Buried Secrets
This World Premiere musical, ghost story is written,
directed and choreographed by Matthew B. Zrebski. It is playing at the Y/P Studio of Oregon
Children’s Theatre, 1939 NE Sandy Blvd., through November 11th. For more information, go to their site at www.octc.org/yp-company
One’s “salad days” are full of discoveries and angst now,
especially with the conventions of social media. Personal relationships are done from afar,
via texting, e-mails, cell phones, and the many other distracting ways of
communicating, preventing us from actually touching another human being, or
even the outside world, for that matter.
We are, perhaps, like the characters in this play, existing in a Hell of
our own making.
For those of you that might want to put this in some context
with familiar surroundings, it does have some common elements to the musical,
“Rent,” with a band of like-folks railing against their smothering atmosphere;
or, the short story/play, “Silent Snow, Secret Snow,” with a child’s descent
into madness, perhaps; or, the thriller, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” about
a group of teens that are hiding a tragic secret. All relevant, in some ways, to this story.
A girl, Vix (Averyl Hartje) is seemingly trapped in a closet
in a school by an unknow intruder and her lifeline to the outside world is her
cell phone, or is that the purpose of her calls? An outcast student, Gailen (Isaac Ellingson),
is seemingly trying to make contact with each member of this band of
brothers/sisters but for what purpose?
And three sets of teens are trapped in a snowstorm and all getting
mysterious messages and phone calls, revealing intimate secrets of their lives. Who’s responsible…and why?
The pairing of the students are Tala (Ella Carson), a very
determined girl, who has a boyfriend, Lionel (David VanDyke), who wants to take
their relationship to the “next level.”
Then, there is the gay drug dealer, Shea (Xavier Warner), who has a
budding relationship with, Brock (Asher Ross), an emotionally, fragile
individual. And, finally, there is Ravyn
(Julia Meyers), a popular girl in school who has formed a bond with Mindy (Kai
Tomizawa), a girl going through more than one personal crisis in her life.
In the end, they will all confront their fears, and secrets
will be unearthed. But, I cannot tell
you more without being a spoiler.
Zrebski has written an extraordinary play with songs that give each
person their moment to shine…and the do sparkle beautifully! This is a story that could easily be sent to
other educational institutes to be performed, as well as having a life as an
Off-Broadway production.
The set is simple but effective and the visuals (Lucas
Welsh) add much to the production. The
acting and singing is first-rate (after all, they are Y/P students, who are always at the top of the class, in my book!). The women, Carson, Meyers, Hartje and
Tomizawa, especially, have powerful voices and nailed their songs. This is a production with some very heavy
material, zeroing in on the modern teens, so be aware of the frankness of these
situations.
And a special shout-out to Dani Baldwin, Education Director
at OCT and Y/P, and her staff. Her
students, because of the learning they get here, are the most prepared, in my
opinion, for not only a possible career in the Arts, but also Life itself. They learn to work as a team and build
self-confidence, all while groping and grasping for the Gold in a safe
environment. Even the far-off stars are
not beyond their reach!
I highly recommend this show. If you do choose to see it, please tell them
Dennis sent you.
--DJS
No comments:
Post a Comment