Issaquah native Anya Matanovic stars as Nannetta in the Seattle Opera’s production of ‘Falstaff.’ By Bill Mohn

Reprising a role from her first years as an opera singer, Issaquah native Anya Matanovic will grace Seattle with her voice again in Seattle Opera’s comedy “Falstaff” Feb. 27 – March 13.

“Working with Anya is always a treat. Her intelligence and charm shine through in this role, which also showcases her beautiful voice,” Director Peter Kazaras wrote in an e-mail. “It has been inspiring to watch Anya mature and master the technical difficulties of this intricate score. I think she is a perfect Nannetta.”

While she lives in Manhattan, Issaquah is the city Matanovic said she calls home.

“Issaquah holds many memories for me,” she wrote in an e-mail interview. “I have family, friends and a unique community who supported me in my journey as a musician.”

The Matanovics moved to Issaquah in 1984 and became woven into the city’s fabric by starting The Pomegranate Center, a design and community building nonprofit organization, where she spent many years volunteering through her 1999 graduation from Issaquah High School and undergraduate studies at University of Southern California.

It was at home and in Issaquah schools where she said she found a love of singing.

Q: How long have you been singing?

A: I began singing at age 5 with my family. My father Milenko wrote music for classical children’s poetry and together with my older sister Katya and my father and mother Kathi we recorded several albums. We sang as a family until I was 14. I was also very lucky to be a part of the music program during my time at Issaquah High School, under the direction of Lavonne Watson, singing in musicals and the Vocal Jazz and Hi-tones ensembles.

Q: What styles most appeal to you?

A: I enjoy listening to many styles of music, but there is something in the operatic human voice that stirs me in a way nothing else has matched.

Q: When did you develop an interest in the opera?

A: My mother gave me a CD for my 16th birthday of Maria Callas. Up to this point I had not been interested in opera, though my voice teacher at the time insisted I had a voice for it. I was painting my bedroom and I decided to put the Callas album on. I didn’t turn it off for three days — it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard, and though I had no clue what she was singing about, I had tears in my eyes. I knew from that moment if there was a chance I could make even one person feel that same way, this was the work I wanted to do.

Q: What is it about opera singing that appeals most to you?

A: That I might be able to lift people out of their everyday lives. That the power of the human voice in combination with glorious music can transport people to an elevated emotional state. It is thrilling to be a part of that.

Q: What does it mean to you to reprise your role in “Falstaff” as an adult with the Seattle Opera?

A: It is very significant for me. I consider Seattle Opera my hometown opera. When I was in high school, I told myself that I was going to be in the young artist program at Seattle Opera. Six years later, I was in it! This company has nurtured me and believed in me, and I feel honored that they have asked me to make my debut in this opera, with such a terrific cast. And it is very special to have so many friends and my family close by to share it with me!

Q: What would you like audiences to take away from your performance in “Falstaff?”

A: It’s a comedy and it moves at breakneck speed, so I hope that we give the audience an evening where they can laugh and enjoy themselves while listening to delicious music. And I hope that we create a few new opera fans in the process.

Jennifer Lee Taylor (center) and Suzy Hunt enact the climactic confrontation between Aunt Bella and Grandma Kurnitz, as (from left) Mike Dooley, Nick Robinson, Collin Morris and Karen Skrinde, as Uncle Louie, Arty, Jay and Gert, look on in a scene from ‘Lost in Yonkers.’ By Jay Koh/Village Theatre

Silently, Arty and Jay Kurnitz wait in their grandmother’s living room. They question why they’ve come so far to see a woman they barely know and they plot their escape.

But leaving isn’t on the agenda.

What unfolds onstage in the next two and a half hours is nothing short of dramatic perfection and well-timed comedic relief, provided by a talented cast who embrace the irony of one of Neil Simon’s best-known plays — “Lost in Yonkers.”

Typically, reviewers find time to take light notes in the margins of their program during a play, but “Lost in Yonkers” proved so captivating that it didn’t happen this time.

Comfortable suspense — if there is such a thing — kept everyone in the audience waiting for the next character to unravel.

