theater
BY ANNA GRACE
Lifting the Age
Limit
Teens take over cast of Shedd
Theatrical’s Sweet Charity
A
young woman shows up in New York City with her
heart quite literally on her sleeve. This innocent
is taken in by every type of con man imaginable,
as she tries to make a living as a taxi dancer at the seedy
Fandango Ballroom.
A perfect cautionary tale for teens, right?
Whether or not they get the message, the folks at Shedd
Theatricals have seen fi t to let young people take over the
telling of Sweet Charity, which opens Thursday, June 14, at
the Shedd. Teens make up nearly one-third of the cast.
These talented youths are chatting in a crowded, colorful
jumble in the Jaqua concert hall when I pop in to ask a few
questions about singing and dancing in the adult world of
Shedd Theatricals.
“My fi rst show here was really intimidating,” high-
school senior Liza Clark says. “But I’ve been the token
child around here for a long time. I’ve learned a lot.”
Laura Sue Hiszczynskyj
and Dylan Stasack in
Sweet Charity
From fi guring out what to do at a dance call to developing
a background in the history of American musical theater, the
performers appreciate getting a leg up in the theater world
at a young age.
Zoe Muellner, who at 21 claims elder status at the interview,
says, “We’ve learned to do a really quickly paced show,”
with less than three weeks of rehearsal. All those present,
who represent the solo-singing stars in their respective drama
programs, understand that to make it as actors they need to
learn to be a cohesive part of the chorus. “And it’s a lot more
fun,” says Emma Sohlberg, who played the leading role of
Kate Fothergill in last summer’s Girl Crazy.
But it’s important to note that although educative at
heart, the Shedd isn’t running a charity school. They cast
these kids because they’re good. “We don’t play around,”
says Shedd executive director Jim Ralph. “We expect them
to act like adults.”
Classifieds
Page 22
Actor Matthew Woodward notes that it is easier to work
here than in a more lax setting. “Here we’re under union
rules, we’re professionals.”
Kids like working under rules? When I ask which union
rule they fi nd most valuable, the answer is unanimous.
“Breaks!” says UO student Tatiana Young. “We get
breaks.” Here the young actors dissolve into a discussion
of theater horror stories: former directors keeping them
reading notes until midnight; being stuck in tech-run hell for
hours on end; and never being able to go to the bathroom.
“You have to respect your fellow actors,” Clark says.
Under these rules, the young actors feel respected in turn.
And they deserve it. These students are a nice
representation of the extremely skilled young performers
now cutting their teeth in Eugene. Local high school and
college students from UO and Lane Community College
make up the bulk of the group. Dylan Stasack and Sohlberg
both attend the University of Michigan where, according to
Tony Award-winning director and writer James Lapine, they
are “turning out the best young musical theatre performers
in the business these days.” Stasack notes that, “less than
two percent of all who audition get in.”
When I asked about playing taxi dancers (dime-a-dance
girls, one short step from a prostitutes), the young women
were unfazed. Young says that as an actor, “You’re gonna
be playing characters who do things that you wouldn’t do.”
Sohlberg concurs, “Theater is about real people with real
stories.”
But for all their maturity and talent, 19-year-old Stasack
is still playing opposite a 40-year-old woman he’s known
since before he could drive a car.
Contending that nothing happening on stage is about
how many years an actor has been plodding the globe,
Stasack notes that “it’s about the characters, and how they
are connected.”
Talent, it seems, has no age limit.
ew
Sweet Charity runs June 14-17 at the Shedd; theshedd.org or call 434-7000.
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