Middletown's Wayside Theatre Highlights Local Teens in THE TEMPEST Tonight

Wayside Theatre's Spring Emerging Artist production will be The Tempest by William Shakespeare, in cooperation with Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville, VA. It will be held tonight, April 19 at 7:30pm and April 20th at 2:30pm and 8:00pm. This production will be directed by Wayside Theatre Education Director, Molly MacLagan, and comes as part of Wayside Theatre's "Education and the Arts" month. The cast and crew features students from Clarke, Warren, Frederick, and Shenandoah Counties, as well as West Virginia.

In this fantastical comedy, the sorcerer and rightful Duke of Milan, Prospero, and her daughter Miranda, have been exiled on a tropical island for 12 years. When Prospero's enemies make the mistake of sailing too close to the island, she and her faithful spirit-servant, Ariel, summon a terrible storm to make sure that they make amends for their past actions-and have fun playing matchmaker for Miranda while they're at it!

The cast and crew for The Tempest includes: Olivia Adams (Sherando High School) as Prospero; Patrick Bauserman (Daniel Morgan Middle School) as Caliban; Ursula Bell (Millbrook High School) as Sprite, Iris; Matanah Betko (Strasburg) as Ariel; Abby Buchholz (Frederick County Middle School) as Gonzalo; Anna Demarest (Admiral Byrd Middle Schol) as Sprite, Juno, Mariner, Ariel's Understudy, and Dance Captain; Amber Derosier (Millbrook High School) is a member of the Stage Crew; Tyler Dittmer (Winchester Academy) as Fransisco; Max Fairman (Linden) as Adrian; Marcella Hellinski (Clarke County High School) as Sebastian's Understudy; Ashley Heuser (Millbrook High School) is the Assistant Stage Manager; Sarah Hoffman (Sherando High School) as Stephano; Maddy Kurtz as Goddess Understudy and member of the run-crew; Hanna Lothrop (Admiral Byrd Middle School) as Boatswain's Understudy and a member of the Stage Crew; Skyler O'Neill (James Wood High School) as Trinculo and Ferdinand's Understudy; Zoe Pettler (James Wood High School) as Miranda; Libby Powell (Sherando High School) is the Stage Manager; Cherith Pilong (Daniel Morgan Middle School) as Antonia; Ella Schulz (Amissville) as Boatswain and Trinculo's Understudy; Shannon Shockey (Moorefield Middle School) is the Wardrobe Crew Chief; JuliAnna Turner (Chelsea Academy) as Alonso, Shipmaster; Winfield Turner (Chelsea Academy) as Ferdinand; Cassy Via (Sherando High School) as Sprite, Ceres; Eleanor Welch (James Wood Middle School and Cottage School) as Sprite, Mariner; Madalyn Welch (Boyce Elementary) as Sprite; and Amanda Willis (Eukarya Academy) as Sebastian.

Wayside staff members are providing technical support for this production. The director is Education Director Molly MacLagan; the assistant director is Kendra Watkins; the costume designer is Caleb Blackwell; the assistant costume designer is Meg Mason; the lighting and scenic designer is Wes Calkin; the sound designer is Steve Przybylski.

Education Director Molly MacLagan says of the production: "We have students ranging in age from 10 through 18, and they're doing an incredible job of handling themselves professionally and tackling the challenges that a 410-year-old play presents. The Tempest has it all-unique language, singing and music, and dancing-and every cast and crew member dove in head first! The designers and support staff for the show are adult professionals (this is what they have trained to do and what they do for a living), and the young people involved are really living up to that, too."

"Probably the most impressive aspect of this play is how such young students are stepping up to make this production happen. Where we would ordinarily have adult, professional acting interns playing the lead roles, we instead have a 16-year-old (Olivia Adams) playing Prospero and a 14-year-old (Matanah Betko) playing Ariel-remarkable achievements for such young performers! Matanah also plays and sings most of the music in the play. Our dance captain is a 13-year-old (Anna Demarest) who's been studying dance for most of her life. It's also worth noting that our stage manager, Libby Powell, has just turned 18 since we started production. I told the cast on the first day that she's received a scholarship offer from Mary Baldwin College to study stage management, which means that she's moving into the professional realm at a very young age. She's been on top of her job every step of the way, which is no small task with such a huge cast (21 actors and 4 crew members)."

"The Tempest will be a lot of fun to watch, and I hope the surrounding communities turn out to support the work these kids have done."

The Tempest will be performed at Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville, VA, located at 95 Chalmers Court in Berryville, VA 22611, tonight, April 19th at 7:30pm and April 20th at 2:30pm and 8:00pm. Tickets are $12-15.

To obtain tickets for The Tempest, contact Barns of Rose Hill at www.barnsofrosehill.org or call 540-955-2004. Single tickets and group packages for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, as well as subscription packages, can be obtained by calling the box office at (540) 869-1776. Additional information can be obtained on the theatre's website at www.waysidetheatre.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.