As the son’s broken father, Eddie, played by Bradford Farwell, tries to heal himself and the family bank account after his wife’s death, the boys are faced with the realities of adulthood.

The touching coming-of-age story is marked by realism, not simplicity or comfort. Rather, the two boys — Jay, played by Collin Morris, and Arty, played by Nick Robinson — learn no matter how simple they may seem, familial relationships are messy, complex and laden with history.The realism and exposure each cast member brings to the stage, combined with an intimately designed set by Bill Forrester, makes you feel like a voyeur in someone else’s home and leaves the air heavy with suspense.

What makes this truly a remarkable performance, aside from how relatable it is, is how masterfully the performances are delivered.

Both Morris and Robinson perform well beyond their years and provide key comedic relief that perfectly juxtaposes maturity fitting the situation with childlike perspectives.

Wielding a mean cane, often the sound of impending doom for her family, Suzy Hunt, who plays Grandma Kurnitz, is a matriarch on a mission of submission.

Through the years, her resentment of life and her family builds what she perceives as impervious strength for them. Unyielding, she starves her children of love to make them strong, ultimately driving them to failed adulthoods.

Oozing charisma, Mike Dooly plays smooth operator Uncle Louie, whose small-time mob accomplishments prop up his ego. He does an excellent job at portraying a slimy criminal without making you hate him. In fact, he elicits sympathy as he comes to realize his only real tangible accomplishment in life has been to stand up to his mother.

On no other character is Grandma’s wrath so clearly seen, though, than on her 35-year-old daughter Bella, whom she believes can never, nor ever should, age from adolescence because of her slow demeanor.

Jennifer Lee Taylor, an Issaquah-native and Village Theatre alum, understatedly steals the show as Aunt Bella. The very antithesis of her steel-laden German mother, she breaks through her flights of childlike fancy and eventually learns, through Jay, Arty and the man she loves, how to wield her mother’s need for her to her advantage.

With Tony Award winner Brian Yorkey returning to direct, Village Theatre’s “Lost in Yonkers” is a true mark of the talent coming from our local theater groups.

If you go‘Lost in Yonkers’4Jan. 21 – Feb. 28 4Francis J. Gaudette Theatre4303 Front St. N. 4Go to www.villagetheatre.org for show times.

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@gmail.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Collin Morris, Nick Robinson and Jennifer Lee Taylor (from left) appear as Jay, Arty and Bella in the Village Theatre production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Neil Simon play ‘Lost in Yonkers.’By Jay Koh /Village Theatre

The skeletons hidden in the closet rattle loose in “Lost in Yonkers,” as the Neil Simon dramedy plumbs deep into the emotional trauma buried by the Kurnitz clan, a family led by a ruthless grandmother.

Enter Jay and Arty, teenage boys, the youngest family members and the latest to be thrust into the emotional maelstrom at Grandma Kurnitz’s apartment. “Lost in Yonkers” unfolds above a candy store where the stern grandmother is the proprietor, but the setting is saccharine only in the literal sense.

Village Theatre alumnus Brian Yorkey will direct the ensemble cast when the theater revives the period piece Jan. 20. The tale recounts the tense times after serious Jay and wisecracking Arty move in with Grandma Kurnitz. The boys arrive at the apartment after their mother dies and their father takes work out of town to pay back a bad debt.

Jay and Arty also share the apartment with dim-witted Aunt Bella. The scarred Kurnitz brood also includes Uncle Louie, a small-time thug.

“Lost in Yonkers” shares DNA with “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “Biloxi Blues” and “Broadway Bound” — other semi-autobiographical works in the Simon canon.

“He really, I think, dug deep for this one,” Yorkey said. “It’s one of his best, and the chance to work with a cast of some of Seattle’s best actors on a play this meaty, you can’t pass that up.”“Lost in Yonkers” is set in the early 1940s, and Yorkey said he wants the production to create a feeling of being within a childhood memory.

“I think I’m sort of a romantic fool in this way, but I always feel that there’s an audience for a good story that’s told well, and that’s Neil Simon’s stock in trade,” Yorkey said.

The production will mark the first time “Lost in Yonkers” has been presented at Village Theatre. The play debuted on Broadway in early 1991.

