Harlem High troupe performs free for community
The wee lads and lasses of Harlem High School's drama troupe depart soon for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
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Actors of the Harlem High School drama department rehearse a scene from Babes In Arms.
The teen thespians will
perform the musical Friday at the Imperial Theatre before leaving for Scotland on Aug. 2 for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Photo by Donnie Fetter
In the meantime, the school's multi-award-winning drama department plans to stage two free performances of the musical - Babes In Arms - that they will perform at a famed international theater festival.
The troupe will perform locally Friday at the Imperial Theater in Augusta and at Harlem High School on July 29 before leaving for Scotland on August 2.
Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenzo Hart, Babes In Arms premiered on Broadway in the 1930s. Hollywood turned it into a hit vehicle for Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in 1939.
Harlem's teen thespians are rehearsing a version of the musical reworked by George Oppenheimer in the 1950s.
"The Oppenheimer version we're doing is a little more friendly, because it eliminated a lot of the ballets," Harlem High School drama teacher and play director Roy Lewis said. "To take it to Scotland, we had to eliminate a lot of dances and concentrate on the story."
A group of young actors wanting to stage their own show forms the premise of the musical. A theater owner forces the troupe to perform another play, which will be critiqued by a New York producer. Instead, the actors sabotage that show so the producer can see their play.
The school's players arduously raised about $125,000 with several different fund-raisers in the past year to afford the Scotland trip.
Haley Neal (left) and Robert Connolly rehearse a scene from Babes In Arms for the Harlem High School drama department.
Photo by Donnie Fetter
Despite the obvious parallels between the characters and the actors performing them, Lewis said he choose Babes In Arms for its musical appeal.
The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh is hailed as the largest performing arts festival in the world and lasts for three weeks. Harlem High's troupe was selected to perform by The American High School Theatre Festival.
"One of the things that American High School Theater Festival kept telling us was that American musicals go over big in Scotland," Lewis said. "This has five songs that were chart-busters."
The memorable melodies in the show include the title song, The Lady is a Tramp, Where or When, Johnny One Note and I Wish I Were in Love Again.
"I was (at the Fringe Festival) before listening to people talk in all of these different languages, but when My Fair Lady came one everyone stopped and was singing along," Lewis said. "I think this musical will solicit a lot of audience participation."
Actors of the Harlem High School drama department rehearse one of the memorable melodies from Babes In Arms, a play they will perform in Scotland in August.
Photo by Donnie Fetter
IF YOU GO:
What: Harlem High's production of Babes in Arms
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Imperial Theater, 725 Broad St.
When: Thursday, July 29, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Harlem High School Auditorium, 1070 Appling-Harlem Highway
Tickets: Admission is free for both performances, but a loose change collection will be held to support cystic fibrosis research.