OCHS musical shows student actors can do
OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City High School Drama Guild is set to present the oddball romantic comedy “Guys and Dolls” this week in the Bill and Nancy Hughes Performing Arts Center.
Performances are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 23-25.
Set in Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City, the musical tells the story of two couples and their journey toward marriage.
Gambler Nathan Detroit (Andrew Pelaez) tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck. Meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer, Miss Adelaide (Khushbu Pandya), laments that they’ve been engaged for 14 years.
Detroit turns to fellow gambler Sky Masterson (Noah Baker) for the dough, and Masterson ends up chasing the straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown (Sydney Koz Chin), as a result.
“‘Guys and Dolls’ takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City, but eventually everyone ends up right where they belong,” Director Brian Schkeeper said.
Schkeeper has been with the district for 10 years, teaching music, choir, music theory, piano and other courses, and has directed community theater productions but this is his first at the high school level.
Taking over following the retirement of Robert LeMaire, Schkeeper said the difference is mostly in the experience.
“When you’re working with community or college-age kids, most of them have had more shows under their belt,” he said.
As far as the process goes, it’s virtually the same.
“We learn lines, we deal with blocking and we find a character that is believable,” Schkeeper said.
A lot of thought goes into selecting the production.
Schkeeper said he looks at what has been produced in the recent past.
“We’re trying to hit a mix so they have a wide variety of experiences and opportunities, because they all present different character needs, they all present different musical needs and dance requirements,” he said.
The skills and experience of the available actors also are taken into account.
“It’s a student crew, it’s a student cast, so we have to make sure we aren’t pie-in-the-sky choosing a show just because I like it,” Schkeeper said. “The requirements for the leads and for the supporting characters are different in different eras of Broadway writing, and so if we’re doing our kids a service, we are giving them opportunities to learn how to manage that.”
Senior Addison Guest has been part of the tech crew since she was a freshman and this year is serving as stage manager, which is a path toward directing.
She works behind the scenes keeping track of scripts, making notes about blocking, working with the stage crew and the cast, “kind of just managing people.”
Guest said it is like being “a mini director.”
“When people have questions and our director is busy, they can come talk to me and I have some of those answers,” she said, adding that during the show she calls the cues from the wings.
“Basically telling them when things will happen and making sure everything runs smoothly,” Guest said.
Last summer, Guest worked at the Ocean City Music Pier as an audio-visual tech “setting up stages, doing lights, audio, spotlights, just being a stagehand in general.”
“It was really cool because it really helped me narrow down more specifics of what I wanted to do for college and career goals,” Guest said.
The Upper Township resident plans to study lighting design at Pace University in New York City “so I’ll probably end up doing a whole bunch of different theater stuff.”
Sydney Koz Chin, a sophomore taking part in her fourth production at OCHS, said she realy identifies with her character.
“I relate a lot to Sarah. Whatever she is doing, I kind of have applied to my life. She’s very independent, headstrong in the best way, and she doesn’t need anyone to take care of her. She knows she can do it by herself,” Koz Chin said, noting she loves how the role evolves. “The whole show is about her arc and learning to let people in and learning to let people care for her. It’s a good journey for her and I love playing it every single day.”
The Ocean City resident said one of the main themes is overcoming differences.
“The missionaries in the Save-A-Soul Mission and the gamblers are two very different people, but by the end, they learn to unite as one,” she said.
Kushbu Pandya, a senior from Upper Township, said her character, the lead dancer at the Hot Box, is “just absolutely obsessed” with Detroit.
“She’s very animated; she can really go from 0 to 100 in any split second — you can see her bubbly and just absolutely so excited for everything in the future in one scene, and the next scene, she can portray such a great deal of anger — and I think it’s just so wonderful to play a character like that,” Pandya said.
Like Sarah Brown, Adelaide also changes through the production as she attempts to sway her boyfriend into growing up and committing to a life with her.
“I think over the course of the show, she goes through a real rollercoaster of emotions. She starts out very hopeful for the future, excited, but when he doesn’t show the commitment that she hopes for, she becomes incredibly upset and angry at times,” Pandya said. “By the end of the show, I think he realizes he really loves this woman and so they end up getting married.”
Unlike the actresses, the actors are not so endeared with their characters but do like portraying them.
“If I were to meet this guy, I would hate him,” said Andrew Pelaez, an Ocean City resident. “He’s such a bum. I can’t stand people like him, but he is fun to play. I think he’s good in the heart but he doesn’t commit. He’s self-indulged and just wants to gamble.”
Senior Noah Baker is excited to be taking part in his eighth production and to have a challenging role.
He said his past roles (Black Stache in “Peter and the Starcatcher,” Billy Flynn in “Chicago,” March Hare in “Alice in Wonderland”) have been like caricatures whereas Masterson is “a very nuanced character.”
“This is supposed to be a real person brought on stage, and it’s extremely daunting,” he said.
Baker also has one eye toward graduation and college.
“I have attended some shows at different colleges, and I’d say that I’m ready to enter that world,” he said, noting he is considering Rutgers University or The College of New Jersey.
“I’d like to focus on a realistic career path while being close enough to New York that I could take the train and do auditions and line readings in New York and then come back to college,” Baker said.
Also working on the production are Craig Martin, pit orchestra conductor; Paul Matusz, set construction, design, and stage crew; Steve Trauger, lighting and sound; Maura Cook, ticketing website design and box office; Chazz Dolinsky, stage crew; and Ellen Byrne, assistant director, props and costumer.
Cast and Crew
Sarah Brown – Sydney Koz Chin
Sky Masterson – Noah Baker
Miss Adelaide – Khushbu Pandya
Nathan Detroit – Andrew Pelaez
Nicely-Nicely Johnson – Nathan Lera
Benny Southstreet – Brodie Madison
Arvide Abernathy – Samuel Lowe
General Cartwright – Tegan Goodwin
Harry the Horse – Henry Costal
Big Jule – Sean Wilde
The Hot Box Girls – Julia Colangelo, Tallulah Costal, Maryn Kelley, Elizabeth Louis, Ava Nieves, Hannah Oliver, Lily Pettit, Reina Xu
Rusty Charlie – Cooper Lloyd
Lt. Brannigan – Braden Rementer
Angie the Ox – Ike Thompson
Agatha – Ingrid Pohlig
Gamblers – Timothy Arsenault, James Brown, Eddie Fuller
Ensemble – Borana Bixha, Addison Bradshaw, Sydney Burwell, Hanna Dolinsky, Violet Knapp, Myka Morris, Madelyn Saul, Brynn Sullick, Rhyan Wilkin, Tess DiAntonio, Alyssa Hopson, Olivia Morgan, Piper Quinn, Ruby Scott, Sofia Voois
Crew – Stage Manager Addison Guest, Callie Lenko, Lucia Trager, Emma Saul, Valerie Voegtlin, Edie Heywood, Scarlett Garrett, Hannah Cavileer, Giovanna Santoro, Amelia Menchin
Stage crew – Emery Lechner, Marcus Shumski, Erin Phillips
Hair and Makeup – Rachel Kelly, Katie Cruikshanks
Tech – Leo Foster, Danny Gardner, Andrew Mora
Pit orchestra – Rocco Carfagna, Gavin Glogovsky, Phoenix Wilde, Andrew Reese, Emma Rodriquez, Daisy Avila, Alexander Zyalenek
– STORY by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