“Lost in Yonkers” won four Tony Awards, including Best Play, during the original Broadway run. Simon also pocketed a Pulitzer Prize for the work.

Issaquah native Yorkey — a Tony Award winner who wrote the book and lyrics for the original musical, “Next to Normal” — said the work shares themes with “Lost in Yonkers.” “Next to Normal” deals with a family straining against the rigors brought on by mental illness.

“In ways, it has similarities to ‘Next to Normal’ in that it’s a family story that mixes some real hearty laughs with some real tough and moving drama about the way families relate, and the secrets families keep and what families have to go through to hold themselves together,” Yorkey said.

Issaquah native Jennifer Lee Taylor will return to the Village Theatre Mainstage as Aunt Bella. Broadway queen Mercedes Ruehl earned a Tony when she originated the role.

Taylor last performed on the Village Theatre Mainstage in “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Yorkey directed the piece.

Suzy Hunt, a Broadway veteran, tackles the formidable Grandma Kurnitz role. Mike Dooley brings film, stage and television experience to the part of Uncle Louie.

Nick Robinson, 14, will make his Village Theatre debut as Arty, the younger boy. The character leavens heavy moments with humor.

“He’s the guy who delivers the one-liners, because that’s how he deals with stress,” Robinson said.

A Seattle native and a stage veteran, Robinson recently completed filming a pilot for ABC Family. He said “Lost in Yonkers” piqued his interest in other Simon productions.

“Somehow, Neil Simon finds a way to blend in humor and human nature into it,” he said.

KIDSTAGE alumnus and Liberty High School graduate Collin Morris portrays Jay, the 15 1/2-year-old elder brother.

“Throughout the show, he feels as though he sort of has to fill in that adult role because the father’s gone,” Morris said. “He kind of feels like he has to be the man of the house.”

Morris, 18, and the cast worked with a dialect coach to learn the New York accent. The actor found aspects of the character easier to embrace.

“Working with the text, and just sort of figuring out Jay as a character, he really has a lot more in common with myself than I initially would have thought,” Morris said.

The production also prompted him to read more Simon works: “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “Biloxi Blues” and “Broadway Bound,” called the Eugene Trilogy after the main character in the series.

“He has a very unique writing style and it’s very, very personal,” Morris said.

If you go

‘Lost in Yonkers’

Jan. 20 – Feb. 28

$19 – $59

Francis J. Gaudette Theatre

303 Front St. N.

392-2202

www.villagetheatre.org

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Liberty High School junior Kylie Ishimitsu, who plays Bridh, cradles junior Garrett Bagdon, a Union soldier, near the battlefield for the city of Petersburg in the play ‘Broken Hallelujah.’ By Chantelle Lusebrink

The Liberty High School Patriot Players will present a special double-feature production of “Broken Hallelujah” and “Sorry, Wrong Number,” beginning Jan. 8.

It is a new undertaking for many of the school’s drama students.

“It will show audiences what we can do here,” said junior Garrett Bagdon, who plays Hosgood, a Union soldier. “In the past few years, we’ve been doing a lot of comedies. This is our first play that’s been a true drama in some time.”

“I think it will really show the quality of our actors,” said junior Brandon Crader, who plays Stewart, a Union soldier.

“Broken Hallelujah,” commissioned by the A.C.T Young Conservatory of San Francisco in partnership with Theatre Royal Bath, was first staged in 2005. It is a contemporary play written by Sharman Macdonald.

In the battle-worn city of Petersberg, Va., the long days of the Civil War stretch on while people die from hunger, tensions are high and the deafening silence overwhelms young souls in a battle to defend a way of life.

“It’s a really beautiful, meaningful and relevant script that hasn’t been overdone,” Director Katherine Klekas said. “As a teacher and a mother, I don’t think [young people] realize that we’re involved in two wars. I know it’s something my kids could end up in.“People tend to want what is easy and they want someone to blame. They want villains and heroes. But in war, especially the Civil War, it’s not that easy,” she added. “This show is complex, real and brutal. It show’s the reality of the situation, rather than what is portrayed in video games or produced movies.”

Sophomore Fiona Kine, who plays Maureen, a Southern teen, said the play has given her a look into the emotional and psychological side of war, and common themes of growing from a child into an adult.

