By Deanna Lobo
Thursday, Aug. 7 is show time for The Bedford Junior Summerstock Theater. This year’s musical is “A Kidsummer Night’s Dream”. Family audiences will delight at this humorous rendition of the classic Shakespeare play.
There will be two performances at the air-conditioned John Glenn Middle School auditorium: a matinee at 1 pm and an evening performance at 7 pm. Admission is FREE! Donations benefit the Bedford Summer Adventures Neighbors Helping Neighbors Campership Fund.
The play begins with Egea (Ana Maria Finnegan) upset with her daughter Hermia (Madi Belbute) who wants to marry Lysander (Noah Southard) instead of the handsome but vain Demetrius (Ben Woodward). The case is taken to Theseus, the Duke of Athens (Joel Newman Jr.) and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons (Victoria Hand) who are about to be married. Not wanting to leave this dispute unresolved on his wedding day, Philostrates, the wedding planner, (Mina Bostwick) advises Theseus to send the quarreling lovers off to find a solution before midnight. To make things more complicated, Hermia’s best friend Helena. (Christina Solitro) has a crush on Demetrius, and follows them into the woods. As they venture off, a mischievous fairy named Puck meets them. (Madeleine Siegal). He decides to mess with the Athenians as well as help his fairy king, Oberon (Morgan DerMarderosian) get revenge on the fairy queen Titania (Annie Fotis) for not allowing him to help with the upbringing of a changeling boy. Titania’s fairy attendants are there to help out. (Sarah Newman, Isabella Santiago, Juliana Baer, Eleanor Mitchell, Sophie Lance and Natalie Barney) On the side, a group of workers, Peter Quince (Eleanor Lowen), Nick Bottom (Samantha Gallant), Francis Flute (Connor Loughlin), Robin Starveling (Alex Gorbatov), Tom Snout (Isabel Hon-Anderson) and Snug (Julia Silvestrone) work to perfect their own play to present to the Duke and Queen at their wedding. As they also travel into the woods to find a space to rehearse, Puck finds a way to create mayhem by using a love potion to turn Nick Bottom’s head into that of a donkey! Hilarity ensues!
Twenty-three campers act, sing, and dance in this production directed by John Glenn Middle School music teacher Amy Budka and Jessica Ham, classroom teacher in the Concord Public School district. Counselors Deanna Lobo and Melanie Cordero help with myriad production details: drama and music coaching, and choreography. James Ham and Ken Budka jam out in the pit. Fritz Stadtlander and Parker Taggard care of the lighting and sound while Ronan Loughlin, Spencer Stevens and Eileen Goodrich keep things running smoothly backstage.
Junior Summerstock is a four-week theater experience for students in grades 4 – 9, sponsored by the Bedford Recreation Department’s Bedford Summer Adventures program. Each child plays a major role in creating the final product: the performance, which family, friends and the general public are welcome to attend. The actors’ hard work over the course of the four weeks is reflected in each step they take, each line they say and each note they sing.
“A Kidsummer Nights Dream” is produced by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois.
Loading ...
