Arts & Entertainment
Youth CONNection presents: Annie Get Your Gun
The Youth CONNection gets ready for their annual summer production that will open next week.
At 7:00 PM Wednesday night, Shelton High School’s main lobby was filled with 45 young actors and actresses. Mia Scarpa directed heads this way and that with a snap of her fingers as they rehearsed “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.”
Quick flashes lit the back wall of the lobby as the stars took their headshots. Cowboy boots and moccasins shuffled across the floor as they practiced, creating a near complete setting with nothing but music and choreography.
The Youth CONNection is hard at work preparing for next week’s opening night. But there is still time for a quick word of advice from director Gary Scarpa on the virtues of egolessness and being able to take criticism.
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The Scarpas have been directing plays for 35 years but this is their first time directing Annie Get Your Gun in Shelton.
“It's truly a charming musical,” said Scarpa, “the score by Irving Berlin has some of the greatest songs ever written.”
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“The show has all the moments you need for the perfect musical,” said Justin Zenchuk, who is playing Buffalo Bill trying to save his show after a less than lucrative European Tour. He explains the play’s broad characters, fun and romance, “and there are two shooting matches,” he adds.
Zenchuk believes that the quality of the productions is as close as you can get to Broadway in Shelton. And Scarpa expects “The Youth CONNection will present a truly professional production of this play.”
The cast, whose ages range from 14 to 21, began rehearsals on June 7th and they have met every day – except Fridays – from 7 to 10 PM. The show opens next Friday, July 22, at 8 PM.
Starring with Zenchuk are Melissa Rampton as Annie Oakley, Kyle Attanasio as Frank Butler, Fiona Bryson as Dolly Tate, Jenna DeCarlo as Winnie Tate, John Corraro as Tommy, Steve Chueka as Charlie Davenport, Andrew Petersell as Sitting Bull, and Casey Blohm as Pawnee Bill.
“Sometimes as a director," said Scarpa, "I feel kind of like the curator of a museum, except instead of taking care of paintings and I am taking care of a wonderful piece of theatre history.”
