Lincoln Park presents ‘The King and I’
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MIDLAND, Pa.- The Tony-Award winning musical about Anna and the King of Siam comes to the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center with a stunning set, lavish costumes and a large and talented cast of young performers.
Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I" will run Nov. 19-22. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20, $15 and $12, and may be purchased in person or by phone at the Lincoln Park box office, 724.643.9004.
By including a full complement of the King's many wives and children, the cast of 62 is the largest ever assembled for a Lincoln Park production, said Gavan Pamer, Lincoln Park artistic director and director of the annual Tri-State Musical.
"There are 15 children aged 6 to 12 in the show, and they appear in four scenes. They are absolutely wonderful and talented. It is both a challenge and a joy to involve children so young in a live stage show," said Pamer.
"It gave the song 'Getting to Know You' real meaning for our crew and cast. Actually, most of these kids are veteran performers, coming to us from organizations like the New Castle Mini-Stars and Mancini All-Stars."
Rehearsals for the scenes involving the King's children were limited to twice weekly. Two Lincoln Park students were designated as "wranglers" to corral the youngsters each evening as they arrived and keep track of them when not on stage, said Pamer.
Like the rest of the cast, the young ones were chosen in an open call for auditions from the Tri-State Area. The open call is a hallmark of the annual Tri-State Musical, offering non-Lincoln Park students the chance to learn and perform in a professionally staged and directed Broadway-style musical.
The Lincoln Park production follows fairly closely the musical as presented on Broadway and in the popular film starring Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr. Pamer said he was able to include some original songs that were either shortened in or cut from the movie.
The set was built by the Pittsburgh CLO Construction Center for a nationally touring company starring Sandy Duncan and Stephanie Powers, then was purchased by Broadway Asia for shows in the Far East.
The costumes are being designed and made for this show by Kim Brown of Pittsburgh's Spotlight Costumes, who also made the costumes for Lincoln Park productions of "Ballet du Bond," "Peter and the Wolf" and "My Fair Lady."
The lead performers will be familiar to patrons of Lincoln Park shows. Lincoln Park senior Jimmy Schrecengost plays the King of Siam, making East-meets-West chemistry with Amber Nicole as Anna, the British teacher hired to tutor his children. Schrecengost first came to Lincoln Park as a Beaver High School student to perform in the Tri-State Musical. He enrolled shortly thereafter in Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School and has performed in every Lincoln Park musical since. Nicole is a junior at Lincoln Park most often featured as a dancer. She has performed in "A Chorus Line," "42nd Street," and "Leader of the Pack."
Lauren Teminsky and Nicholas Kerpsack portray the young lovers Tuptim and Lun Tha. Kaleb Chenic Professor Higgins in last spring's "My Fair Lady" is Kralahome, the prime minister. The part of Lady Thiang, the king's number one wife, is played by Kenzie Palmer. Jerrett Kerpsack is Louis Leonowens, Anna's young son. Bradley Brown plays Crown Prince Chulalongkom, Maxine Malver is Princess Yaowlak, and Matt Marucci plays dual roles as Captain Orton and Sir Edward Ramsey. Evan Kremmel is the royal interpreter.
In the "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet, Madison Yonlisky dances the part of Uncle Thomas. Patricia Adams is Eliza, Alexa Wiegel is Simon of Legree, Faith Abraham is Topsy, Kelsi Darby is the Angel George, and Erin Grabski is Little Eva.
Other dancers are Faith Abraham, Geena Haybarger, Anna Kerr, Kelley McCaa, Nicole Spencer, Hannah Vraninin, and Madison Yonlisky.
Playing the king's children are Lanay Brentley, Christina Cardenas, John Cardenas, Viviana Cardenas, Jaydaline Justice, Mary Kai Kalenak, Matthew Kohlmann, Marissa Lahr, Kaiyah McWhorter, Alexia Norris, Alison Ragazzini, and Sarah Wagen.
Royal wives include Layne Bailey, Kate Boles, Jennifer Kirchner, Morgan Lecce, Christa Lerch, Kayla McQuillan, Chalisse Monroe, Abigail Prepelka, Hannah Stepanian, Barbara Stevenson, Markella Williams and Caitlin Yarosz.
The parts of guards or priests are played by Doug Basinger, Ben Belhumeur, Alex Covelli, Daniel D'Orazio, Keith Williams and Evan Kremmel. Amazons are played by Alexandra Cherico, Jacquelyn DeThomas, Kerry Ryan and Laliah Washington.
Other cast members are Mia Iorfido, Shadoe Brandt, Kate Boles, Jennifer Kirchner, Kelsey Coughlin, Macy McBeth and Kaylee Norris.
Director Gavan Pamer has a history with "The King and I," choreographing it for Pittsburgh Musical Theater in 1999. This production is choreographed by Lincoln Park dance instructor Jennifer Verba, who headed the recent "Peter and the Wolf" Youtheatre project. The lighting is designed by Ryan Washlaski, whose credits include a recent tour of the band U2.
"The King and I" is based on the book "Anna and the King of Siam" by Margaret Landon.
