Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Watch over this

?Crazy For You? gets St. Thomas Playhouse treatment


By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Courtesy photo by Heather Black Rika Pere and Harry Dreyfuss will share stage time in ?Crazy For You? at the nexStage Theatre.

Once upon a time, at least within the past decade, Sara Gorby played ingenues. Now that she's a married woman and mother at the age of 30, she's directing others when the roles call for youth.

"It's all about young love," Gorby said. She was referring to the George and Ira Gershwin musical, "Crazy For You." The play wasn't really written by them per se. In 1992, an out-dated play was rewritten into which some of the Gerswhin brothers' most beloved tunes from other musicals were plunked.

Now St. Thomas Playhouse is getting "Crazy For You" in four performances, Thursday, March 6, through Sunday, March 9, at the nexStage Theatre in Ketchum.

This is Gorby's St. Thomas Playhouse debut as the director of a main-stage production, though she has assisted and been the choreographer of other shows.

"The most exciting thing is that I was in this show with the Dilettantes (theater group) in Twin Falls, as an actor" Gorby said. "Now it's about staging and adjusting it to fit in nexStage."

The story concerns a young man, played by Harry Dreyfuss, who is sent by his banker father to shut down a theater they own in a dead mining town in Nevada. When he gets to Dead Rock, however, he finds his creative juices flowing and romance with a local girl, played by Rika Pere.

"Harry is such a natural on stage," Gorby said of her young star. "His character wants to become a song-and-dance man. Harry can do the physicality of that very well. He has talent. And Rika is just incredible. She doesn't stop. She just belts it out there and brings it to the table every time."

Some of the stellar tunes in the show—backed by a full band—are "Someone to Watch Over Me," "I Got Rhythm," "But Not for Me," "Embraceable You," "Biding My Time, and "Nice Work if You Can Get It."

Musical direction is by Dick Brown. The stage manager is Kristy Kuntz. Choreography is by Sherry Horton and costuming is by Michelle Jefferson. Joe Lavigne designed the set, with scenic painters Judy Stoltzfus, Keith Joe Dick and Dave Almquist.

Horton said that after four shows, most of the actors are used to her now. For "Crazy For You" she's choreographed a jitterbug, a waltz and a dream sequence among other styles.

"What used to take me two hours to teach now takes 45 minutes," she said.

"They're in Sherry groove," Gorby said.

Dick Brown, Anna Johnson, Father Ken Brannon, Gorby and Horton make up St. Thomas Playhouse's creative team.

"This is a really hard musical but its fun," Brown said. "They should be very proud."

The 36-member cast also features Andrew Alburger, Scott Creighton, Phil O'Reilly, Colleen Weaver, Tim Eagan, Janis Walton, Heather Black, Susan Worst, Kristen Allen, Brita Gaeddert, Hailey Zanes and a host of other Wood River Valley singers, dancers and actors, including seven high school students.

One of the missions of the St. Thomas Playhouse is to present plays with a spiritual message.

"It's all a journey in life," Gorby said. "Both on stage and off, it's not just about the main project but the process of coming together as a community that's important. We're feeling alive. That's enough of a spiritual message."

Performances

What: "Crazy for You"

When: Thursday, March 6, through Saturday, March 8, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9, at 2 p.m.

Cost: $19 for adults and $12 for youth 18 and under.

Tickets: Iconoclast Books or call 726-5349 ext. 15.

Extra: Opening night reception at 6 p.m. to benefit the H. Edward Bilkey Memorial Fund, which provides summer camp scholarships and underwriting for musical productions.

Cost: $50. Available only at 726-5349 ext. 15.

Where: nexStage Theatre, Ketchum.




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