“No one in the play is over the age of 19,” said sophomore Sierra Hunt, who plays Loren, a Southern teen. “During the play, we all have to come to terms with who we are and what our part is in the cause.”

“We really start to see how different people teach us different things about one another,” said junior Kylie Ishimitsu, who plays Bridh, a young woman caught in the war. “We start to learn about different cultures and help each other see things in different ways. It’s very much a coming-of-age story about how we all have different experiences.”

The show is staged in conjunction with a one-act play, “Sorry, Wrong Number,” written by Patricia Fletcher.

The play is a classic noir mystery thriller where the spoiled, bedridden daughter of a millionaire picks up the telephone, her only means of communication with the world, only to stumble upon a murder plot. But what she believes is a crossed-line phone call is actually a plot to murder her.

Arielle Gordon, a Liberty senior, is directing the one-act performance.

If you go

‘Broken Hallelujah’

7:30 p.m. Jan. 8, 9, 14, 16

2:30 p.m. Jan. 10

Liberty High School

16655 S.E. 136th St., Renton

$9 for adults

$5 for children under 12, seniors and Liberty students with valid identification

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Elise Swanson as Judy Haynes; Marcus Mitchell as Phil Davis; Sarah Meyer as Betty Haynes; and Mitchell Tant as Bob Wallace (left to right) are ready with the rest of the cast to perform the Issaquah High School drama production of 'White Christmas'. By Greg Farrar

A northeastern Christmas, full of snow, shows and singing is coming to Issaquah. Get ready to fall in love with Issaquah High School’s production of “White Christmas,” which begins at Skyline High School Dec. 8.

The production is at Skyline because Issaquah’s stage and theater is still under construction.

The production is one students and theater head and director Holly Whiting are celebrating.

“When we moved our musical from spring to winter, we knew we wanted to do something holiday themed,” Whiting said. “We knew we wanted to do ‘White Christmas,’ because everyone loves the music and everyone knows the music. So, there’s a familiarity and an added instant connection between the audience and the actors.”

“It’s really exciting,” said senior Elise Swanson, who plays Judy Haynes, one of two sisters in the classic show. “We’re the first ones in the state, if not the nation, to put on ‘White Christmas,’”“People should come see this show because of its enjoy-ability,” said senior Marcus Mitchell, who plays Phil Davis. “It’s a great thing to bring your family together.”

With a cast of more than 50, it is one of the largest and most demanding productions the school has ever tackled.

After World War II ends, two formerly enlisted friends, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, team up and form a successful song-and-dance act. The two encounter two sisters with a similar act and, unbeknownst to stubborn bachelor Wallace, Davis tries to play matchmaker.

Davis invites the two women to help them with a Christmas television special, to be aired on national television, for the men’s former general, the lodge’s owner. While rehearsing, romantic mix-ups and the general’s inability to pay for the lodge create tenuous circumstances for all involved.

“It’s such a heart-warming show,” said senior Sarah Meyer, who plays Betty Haynes.

With such a tall order, the students said they’re a bit nervous to fill the film’s large shoes.

“It’s been busy,” Meyer said. “The movie had Bing Crosby, and there are so many epic dance scenes, we have to live up to that.”

But they feel confident audiences will appreciate what they have to offer.

With moves and a voice to match, senior Mitchell Tant is ready to take on the role of Bob Wallace, originally made famous by Hollywood leading man Crosby.

“In the midst of the holiday season, I hope people walk away from our show with a sense of grace for other people, yet excited about themselves,” Tant said. “I hope they leave enjoying what’s in front of them at the moment and not just thinking about what is next, like Bob does for most of the show.”

The zany antics and big grin of Mitchell keep the comedy, and trouble, coming for Tant’s character.

The performance is sure to blow you away, as the students have created a way to make their train bound for the Northeast move onstage.

“Everyone has been practicing with the black rolling stools we’re using as the train,” Swanson said. “We’re the first ones to think of it. It’s been exciting, but a lot of hard work and bruised toes.”

“It is a great production for the crowd, but is also a better production for the actors, like us,” Tant said. “The music we sing is more challenging and we’ve been really challenging ourselves with the dance numbers.”

