THEATER: Bye, Bye Birdie

“Kids! What’s the matter with kids today?” If you went to see Bald Eagle Area Drama Club’s production of BYE, BYE BIRDIE this past week you may decide that not a single thing is wrong with the kids today. Any group that would work so hard to entertain the rest of us is doing just fine.

The production was extremely well done and it is going to be impossible to spotlight all of the special talents. The orchestra sounded great. I enjoyed the overtures and was delighted that at no point did they overpower the actors.

Costumes were authentic. It is fairly easy to get period formal wear, but it is almost impossible to find night gowns from fifty years ago. People have a tendency to wear them out.

Sets were inventive and set changes went as smoothly as possible. The cast deserves credit for staying in character during the changes.

The cast proved that there are no small parts in theater. Meghan Shiels as the mayor’s wife and Katie Snyder as the tap-dancing secretary stole their scenes. We hope to see more of them in future productions.

Photo courtesy of Drew Frank, Meadow Lane Photography

The show was cast perfectly, starting with Conrad Birdie himself. Benjamin Leskovansky has the voice and movements of a genuine rock star. It was clear that he and his fans were having the time of their lives. This was his first musical and I understand that he had to be convinced to try out. We are very glad that he gave in to the pressure.

Maggie Mehalko is no stranger to the Bald Eagle stage and she made a perfect Rose Alvarez. Not only did she handle the singing, but was surprisingly good in her big dance number.

Richard Spicer is also one of Bald Eagle’s veterans. His Albert Peterson was the convincing blend of Momma’s Boy and Romantic Lead. He even got away with dancing to “Put On A Happy Face”.

The difficult part of Albert’s mother was played by Dale Haagen. Her going from domineering mother to an attempt at “vamping” Birdie was charming as well as funny.

There is not room to mention how sweet Lexi Holderman was as Kim MacAfee or how grumpy Cliff Smolko was as her father. Carol Fayman was the understanding mother and Colton Lucas the kid brother. Their tribute to Ed Sullivan was a delight.

Every other person on stage deserves to be mentioned as well. I always watch the actors in the back during the big production numbers. Credit goes to each of them for staying in character while the leads did their thing. That is a hard thing to do.

Bald Eagle is very lucky to have so much support from the school as well as the parents in the district. Eric Brinser, play director and orchestra leader, and co-director Lindsey Allison deserve a big thank you. It was a good year for drama at BEAHS.

I am sorry that the high school shows are over for the year, but I understand that we will be seeing some of them at Boal Barn this summer. …..and of course, there is next year.

Pictures of the production, taken by Drew Frank of Meadow Lane Photography, can be viewed at:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.413067975374069.114048.118844971463039&type=1

EVENT: RSVP Volunteer Recognition Luncheon

The 27th Annual Retired and Senior Volunteer Program  (RSVP) Volunteer Recognition Luncheon was held at The Penn Stater in State College on the 27th of May.

Over thirteen hundred retired and senior men and women contributed 69,000 hours of community help this past year. At least 130 different groups are involved with such things as helping with tax forms, providing transportation for veterans to doctor appointments, aiding the Toys for Tots program, manning thirteen food banks, helping with flu shots, monitoring our local streams, writing letters for the very successful Pen Pal Program, and so on.

RSVP Director, Brian Querry, welcomed everyone with the Abraham Lincoln quote, “When I do good, I feel good.” Jane Taylor, Office of Aging Director, gave her thanks to all of the volunteers present and suggested that more help could be used.

Centre County Commissioners Steve Dershem, Chris Exarchos, and Michael Pipe added their thanks. Chairperson Dershem stated that this event was the most awe-striking event that the commissioners attend.  The invocation before the meal was given by Robert Kidder.

Volunteers celebrating from five to twenty five years of service were recognized. Each received a pin and the warm applause of the audience.

Receiving special recognition for achieving aver 500 hours of service for the year 2011 were:

2012 RSVP Special Recognition Recepients

Patricia Breger
Sally McCartney
Kathryn Sprout
Mimi Edwards
Joyce McKay
Shirley Stump
Chester Fulton
Donna Shawley
Faith Whitman
Joyce Kerr
Boyd Spicer
Lou Wian
Shirley Leopold
Patricia Wian.

Keeping the room entertained and the afternoon moving along were Masters of Ceremony Babs Bengtson and Kevin Conaway from WPSU.

If helping with any of the various RSVP programs sounds tempting to you, you can contact their office at 355-6816.

THEATER: The Great American Trailer Park Musical

State College Community Theatre’s Boal Barn is definitely “trashy” this week. THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL is responsible for bringing the residents of the Armadillo Acres Trailer Park to our town and with them comes adultery, road kill, strippers, disco, agoraphobia, cut-off jeans, and extremely high heels. As quoted in the play program, “everything a musical should be”.

