Last week the Cape Elizabeth Middle School cafetorium was a hive of activity as the young cast and crew of “Bugsy Malone Jr.,” the Cape Elizabeth Middle School’s theatrical production that will open next week, did their first run-through of musical dance numbers onstage in costume.
Students spread themselves out on tables and did homework and socialized while their fellow young actors and actresses paraded onstage in their flashy costumes, settling for the first time into their characters.
A sixth-grade boy who plays Dandy Dan, the evil gangster, was onstage in his black, double-breasted suit and put on a smug face as he did a musical dance number with his gang.
He said being onstage in costume for the first time “kind of gets you into the character more.” About his character, the boy said, “I like that he’s evil; he’s like Frank Sinatra kind of, and I like Frank Sinatra.”
The show is an upbeat musical comedy that pays tribute to the gangster movies of the 1920s and ’30s. The cast and crew are comprised of 75 students ranging from fifth to eighth graders. Bugsy (A.J. Frustaci) tries to make peace between two rival gangs and at the same time win the heart of Blousey Brown (Sara Friedman), a country girl who is trying to make it in the big city.
Frustaci is a seventh-grader who began acting in the fourth grade when he participated in a high school play. He said he likes his character Bugsy because he is “a very smooth going, slick guy.”
Friedman is an eighth-grader and plays Blousey Brown, the object of Bugsy’s unrequited affections. Friedman has been acting for a long time and has appeared in a number of productions at the Children’s Theater of Maine. She has also participated in productions at the Maine State Music Theatre, Portland Lyric Theatre and Reindeer Theatre.
Like any good plot, a second love interest exists in the character of Tullulah. She is a singer who tries repeatedly to catch the notice of Bugsy, but with little success. The eighth-grader who plays Tullulah said her character “a showy kind of girl who likes to do her thing … she kind of gets around.”
Besides Drama Director Evan Solender (also a fifth-grade teacher) and a few other contributing adults, all aspects of the play from lighting and sound to set construction and stage management are handled by middle school students.
“The payoff for me is the excitement I see on the faces of the students,” said Solender. “Being involved in a play is a long process and in addition to being the drama director, I am also a teacher. As such, I try to instill a love of the arts, instruct about the language of the stage, and at the same time, help students to see the importance of making a commitment and being a team player.”
Come out and enjoy the efforts of this energetic cast of young adults. The show will run on Thursday, April 7, at 2:45 p.m., Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 10, at 2 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at the middle school office or call 799-8176. Students and seniors cost $3 and adults cost $5.
Bugsy Girls pictured left to right are Katie Lavallee, Lizzy King, Hannah Doss, Maddie Spagnola, Laura Steinroeder and Emmy Ham.
Cape middle school play opens April 7
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