That is what makes the production special, Whiting said, what the students have put into it.

“I’m really proud of them. They have dedicated themselves to the demanding degree of difficulty this show required for the dances and complex scenes,” she said. “I hope the show gives audiences the same feeling that it has given this cast all along, one of this sort of shared sense of joy is what this production has created.”

“I’m just happy performing in front of an audience and making them smile,” Mitchell said. “As long as they are happy, I’m happy. This show does that.”

If you go

‘White Christmas’

7 p.m. Dec. 8-12

2 p.m. Dec. 12

Skyline High School

1122 228th Avenue S.E., Sammamish

Tickets: General admission is $10 at the door; $8 for Issaquah High School students with valid identification

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Clockwise from left, Ryah Nixon (Esther Smith), John David Scott (Lon Smith Jr.), Katie Griffith (Agnes Smith), Analiese Emerson Guettinger (Tootie Smith) and Bryan Tramontana (Rose Smith) share a scene together in Village Theatre’s production of ‘Meet Me in St. Louis.’ By Jay Koh/property of

“Thump, thump, thump, went my heartstrings” as Village Theatre’s energetic holiday cast of “Meet Me In St. Louis” gave audiences the musical equivalent of perfection wrapped under the Christmas tree.

Drenched in dazzling lace and lush velvet dresses, women twirled about by men clad in seersucker and linen suits and a rich wood-paneled Victorian home, set close to the stage’s edge, sucked me inside the Smith family’s 1904 St. Louis home.

Scene three was barely over and I was hooked.

The show’s details are what recreate a feeling of a simpler life and time, but it’s the incredibly well-selected cast and ensemble of 26 that makes this show shine and stand apart from a beloved film, familiar to so many.

With a fresh face and bold vocals, 22-year-old Ryah Nixon returns to Village Theatre in the role of Esther Smith. Her last role at the theater was as Princess Amneris in “Aida” during the 2007-2008 season.

Reprising one of Judy Garland’s most well-known roles, Nixon’s high energy electrifies the stage and her portrayal of Smith, a young woman struck by love, is spot on and full of youth’s innocent exuberance.In an interview prior to the show’s debut, Nixon said she channeled her own young experiences with love to help identify with her character and make it her own.

It shows. The depth of emotion she projects from the stage will leave you as giddy in your plush seat, as if you’re falling in love for the first time.

As carefully selected was the role of Tootie, the film’s original show-stopping cutie, played by Analiese Emerson Guettinger, who is the spitting image of Margaret O’Brien.

Analiese’s comedic timing is second to none and she shows a breadth of emotions not often found at such a young age.

Of course, what would “Meet Me In St. Louis” be without the boy next door, John Truitt, played by Jason Kappus, whose voice melds harmoniously with Nixon’s bold voice and who matches her awkward advances with a nervous energy that makes his own overtures far from suave.

As carefully chosen as its leads, the show’s supporting — often eccentric — characters seemed equally so.

The role of Lon Smith Jr., less developed in the film, gets a chance to breathe new life into the theatrical musical with the help of John David Scott, who plays the rational Princeton student and protective older brother.

Two scene-stealers and audience favorites were Bobbi Kotula, who plays the Smith’s family cook Katie, and Larry Albert, as the Smith children’s zany Grandpa Prophater. Each added their talent for appropriately timed one-liners throughout the production that brought belly laughs from the audience.

A huge surprise to the Village stage were the intricate and high-energy dance numbers for songs like “The Trolley Song,” “Skip To My Lou,” and “The Banjo,” which features an extended tap number performed by Scott.

Nixon’s sincere and somber performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was simply a showstopper.

When all is said and done, true love wins and the fireworks explode over St. Louis at the World’s Fair. The true mark of this production is how it seemed to speak to the audience. Village’s “Meet Me In St. Louis” speaks volumes as women giggled through scenes, men hummed “The Trolley Song” at intermission and couples walked out the doors hand in hand.

So, if you’re looking to take a deep breath away from the holiday tree trimming and frantic shopping, take that breath with the ones you love at Village Theatre’s “Meet Me In St. Louis.”