Photo courtesy of Drew Frank, Meadow Lane Photography

The characters (and some of them really are characters) are much more important than the plot. The plot is the simple old story of the unhappy husband and the new girl in the trailer park who makes her living as a professional stripper and petty thief. Add a wife who suffers from agoraphobic since her son had been kidnapped, a Magic Marker-sniffing ex-boyfriend, and a Greek chorus, called the Girls, consisting of three self proclaimed “bad-asses”.

The action is evenly distributed through the cast giving each member a chance for some good solo work. Jackie Gianico, Allen Boyd, Rachel Ruhl, Emido M. Krupa, Sandi Rockwell, Courtney Wozetek, and Lacee McCann were all in excellent voice and had some very impressive moves.

After the show I asked Ms Rockwell how it felt to go from playing a nun to playing the manager of a place like the Armadillo Trailer Park. “Great fun,” she said. “The part is trashy and FUN.” The word “trashy” seemed to come up a lot.

Mr. Krupa told me that he is a method actor and had spent two months practicing by sniffing Magic Markers. His part was so over the top, that I almost believed him.

This is a very funny show, but as their ads state, audience discretion is suggested. The language and subject material may not be for everyone. The cast carries it all off well, but, as you may have noted, the term “trashy” does keep being mentioned.

My one problem was with the sound. Too many lines were lost either because of the sound system or the band being too loud during the musical numbers. Some of us hate to miss good trash talk.

THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL will be at the Boal Barn in Boalsburg until April the 28th.

Neil Simon’s Rumors will be State College Community Theatre’s next production. It will run May 15-19 and 22-26 at the Boal Barn. This is one of my favorite Neil Simon shows and I am eager see what they do with it.

Pictures of the production, taken by Drew Frank of Meadow Lane Photography, can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.439723646041835.119409.118844971463039&type=3.

BOOK REVIEW: The Oath

THE OATH was my first John Lescroart book, but it will not be my last.

Luz Ramiro had to report off work three times to take her sick boy to the Judah Clinic for a sore throat. Missing work meant no pay as well as the fear of being fired from her job as a maid. It also meant ten dollars for each visit, ten dollars that she did not have. On each visit her son’s case was misdiagnosed and he eventually died of an infection that possibly could have been treated. This vignette sets the mood for the rest of the story.

While out for his regular morning jog, HMO executive, Tim Markham, is struck by a hit-and-run driver. Unfortunately, Tim is taken to one of the hospitals that is run by his HMO; a hospital that already has too many rumors concerning the unexplained deaths in their ICU. Tim is a well known member of the city’s society and his death gets noticed by the press as well as the city officials.

When his family is gunned down at their home, the police decide that Tim’s death may not have been simple malpractice, but caused by someone with evil in mind.  Doctor Eric Kensing comes under suspicion almost immediately. He had the opportunity; he had been on duty in the ICU at the time. He had the means; by being a doctor, he had access. Most importantly, he had motive; Eric’s wife and Markham had been having an affair.

Lt. Abe Glitsky and defense attorney Dismas Hardy are good friends, but they are on opposite sides of a case…again. Dismas is Eric’s defense lawyer and Abe is sure that Eric is guilty and that he can prove it. This is the case that might cause the end of their friendship, if not the end of life for one of them.

Picking up a series in the middle is not a good idea and I know that. In the beginning I did have some trouble keeping what were probably regular characters straight. That quickly stopped being a problem as I got caught up in the story. Hospital policy is something that I am not familiar with, but again, I was soon into the intrigue of the plot and it all made sense.

I really enjoy a good thriller with lots of plot twists and well done characters. How Lescroart has escaped my notice is a mystery. I do know that my stash now includes two more books by him.

PS, I have found an aphorism that suits P.O.V: Anyone who says that they only have one life to live must not know how to read a book.

EVENT: 27th Annual Young Author Contest

The 27th Annual Young Author Contest held an awards program at Bellefonte Area High School’s auditorium on April the 18th. Penns Valley, Bellefonte, Philipsburg/Osceola Mills, Bald Eagle, as well as home schooled students from all the districts provided over 300 entrants for the contest.

After opening remarks from Tracy Carey, Director of Public Services for the Centre County Library and Nick Lingenfelter, Regional VP Market Manager of First National Bank, author Tawni O’Dell was introduced.


Ms O’Dell is the author of four books including Back Roads, an Oprah Book Club pick. In her encouraging words to the young writers she said that the important thing about being a human, and not a cow, is that we have a written language.

As Katie Nicholson, Youth Services Librarian, and Laura Sarge, Outreach Services Coordinator, announced the winners, a portion of each winner’s story or poem was read.  The titles ranged from the first grade winner’s “Reggie The Firefighting Snake” to “The Legend”, the first place winner for sixth grade.

