'That's a Wrap' for Summer Cabaret at Roxbury Latin

Kristy Chambrelli is watching her troupe rehearse selections from John Waters' Hairspray with a mix of amusement and concern. After a run last month in their home territory of middle Connecticut, Saturday night was the last performance of the That's a Wrap acting ensemble's Summer Cabaret showcase – selections from a trio of musical comedies that have been fraught with drama.

"It's been quite a journey," Chambrelli would later offer. That's a Wrap is using proceeds from the performances to raise money for a scholarship fund for Roxbury Latin.

Seated in the very back row of Roxbury Latin's Smith Arts Theater as the cast works through the Hairspray opener, "Good Morning, Baltimore," Chambrelli is sizing up whether the most recent bump in the road– an ill cast member – is going to be a major catastrophe or a narrowly avoided disaster.

"Um, that was fun," she offered in a playful but contrary tone, stopping the players no sooner than they'd bounded on stage for a portion of "Welcome to the 60's," another Hairspray selection. "It's way too tight, you look like you're going to crash into each other. Spread it out – make better use of the space…" The cast seems to know what the criticism is going to be before Chambrelli offers it and the song gets whipped into shape quickly.  It isn't long before they've moved into "You Can't Stop the Beat," a medley that serves as the Hairspray's musical pinnacle.

They're all good, from Gabriel Armentano as crooning heartthrob Link Larkin to Renee Mitchell as the ever-fussy Amber von Tussel to Sammy Bowers in the lead as the lovable pro-integration misfit, Tracy Turnblad.  But the most impressive display is from Cheyenne Walent who has stepped in at the very last minute to play Edna Turnblad, a hilarious larger-than-life character the late Divine made famous with a housecoat, ironing board and a gender-confused bellow. Chambrelli's original Edna, John Janeiro, is ill; Walent is now doubling up as Edna with her role as Paulette in Legally Blonde, the second of the three musicals That's a Wrap has chosen to highlight in its Summer Cabaret. The third is The Last Five Years.

"Cheyenne, you're a rock star," Chambrelli offers as the rehearsal wraps up. And indeed, she is – it's plain Walent knows exactly what she's doing. The only stumbling points will be with the choreography, but her ability to improvise in character is a skilled blessing that will likely smooth over any missteps.

 "I knew the music well enough already," she said after the rehearsal. "I can't afford not to be confident. BUT, this is also a role that will tolerate a certain amount of goofiness if I need to fall back on something."  "If we were worried at all, we're definitely not anymore now that we've seen what she can do on the fly," said Mitchell.

Though all cast members have some prior stage experience, several are new to musical theater. Both Layla Hanson (Penny Pingleton, 16) and Cassandra Lindsey-Williams (Motormouth Maybelle) agree that rehearsals are quite the workout. "I feel like I've been to the gym every time," said Hanson, while Lindsay-Williams confessed, "It's very challenging not to confuse spoken lines and sung lyrics." Chambrelli chimed in, "'Learn to sing on a treadmill' is the motto."

If anyone's really feeling the burn, however, it's Meghan Winzer, playing the lead in Legally Blonde and a singing/dancing extra in Hairspray; Winzer is just off crutches after another go-round with a long-standing foot injury. "My Doctor doesn't even want me walking off of the crutches; I'm definitely not supposed to be dancing," she said. While some might argue she's setting herself up for physical woes down the line, her devotion to the production's success is both refreshing and admirable.

"The Last Five Years" rehearsal begins next and it's more of an adult story with adult players – in this case, WCSU senior Jeanette Buttner as Cathy and Roxbury Latin's resident Technical Theater Director, Nathan Piper as Jamie. As Buttner and Piper run through their numbers with seasoned panache, the rest of the group disseminates to get a bite and calm their nerves before regrouping at show time.

That's a Wrap is a video production and performing arts company located within RVP Studios in West Haven, Connecticut. The business is owned and run by Angela Dellacamera-Rivera, a former script writer for television and radio. Dellacamera-Rivera developed That's a Wrap with a charity-minded mission of bringing hope and opportunity to the sick, suffering and/or less fortunate. By sponsoring kids motivated to learn about performing arts and production, she hopes to instill in them positive values and a more responsible, appropriate use of media than what's permeating the mainstream.

"I try and get these kids to ask themselves – am I going to be a part of this corrupted media, or am I going to take a different path? Where does it stop, where do we draw the line, and how can we make a positive impact? I'm trying to get them to listen to their inner-barometers about what's right and wrong; they're still in there, it's just a question of them training themselves to listen," Dellacamera-Rivera said.

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