Schools

After 14 Years, Chaminade 'Guys' Get Back Their 'Dolls'

Large ensemble cast mounts spring musical production.

Springtime, when a young man’s thought turn to that of... well, Dolls, for lack of a better term. “If a guy foes not have a doll, who would holler on him?”  senior Tom Lynch laments as Nathan Detroit, all-too self-aware of the gender dynamics of the all-male high school as he utters “A doll is a necessity!”

The Jo Swerling- Abe Burrows book is a popular choice for the high school stage recently, with Mineola  and New Hyde Park Memorial, Holy Trinity and Chaminade mounting the effort on stage this year.

“It’s classical musical theater,” director Michael Bruno said. “it’s timeless, it’s clean, it’s a great show, it’s got a great book. You can’t go wrong with this show.”

Find out what's happening in Mineolawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Darby Players last performed the “musical fable” in 1998. This year the cast is 47-members strong, one of the largest casts since “Les Miserables.”

Bruno described the cast as a “very talented, young ensemble. After we did ‘,’ which was such a small cast, we wanted to go big. We’ve got a lot of talented kids, this is one of the strongest (orchestra) pits we’ve ever had.”

Find out what's happening in Mineolawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Chaminade production will “spread the show out,” according to Bruno, adding the chorus to various numbers and moving locations around. “You really don’t touch a book like this,” he said.

Minor cuts were also made to a limited number of verses.

“You want to get the audience out before midnight,” Bruno said.

Lynch, who last played the lead in “,” will be joined again by Sacred Heart senior Tina Wines in the role of Adelaide. Our Lady of Mercy senior Kiera Liantonio, another “Dreamcoat” alumn, will be playing Sara Brown, while Nick O’Connor takes on the role of Sky Masterson to try to win a bet by taking her to Havana.

Bruno also increased the roles of Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Christian Eble), Benny Southwest (Jake Kerrigan) and Rusty Charlie (Theo Ebarb), a decision made as the production was rehearsed.

“We call them the ‘Three Stooges’,” Bruno smiled. “The three of these kids are fantastic together. These guys are great and we go on our strengths.”

As for putting on a play about relationships in the 50’s, Bruno has no hesitation that people will be able to still relate.

“It’s timeless, the jokes are still funny,” he said. “A 15-year-old can still get a laugh out of this book. It’s like Neil Simon where you just have great material and these jokes don’t go out of style. It’s the same boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl and how much you can screw things up in the process.”

 

Cast of Characters Nicely-Nicely Johnson Christian Eble Benny Southwest Jake Kerrigan Rusty Charlie Theo Ebarb Sarah Brown Kiera Liantonio Arvide Abernathy Nick Spessot Agatha Kate Ferro Martha Katie Weisburg Harry the Horse Ben Giese Lt. Brannigan Patrick Nuzzolese Nathan Detroit Tom Lynch Angie the Ox/ Master of Ceremonies Andrew Stack Miss Adelaide Tina Wines Sky Masterson Nick O’Connor Joey Biltmore Kevin O’Leary Mimi Julia DiBari General Matilda B. Cartwright Carolyn Brady Big Jule Kevin Morris Allison Courtney Ross Ferguson Chloe Gauthier Understudy Miss Adelaide Julia DiBari Understudy Sarah Brown Courtney Ross Understudy Nathan Detroit Alex Fasano Understudy Sky Masterson Ben Giese


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here