If you go

‘Meet Me in St. Louis’

Nov. 11 – Jan. 3

$19 – $59

Francis J. Gaudette Theatre

303 Front St. N.

Call 392-2202

www.villagetheatre.org.

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

“It’s really fun and different, a new play that pokes good-natured fun at cherished theatrical forms,” Katherine Klekas, theater director for Liberty, wrote in an e-mail. “We’re always looking for something that is good but not overdone, and ‘Zap’ is quite clever and new.

“It also features a big, talented cast.”

With 27 actors playing 30 roles, your head is sure to spin. But add seven dramatic theater genres, hundreds of costumes, props and lighting cues, and you’ll be zapped into awe, Seattle Repertory Theatre’s Scott Koh, guest director for the production, said in a press release.

“I’ve collaborated with Katherine Klekas several times over the years and when this opportunity arose, it seemed like the perfect fit,” Koh wrote in an e-mail.

Liberty High School Patriot Players (from left) Casey O’Keefe, Rachel Galasso, Jonathan Julius, Jessica Queitzsch and Lindsey Vanosdoll, enact the British murder mystery scene from ‘Zap.’ By Greg Farrar

“‘Zap’ is a very audience-friendly play, in that it has something for everyone,” he added. “Without giving away too much of the plot, it is a fast-paced farcical comedy, where things go crazily awry. The challenge of the production has been to get really ‘good’ at being ‘bad.’”

Paul Fleischman, a Newberry Medal winner, wrote the production. Fleischman is an author of multiple poetry books for young readers and novels, like “A Fate Totally Worse Than Death” and “Sidewalk Circus.” “Zap” is his first play.

“Zap” is a combination of seven historical play genres presented on stage simultaneously.

The idea, according to Klekas, is that the audience watching the plays is given the opportunity to flip from one production to check in on another, just as one would use remote controls to change television channels.

For example, while characters are bantering about Shakespearean insults on stage during “Richard III,” other characters will be sleuthing to solve an English murder mystery based on Agatha Christie’s famous novels, while still others will arrive onstage to teleport the audience to scenes from a New York comedy with a style similar to that of Neil Simon.

“I like the hilarity of it,” said student Arielle Gordon, who plays Marsha, a pot-stirring, play-sabotaging gossip. “There are a lot of one-liners that are hilarious, and lots of actors who know how to be comedic with their bodies.”“I’ve really been amazed by the dedication and focus of the students. When I walk into a rehearsal in the afternoon, I’m immediately struck by the warm atmosphere that these students have created,” Koh wrote. “They are supportive of each other, take direction well and have all the drama ‘chops’ necessary to create high quality productions. This is a credit to Katherine and the quality drama program she has created at Liberty.”

The play “has something to say about entertainment and life. It’s set in the suburbs and is about life in the suburbs,” Gordon said. “It has a good underlying message, but it’s also a really funny show.”

After the show, the school’s Improv Club will perform.

Working in teams, the students will perform classics from Improv Games, like “Late for Work” and “Moving Bodies and Genres,” Improv teacher and advisor Jake Nonis said in a press release.

“Every time these students get onstage, the audience loves their clean and clever comedy,” Nonis said. “We want everyone to come join in the fun.”

If you go

‘Zap’

7:30 p.m. Nov. 13-21

2:30 p.m. Nov. 21

Liberty High School, 16655 S.E. 136th St.

$9 for adults; $5 for seniors, students with Liberty student identification and children under 12

Ryah Nixon, as Esther Smith (left), and Jason Kappus, as John Truitt, converse as (back, from left) Katie Griffith, as Agnes Smith, and Analiese Emerson Guettinger as Tootie Smith, look on, in the Village Theatre production of ‘Meet Me In St. Louis.’ By John Pal/Village Theatre

It’s time to deck the halls and stoke the hearth — the holidays are coming to Village Theatre.

Village Theatre’s cast and crew are taking audiences back to a time when horse and buggies were the mode of travel, home telephones were still novel, the World’s Fair was on the tips of all tongues and first love was anything but easy.

Welcome to St. Louis in 1904 as Village Theatre presents “Meet Me in St. Louis,” Nov. 11 through Jan. 3.

