March 1, 2007

On Friday, Feb. 23, Mills Lawn students dressed for a rehearsal of their all-school production Aladdin Jr., which shows this Saturday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m., at Central State’s Robeson Performing Arts Center. Dancing harem girls, from front, Ana Smith, Maddie Denman, Gracie Wilke, Kennedy Young and Rhona Marion, moved with singular allure.

By Lauren Heaton

Swordsmen, from right, Keanan Curley, Taran Pergram, Sam Butler and Weymar Osborne put on a mean face

Swordsmen brandish their steel blades as a harem of dancers bat their lashes, and a parade of purple-clad camels, elephants and monkeys prance by to welcome a new prince to the desert kingdom. It’s a whole new world Mills Lawn School is creating in this weekend’s production of Disney’s Aladdin Jr. at the Robeson Cultural and Performing Arts Center at Central State University. Performances are Saturday, March 3, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m.

According to Becky Brunsman, kindergarten teacher and the mastermind of the fifth all-school musical production, when she inquired about Aladdin Jr. as a possibility for Mills Lawn’s next show, the guy from Music Theater International was not encouraging. The show, he told her, is one of the most difficult shows in the Broadway junior series and is recommended mainly for junior high students. It has complicated music and a drastic amount of dialogue, and it absolutely needs excellent leads to carry the story, he said.

Taylor Ford dons a camel head and Mar’ria Spears struts like a peacock.

Brunsman smiled to herself.

“Complicated music? We’ll train a core chorus to carry the harmonies. Lots of dialogue? Our kids can handle it, no problem,” she said. “Strong leads? Are you kidding? Of course we’ve got an Aladdin, a Jasmine and a genie!”

Brunsman is glad she has never seen Disney’s 1992 animated film version of Aladdin because she wants the students to bring their own personalities to this original production, she said.

“I want these kids to put their own print on this show,” she said.

And so they are. Fourth-grade student Josh Seitz, who plays Aladdin, is a bright-eyed quick study who memorized his lines long ago so he could focus on the athletic manoeuvers his part is called on to do. His favorite scene is when he gets to steal a loaf of bread in the marketplace, then jump off the risers, singing, as he escapes from the guardsmen, he said.

Though Bryce White, who plays Jafar, is new to the role of the villain, he said the change appeals to him.

Kaliyah Fulton braves the heights on the elephant’s back.

“It’s not every day you get to be the evil guy in a play, and being maniacal and laughing crazy’s pretty fun too,” he said. “It’s also at the same time kind of creepy.”

Being funny is something Megan Carlson, who plays a girl genie, adapts to well on stage because she makes people laugh in her real life too, she said. She shoots off one-liners such as, “Do these harem pants make me look fat?” and also gets to sing a solo, fly around stage with the magic carpet and leap into people’s arms, she said.

Seitz brings an innocence and vulnerability to the street urchin role of Aladdin, Brunsman said. “And Jafar gets big on stage, he grows and puffs up like a puffer fish up there,” she said.

Lilli Rudolf, who plays the role of princess Jasmine, was scared at first, she said, to be one of the lead performers on the big stage. But she has also grown into her character and now feels at ease singing in front of everyone, she said.

The 120 others with smaller parts also put a lot into their roles, which require not just lines but also an enormous amount of stage direction. Lorien Chavez, who plays a peacock, has the additional responsibilities of singing refrains to all of the songs and positioning herself to catch Aladdin at the moment when he jumps off stage, she said.

The narrators, played by Anndee Pettiford, Oliver Ruhl, Kaner Butler, Mary Louis and Cayden Tong DeFusco, are reporters from broadcasting stations such as Agrabah TV, WMLS and WYSO, who help tell the story by interjecting, butting in and “spilling all the hot gossip,” Mary said.

Amidst the chaos of the 300 students in all who are involved in this weekend’s production of Aladdin, it is the job of six-grade stage managers Paloma Wiggins and Ruth Scherr to get everyone in the right place at the right time and in the right costume and generally hold the show together. It’s a lot of work to keep everyone focused, Wiggins said, but she is up for the leadership role.

This production could not have happened without the help and support from all the teachers, staff and parents, Brunsman said.

School Facilities Manager Craig Conrad constructed the magic carpet and then agreed to operate it, with a pair of ghostly wheelchair wheels behind a black curtain. Teachers Becky O’Brien and Jeananne Turner-Smith and teacher emeritus Don Nowak helped produce and choreograph the show, and Faith Skidmore, Mary Kay Franz and Dennis Farmer have helped train the chorus. Substitute art teacher Dawn Thomas jumped in to help with costumes, and student teacher John Young has been a savior for Brunsman, who said she doesn’t know what he does, but “everybody gets better after he helps them.”

Roberta Semler made all the harem pants and jackets. Susan Hyde made 280 gold vests with the help of other parents and seamstresses, and Libby Rudolf made many of the animal props and specialty costumes for the parade.

Aladdin is sponsored by the Yellow Springs Endowment for Education, whose financial support, Brunsman said, simply makes a show like this possible. The production has also benefited greatly from operating funds donated by the Charlotte Drake Foundation.

Tickets to the shows are $3 per person. Audience members are encouraged to order tickets in advance as there will likely be a limited number of tickets available at the door on show days. Details and the order form are on the Mills Lawn Web site at www.yellow-springs.k12.oh.us/ys-mls/, along with a map to the theater.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com