By Eileen Wingard
SAN DIEGO — Okay, so I am joining the ranks of bragging grandparents. But, when I tell you about what my 16-year old granddaughter, Adira Rosen, has just accomplished, you will surely understand my bragging rights. She has launched a theater company at her school and has just produced, marketed, and directed the first production, The Snow Queen. It had a cast of sixteen, including the school’s newly appointed principal.
When she was in pre-school, Adira was so shy, that once, when her mother enrolled her in a theater class for tots, she needed to be physically carried onto the stage and whispered her lines into her mother’s ears so that Mom could recite Adira’s part.
That all changed with Adira’s participation in J*Company. In the title role of Peter Pan last year, she virtually owned the stage.
Adira is now in her junior year at the Mt. Everest Academy (MEA), an independent-study, K-12 school, which offers an alternative to traditional schools. Having graduated from the Creative Performing Media Arts Middle School (CPMA) and continuing as a member of J*Company, she has had a steep immersion in theater. In the J* Company, she has not only acted on stage, but has served on the backstage crew, did publicity projects, and was involved in fundraising. And last August, she served as assistant to director Sam Woodhouse for the San Diego Repertory Company’s production of the musical, Violet.
Thus, it was no great surprise that Adira envisioned this project and created a proposal for MAE’s newly appointed principal, Courtney Browne, giving detailed information about auditions, budgeting, fundraising, marketing, costumes, sets, rehearsal times, and show dates. Mrs. Browne, to her great credit, had confidence in Adira’s ability to carry out her ambitious plan.
The auditions attracted enough students to fill the 16-member cast, with some actors assigned to several parts, and the supportive principal, herself, agreeing to play a role on stage.
Joey Landwehr, the Director of J*Company, was Adira’s role model. He has mentored her in this undertaking and came to observe one of her rehearsals. Also, he and Catherine Hickman, the theater teacher at CPME, lent the fledgling company costumes and sets.
The response to Adira’s well-written fundraising letter brought in enough money to cover the budget, plus a surplus to be set aside for future productions at MEA. The design of the poster, program and tickets were of professional caliber. Each of the three performances, Dec. 15, 16, 17, drew large audiences. Thanks to email communication, posters, and the lead article in that week’s Clairemont Times, The Snow Queen was seen by nearly 300 people.
The show was remarkable. Actors ranged from second to eleventh grade. All lines were well memorized, and there was plenty of movement on stage to keep the audience thoroughly engaged. The ten scenes of this one-act play, based on a Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale, flowed seamlessly, one into another, with some action in front of the curtains. The entrances were from the back of the auditorium down the center aisle, as well as from the sides of the stage. Music was judiciously interspersed at various points between scenes or during scenes to heighten the dramatic effect.
The play is about sisters who loved each other, yet had spats. At one point, Kai, stomping out of the room, called Gerda a baby and spoke disrespectfully to their grandmother. Yet, Gerda, went to the ends of the earth to find Kai and bring her back home.
Meredith Wilds was a convincing Gerda, searching the world for her sister Kai, played by Giovanna Malotti, who had disappeared under the spell of the Snow Queen. Maya Lake portrayed the multiple roles of the regal Snow Queen, the witch, Hekseri, and the Princess who wins the Prince’s heart. Isaac Chizink was a strong Prince and MEA Principal, Courtney Browne played a gracious Grandmother Astrid.
The six young students, in a variety of roles from snow bees to flowers, were delightful, and the various birds that guided Gerda flapped their wings and spoke their lines with distinction. Marina Malotti was a funny Lady Stum, and Gaby Carreon projected clearly in her pivotal role as Mormor, who felt she did not need to help Gerda because, having come this far in her search for her sister, Gerda’s inner strength would propel her to succeed.
Stage sets utilized ladders and black cubes to create a variety of levels. A box mounted on a dolly served as a boat, and improvised backdrops were created to resemble a fireplace and a window.
The writer for the Clairemont Times attended the final run-through. He reported, “Rosen’s sharp eye for detail while juggling all the moving parts of the run-through was impressive to witness.”
Terry Miller, former theater teacher at Pershing Middle School, and currently teaching English at the School of Creative and Performing Arts in South Bay, attended one of the performances. When I commented, “Pretty good for a 16-year-old,” she responded, “Pretty good for someone of any age!”
At the end of the final performance, I kvelled as the entire student cast surrounded Adira and presented her with a beautiful bouquet. The card said, “You are Awesome!”
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Wingard is a freelance writer and former violinist with the San Diego Symphony. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com. Comments in the section below must include the writer’s first and last name and his/her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)