Home A&E AVPA’s Spring Musical

AVPA’s Spring Musical

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The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts of Culver City High School returns to the boards this weekend and next.

On the Town, the hit Broadway musical, will be the vehicle for the AVPA’s Blurred Vision Theatre Company at the Robert Frost Theatre.

Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 and Sunday at 2. On the weekend of March 18, stagings will be at 7 on Friday, and at 2 and 8 on Saturday.

On the Town is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein, based on Jerome Robbins’s idea for his 1944 ballet Fancy Free, which he had set to Bernstein’s music. The musical introduced several popular and classic songs, among them “New York, New York,” “Lonely Town,” “I Can Cook, Too” (for which Bernstein also wrote the lyrics), and “Some Other Time.”

On the Town was first produced on Broadway in 1944 and was made into a film in 1949, although the film replaced all but three of the original Broadway songs with Hollywood-written substitutes. The show has enjoyed a number of major revivals, including one that ran 2014-2015. The musical integrates dance into its storytelling: Robbins made a number of ballets and extended dance sequences for the show.

Tickets will be available online and at the box office before each performance.

  • $15 for adults
  • $10 for seniors, Culver High staff and high school students
  • $5 for high school students with ASB cards and Middle School students
  • Children in elementary school and younger will be admitted free with an accompanying adult.

 

Story of On the Town

With the pomp and fanfare of New York City, the brassy lyricism of Bernstein, and the sweet immediacy of a day of freedom during a time of war, On the Town is an American classic, beloved both for its moment in history and for its timeless qualities of youth and exuberance. The show follows the adventures of three sailors on leave for 24 hours in New York before heading off to battle in World War II. Goofy ladies’ man Ozzie is looking for a date — maybe seven or eight. Studious, innocent Chip, guidebook in hand, has several days’ worth of tourist attractions to check off his list. When idealistic Gabey falls for the photograph of lovely Miss Turnstiles, a subway beauty queen, they all join in an ambitious scavenger hunt around the city to locate his dream girl — and, on the way, find all of the romance, adventure, and New York atmosphere they could wish for.

Joined by Claire, a sophisticated anthropologist with a red-hot heart, and Hildy, a sweetly aggressive cab driver on the lam, the sailors careen through museums and nightclubs, Carnegie Hall and Coney Island, before Gabey and Ivy are finally united in the nick of time. With brash, spectacular, and slightly bittersweet abandon, On the Town is about seizing the day and living life to its fullest.

On the Town Cast

Gabey: Oliver Berliner

Ozzie: Reno Behnken

Chip: Samuel Petersen

Ivy Smith: Emma DeZarn (understudy Hazel Cupp)

Claire De Loone: Claire Skelley (understudy Isa Berliner)

Hildy Esterhazy: Paxton Amor (understudy Sarah Toutounchian)

Madame Maude P. Dilly: Isabel Parra

Judge Pitkin W. Bridgework: Nick Freedson (understudy Ben Hilsberg)

Lucy Schmeeler: Erin Hamill

Flossie: Celine Quadra

Flossie’s Friend: Raegan Harris

Rajah Bimmy: Joey O’Neal

 

Ensemble:

Andrew Alvarenga

Mika Barocio

Isa Berliner

Hazel Cupp

Katy Engel

Brook Francis

Clover Halperin

Ben Hilsberg

Frances Horwitz

Courtney Lundy

Mathew Mercaldo

Jenna Reynoza

Carly Shiever

Tysaiah Stutts

Sarah Toutounchian

Lauren Wilson

 

Directors and Crew

Director: Jill Novick

Choreographer: Julie Carson

Music Director: Tony Spano

Technical Director and Lighting Designer: Kirsten Opstad

Associate Technical Director: Ali Rubinfeld

Set Designer: Michael Navarro

Build/Paint Charge: Jackie Eppinger

Costumer Designer: Amy Mazzaferro

Sound Designer: Will Schuessler

 

Student Technical Crew

Associate Tech Director: Elise Park

Production Manager: Gabe Lobet

Stage Manager: Cricket Cary-Green

Assistant Stage Managers: Adriana Romero and AJ Foxworth

Associate Set Designer: Kori Ridenour

Stage Crew Chief: Emily Wulf

Stage Crew: Juliana McCullen, Owen Jones, Matthew Sussman, Andy Stogsdill, Britney Melo, Merrick Padilla, Aimmee Matias (build only) & AVPA Stagecraft Class

Prop Master: Rebecca Mirvish

Prop Crew: Bridget Padilla, Alekkos Tetradis

Costume Supervisor: Maggie Guthrie

Assistant Costume Super: Ayden Westmoreland

Costume Crew: Aimee Matias, Karina Villarreal, Mika Stambler, Khamiya Terrell

Hair and Makeup Super: Ellisa Amador

Hair and Makeup Crew: Alivia Pacino, Sadie Trevelen, Elizabeth Flores, Lauryn Ussery, Bella Chardier

Associate Lighting Designer: Tia Tiggs

Master Electrician: Caitlyn Crowe

Assistant Master Electricians: Simon Johnson, Maddy Sawyer

Light Board Operator: Maddy Sawyer

Follow Spot Operators: Simon Johnson, Caitlyn Crowe

Lighting Crew: Gabe Lobet, Thistle Boosinger, Shavit Melamed, Merrick Padilla, Catie Shin

House Manager: Snazz Tetradis, Eliza Spear

Ushers: Erin Krentz

See avpa.org

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