“The holidays are time for family. It’s a time when people think about their families, going home or having people over. The holidays are a time to reconnect with family,” said Steve Tomkins, artistic director for Village Theatre. “Really, what this show is about is the interaction of the family.

“It is delightful and energizing.”

Featuring fantastic classics, like “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis,” “The Boy Next Door,” “Skip to My Lou” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the musical is sure to keep your toes tapping and leave you with a song in your heart.

“The rehearsal process has been delightful,” Tomkins said. “It’s a really fun show to stage and a really good group of people to work with.

“I have yet to sit through the ‘Skip to My Lou’ number and not be beaming after.”

But bringing a film musical that’s memorable to so many is not an easy task, he said.

“The challenge is how to make a movie musical work on stage,” he said, remembering seeing Judy Garland’s big red lips in a close up shot in the show in 1976. “It’s the little things that we have to catch, the nuances made for movies, and bring them to the stage.”

Much of his fears were alleviated when the cast was chosen. Though she isn’t Garland, Tomkins said he believes it’s Ryah Nixon’s time to shine.

“Had Ryah been born 50 years earlier, she would have been an MGM musical recording star,” Tomkins said about the 22-year-old Nixon, who plays the role of Esther. “She is really a good fit for the part. She’s not Judy Garland. She’s Ryah Nixon and it works for this character.”

Nixon last appeared locally as Princess Amneris in “Aida” during the 2007-08 season.

“I’d say what’s difficult is structuring a character that incorporates all of the things that Judy did to make the character so timeless and memorable, without doing a caricature of her Esther,” Nixon said. “Esther is so close to me in age that it’s wonderful to find what similarities we have when it comes to energy, spunk and falling in love.”

As Esther tumbles into love with the boy next door, John Truitt, played by Jason Kappus, her hopes for a happy ending are dashed by the sudden threat of a family move.

Tomkins said he was also thrilled to cast Analiese Emerson Guettinger, now appearing in The 5th Avenue Theatre’s “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat,” as Tootie.

“St. Louis” boasts 26 cast members.

Unlike film where panning, closeups and fade-outs help tell a story, the creative team at Village Theatre has had to find ways to transition the story without losing the feeling of closeness the audience experiences with the characters.

So, they’ve come up with creative solutions, dramatic sets and more than 122 costumes to keep you hanging on your seats. One surprise Tomkins revealed was how they plan to make “The Trolley Song” sing.

“We have a young and physically energetic cast, so in the design, we’ve made the trolley strong, so the kids can climb all over it,” he said.

As a theater production, the cast has the opportunity to explore subplots, like that of the brother Lon Smith Jr., played by John David Scott, while adding to the story’s overall depth.

“It’s not a remake of the movie,” he said. “We’ve tried to capture the essence of the movie, which is so familiar, but it is our show.”

“It’s the perfect holiday show with the most timeless songs and everyone can identify with at least one character onstage,” Nixon said. “You will leave in the holiday spirit and adore the big company dances.”

If you go

‘Meet Me in St. Louis’

Nov. 11 – Jan. 3

$19 – $59

Francis J. Gaudette Theatre

303 Front St. N.

392-2202

www.villagetheatre.org

‘Deathtrap’ cast members in the Skyline High School drama production are (from left) Jeff Stillwell as Sidney, Emma O’Melia as Helga, Derrik Petrin as Clifford, Alex Klee as Porter and Holly Griffith as Myra. By Greg Farrar

Gearing up for the first fall drama of the season, Skyline High School students are hard at work perfecting their lines to bring you “Deathtrap.”

The quintessential Ira Levin production will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

“It is a really interesting show that never leaves you knowing what is going on, and leaves you with plot twists you’ve never seen before,” said junior Holly Griffith, who plays Myra Bruhl.

Sidney Bruhl is a once-successful playwright whose last several productions have flopped at the box office. His desperation for a hit boils over after he receives a brilliant script from novice writer Clifford Anderson. Bruhl devises a plot to kill Anderson after telling him he will help write his script. Once Anderson is dead, Bruhl plans to take credit for the script and collect the royalties. It’s the perfect plan, he tells his wife Myra.“My character is wildly manipulative for a 50-year-old playwright from the ’70s,” said senior Jeff Stillwell, who plays Sidney Bruhl. “He is completely out of his mind, yet really composed, which ultimately makes it really challenging to play.”

