors' understanding of what it really takes to make the glass slipper of fantasy fit on the foot of the theater. "They're realizing how much goes into this and that it is a privilege to be able to entertain large audiences," Gallagher-Byrne said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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