First grade winners included Cecilia Mazzocco, Miles Brooks, Emma Homan, Davis Corman, and Vivienne Booz.

Second grade finalists were Blaine Appleyard, Nicholas J. Mitchell, Ty Kroell, and Lilly Christopher.

Third grade winners were Annelise King, Kathryn Leonon, Sutton Thompson, Caitlyn Ripka, and Sunni Rice.

Fourth grade winners were Noah Evans, Eva Stoessel, Mackenzie Ebeling, Abby Harper, and Brennan Hyde.

In fifth grade Megan Irwin, Octavio Mallare, MacKenzie Jodrie, Erica Hillard, and Caroline Helms were the winners.

Max Theuer, Sam Goodwin, Isabel Martin, Abegail Bruni, and Abigail Martin were the sixth grade finalists. 

Melanie Phillips, Development Officer of the Centre County Library, closed with a thank you to all of the corporate sponsors and with a reminder to all of the students that she expected to see each of them in the Library’s Summer Reading Program.

Melanie Phillips,
Development Officer,
Centre County Library

THEATER: Grease

Bellefonte Area High School presented the musical GREASE this past weekend. The play, directed by Shaun McMurtrie and produced by Elizabeth Height, included a cast of thirty and almost that many more working backstage.

There were so many things that I enjoyed about the show, but here are some of the highlights:
First of all, thank you Jay Zimmerman for putting the “pit” orchestra at the back of the stage. It made it easier to hear the singing, plus it was a way for the audience to check the band solos. Guitarists Tyler Haslet and Justin Foley and Ian Charney on tenor sax were particularly enjoyable.

The show was really at its best during the dance / ensemble numbers. The choreography was well paced and the cast seemed comfortable dancing steps that were before their time. Jessica Brown as Cha-Cha DiGrgorio, the “Best Dancer in Her School” made the most of her solo and I believed that she was “the best’.

I really liked Elizabeth Catchmark as Frenchy. I owe Ms Catchmark a personal apology; I wanted to include a picture of her with her wild, pink hair but the picture did not come out well. You will have to take my word that she looked adorable.

Sean Gipson as Vince Fontaine and Melissa Hilder as Rizzo

The voice that came as a surprise to me belonged to Melissa Hilder as the tough girl Rizzo. Ms Hilder’s Rizzo was a little sweet, but when she sang her solo she blew me away…even with some sound problems.

As Sandy and Danny, Mariele Schechter and Sean Connelly really hit their duets. I have not heard a falsetto like Sean’s since 1959. These are the largest parts and these two carried them very well.

The cast was obviously enjoying themselves, but Sean Gipson as Vince Fontaine had a ball with his part. This is an example of why Grease is such a good choice for large groups; there are so many good solo spots.

I was not always sure who the actors were and I am afraid of getting names wrong, but I think that Julia Laufer and Jason Zimmerman did the duet “Mooning”. It was such a cute number that it was easy to over look that it was a little hard to hear all of the lyrics.

The program did not do bios of the cast and crew, so I am not sure who will be back next year. That is always of interest in high school plays. I guess that we will have to wait to see.

High school plays keep getting better and better. You owe it to yourself to check them out.

UPCOMING EVENT: Author Signing/Book Reading - Raynetta J. Stocks

This post is from Wendy, Pat's daughter.  Many of you already know that while P.O.V. is 100% Pat's reviews, she sends them to me to post for her.  (Mom claims to be not very internet savvy.)  One of the things Mom likes to do is post about upcoming events and this falls into that category.  However, since I'm the one hosting the event, it's more appropriate that I do the post.

---

Raynetta J. Stocks is an author from Havre de Grace, MD.  Her latest book, THE GRIM, comes out the beginning of May.  Ms. Stocks' website describes it as such:

"A gripping tale of both thrills and depth, THE GRIM follows Jaycee Baynes, single mother and convicted murderer, through her tumultuous stay at an in-patient psych ward.  Unable to remember the horrendous events that incarcerated her, she is haunted daily by the presence of her bullet-riddled ex-lover, without whose help, she will undoubtedly never be freed.  Having repressed all memory of what she's done, Jaycee must find a way to manage her illness and confront her past--before it consumes her first."

Read more about Ms. Stocks and THE GRIM at her website:  http://www.raynettastocks.com/


Raynetta J. Stocks will be doing an Author Reading/Book Signing on Saturday, May 19th at 10:30am in Kennett Square, PA.

Ms. Stocks will do a reading from her book, followed by a Q and A. After the program, Ms. Stocks will stay for a meet and greet and book signing. (Books will be available for purchase.)