The perfect murder plot goes helplessly awry when Bruhl repeatedly tries to kill his colleague.

“Through the entire play, I like to think he knows exactly what’s going on,” said senior Derrik Petrin, who plays Anderson. “He has everything planned out and he knows what is going to happen next.”

The five-character play first debuted in 1978 on Broadway and ran for 1,809 performances before closing June 27, 1982.

“I think people come see it because it’s a spectacle that is violent at times, but also really hilarious at the same time,” Stillwell said, adding it can add to Halloween fun.

“There are plenty of plot changes you won’t even expect. It will surprise you that you’ll be screaming at one scene and laughing along with some of the lines in the same scene,” Petrin said. “It’s a good mix of humor and horror.”

If you go

‘Deathtrap’

7 p.m. Oct. 21- 24

Skyline High School’s

Lyceum Theatre

1122 228th Ave. S.E.

Tickets, available at door, $8 for general admission; $6 for students and senior citizens

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Kate Jaeger (Nun), Tanesha Ross (Nicolette), Nick DeSantis (Valere) and Matthew Kacergis (Aucassin) star in Village Theatre’s production of ‘Chasing Nicolette.’ By by Jay Koh/Property of Village Theatre

How do you spell fun? C-H-A-S-I-N-G N-I-C-O-L-E-T-T-E.

That’s Village Theatre’s production of “Chasing Nicolette,” playing now on the local mainstage until Oct. 25.

Or maybe it’s N-I-C-K D-E-S-A-N-T-I-S.

That’s Nick DeSantis, the actor who plays Valere and nearly steals the show with his hilarity, hijinks and outrageousness.

You honestly may never see anyone funnier on a stage.

But every cast member is great and you’ll find yourself enjoying the particular vocal and comedic talents of each and every one. The voice of Timothy McCuen Piggee (playing King) is especially deep and sultry.

The silliness begins in the first scene with the musical’s 10 characters singing about life in the year 1224. It continues throughout the production, never really letting up.

Even the more serious scenes had people laughing out loud, such as every time the audience catches up with Brian Demar Jones (playing Nemur) as he continues his search for Nicolette.

Just try to keep a straight face.

Or when Nicolette (the silky-voiced Tanesha Ross) sings of her love (and food) in the number “You’re Always on My Mind.”

The voices are exceptional and although the harmonies are particularly sweet, the solos are even more so.

This musical features one of the best and hilarious sword fights ever. And a dungeon has never been so funny. You’ll leave with a sore throat and a belly ache from laughing so much throughout the entire production.

The musical’s program seems to apologize for the play being in verse, but you’ll be so entertained by it that you might not notice all of the rhymes unless you’re really paying attention for them.

The costumes are delicious with their jewel-toned, luxurious fabrics. You’ll drool over them if you love fashion.

And although set designer Scott Fyfe says in the program that he doesn’t necessarily want people to say, “What a great set,” you can’t help but think it. His revolving castle turns at the perfect speed and characters go from one facet of it to another seamlessly. You can’t help but notice how ingenious the design of it is.

Favorite scene: Valere and his arms in the dungeon. You’ll want to hold that gum or mint in your hand for this one, so you don’t swallow it.

Favorite song: “You Have to Lie,” sung by DeSantis, accompanied by Matt Wolfe (playing Montescu). Hear it now on the “Chasing Nicolette” page on the theater’s Web site.

Bravo to Peter Kellogg (book and lyrics), David Friedman (music), Steve Tomkins (director) and R.J. Tancioco (musical direction) for this gem. You’ll want to see it again and again.

If you go

‘Chasing Nicolette’

2, 7, 7:30 and 8 p.m.

Sept. 17 – Oct. 25

$34 – $59 for adults

Francis J. Gaudette Theatre

303 Front St. N.

Call 392-2202 or

go to www.villagetheatre.org.

Kathleen R. Merrill: 392-6434, ext. 227, or editor@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.