For those of you who live in Centre County, Mom is planning on attending.  If you wish to come down, please RSVP to me or to my mom and one of us will give you the directions.

If you haven't been to Kennett Square before, it's worth the trip!  It is beautiful here in Southern Chester County!  Kennett Square is not only the home of Longwood Gardens, but it is also the Mushroom Capital of the World and was voted one of "America's Coolest Small Towns"!

Please - I do need to take RSVPs, so I know how many to set-up for and Ms. Stocks knows how many to prepare for.  You can RSVP either through my mom, my email address, or through the Facebook Event at https://www.facebook.com/events/344232955612694/

This is the first time I'm hosting an Author Reading/Book Signing event.  If it goes well, I hope to make it a series.  I already have some authors in mind!  I hope to see you here!


~Wendy

BOOK REVIEW: Hay Locos

(Note From Wendy: Hope was born in Wilmington, DE, so has a local connection to that area, as well!)

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania resident Hope Boylston’s book HAY LOCOS is a personal and honest story of living in Chile and dealing with dictators, revolutionaries, important political people, and peasants.

Always told with humor and a sense of caring for the people that she met, the book gives the reader a closer glimpse of our South American neighbors. It reminds us of how little we know of the countries to our south.

Right after graduating from college in 1969, Hope and her friend Toody left Ft. Lauderdale in a four-wheeler to attend a New Year’s Eve party in Santiago, Chile. They were three months late for the party.

Settling in Santiago, Hope always seemed to find work. One of her early jobs was adapting Our Bodies, Ourselves, a book on women’s health. She was also able to find jobs both as a translator and as a teacher. She returned to Washington, D.C. for a period of time after the military coup that upset Salvador Allende’s government. In 1977, she returned to Chile. Through friends, she became involved with the Resistance movement and was forced to leave in 1981, right before the secret police came for her.

Hope describes the people that she meets along the way with affection, so that we feel that we also know them. The friends who were in the Resistance movement with her are treated with special respect. It was easy to see why this group who faced real danger together would become close.

At her recent book signing, I asked who are the crazies mentioned in the title (Hay Locos roughly translates “there are crazies here")--Are they you and Toody? The friends that you made? It seems that locos are a fish that are tenderized by beating them on a cement wall. In other words, they have their brains knocked out of them.

The book captures Hope’s love for a country where goodness and beauty do exist, even under a cruel government. She quotes the poet Mario Benedetti: “In my country, the people live happily even when they’re not given permission.”

HAY LOCOS is an adventure story up there with any novel; the difference is that this one is true. If you get a chance, go to Hope’s next book signing. She will share her love for this beautiful country and, if you are lucky, she might share some of its excellent wine with you.

THEATER: The Drowsy Chaperone

Anyone lucky enough to have seen the State High Thespian production of The Drowsy Chaperone knows that the days of high schools doing plays with titles like “Abner Slick from Pumpkin Creek” are definitely a thing of the past.

Thanks to Director/Choreographer Jill Campbell, the capacity audience in North Auditorium saw a sophisticated production. Costumes were beautiful, the sets attractive, and the cast well prepared. It was difficult to remember that it was not a professional company.
It is hard to limit my comments to the space allowed to me here. Each member of the chorus could be mentioned by name; I have never seen such a large group of students stay in character every time they were on stage. Because so much of the humor of the play depends on the characters being played over the top, facial expressions were vital and the actors were having a ball with their parts.
It has to be noted also that the all student orchestra under the direction of Paul Leskowicz was not only good, but I could hear the lyrics. That is very important to me.

Erin Quay made me smile each time that she stepped on stage. I am looking forward to next year and a chance to hear Brittany Farnsworth’s voice in a larger part. Mitchell Cornwall was the romantic lead that every movie should have - tall, dark, and handsome.

Luckily for all of us, Emily Dennis is a junior and will be available next year. Am I the only one that compared Emily Dennis to Mame Dennis? What great casting that would be!  As the Man in Chair, Jason Doll was an expert at keeping the audience involved in what was happening on stage. It is the role that holds the show together and Jason had the talent/personality to do it.

The true “star turn” was performed by Morgan Sichler as she explained why she will not show off any more, thus giving Morgan a chance to sing, dance, juggle, do splits, charm snakes, well, you get the idea. This number alone will keep less talented groups from doing the show.

Jesse Moore is one of the reasons that I love my job. The part of Aldolpho is so far from the other roles that I have seen him do that I will be watching the local theaters this summer for him. I admire anyone who can run the gambit from drama to farce in the same year.

This was the first of the local high school spring musicals. Trust me; if you have not seen a high school performance recently, you are missing a fun, inexpensive evening. Cast and crew work hard and just for our entertainment. Come out and support them.

(photos courtesy of Drew Frank)