‘HOORAY’ BRINGS HOLLYWOOD TO HILTON HEAD FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Author: CH2 Press Release

Take an Oscar-studded trip down memory lane with “Hooray for Hollywood,” an original musical movie stage revue debuting at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina Feb. 28-March 7.

The revue, directed and choreographed by Casey Colgan (“Les Miserables,” “My Fair Lady”), also serves as a fundraiser for the Arts Center. Ticket sales go to the non-profit’s education and outreach activities. In the past two years alone, the department provided more than 30,000 education-related services to local students, while 4,000 students, parents and teachers were able to attend special field-trip performances at the Arts Center.

Photography by Anne
From left, Shannon Lee Jones, Lindsie VanWinkle, Nic Thompson, Meegan Midkiff and Missy Schmotzer pay tribute to “Singing in the Rain” in this number from “Hooray for Hollywood.”

“Being a community performing arts center, our education and outreach departments are a big part of what we do,” said president and CEO Kathleen Bateson. “It’s going to be a great show, made greater by the fact that, when you buy a ticket, you know you are giving back to the community.”

Anyone expecting a stuffy two-hour discussion on the importance of arts education in the community, though, will be disappointed. “Hooray” features dozens of songs made popular in classic movies and recreates many familiar scenes and characters from the last 80 years of Hollywood history.

Coming off directing “My Fair Lady” at the Arts Center in December, a show with a rich history, Colgan has enjoyed the freedom that comes with creating a revue from scratch.

“I guess I am selfish, because this is so much fun,” he said. “Because I am not stuck to someone else’s book, I am constantly going, ‘Well that doesn’t work, let’s try this.’”

Bateson said that, with his 20-year association with the island, Colgan has earned a reputation of quality and flair with local theatergoers.

“We always love having Casey back at the Arts Center,” Bateson said. “This show has his fingerprints all over it; producing a show is a collaborative process, but – especially with an original production – a lot of it starts with finding the right director and choreographer.”

“Hooray for Hollywood” features a collection Tinseltown’s most memorable tunes, including “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “As Time Goes By,” “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Over the Rainbow,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “You’re the One That I Want” and more contemporary songs such as “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”

The show will feature familiar characters and motifs plucked from classic Hollywood movies. James Bond makes an appearance in once scene, while another features Gene Kelly’s famous “Singing in the Rain” number.

“Putting the show together, it was important to have people that I personally have worked with here at the Arts Center and have cast in other shows,” Colgan said. “Casting was key. As I was writing the show, I was putting faces on numbers immediately.”

The cast includes an all-star list of performers, reuniting familiar faces – and voices – from the Arts Center’s recent past. Lindsie VanWinkle (Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady”), Shannon Lee Jones (“Mame”), Scott Evans (“The Producers”), Meegan Midkiff (“Les Miserables”), Jeffrey Watkins (“The Full Monty”) and Nic Thompson (“A Chorus Line”) lead a cast of 12.

Also in the cast – fitting for a benefit for local arts education – are two Hilton Head-area students, Hilton Head Island High School senior Clark Hummell and Hilton Head Prepatory junior Caroline Santorum.

A veteran of Hilton Head Dance Theatre performances, Santorum was spotted in the audience of an Arts Center show by Colgan.

“I remember sitting in the audience of a show that I directed, and she was sitting behind me,” he said. “Someone said, ‘That little girl is a dancer,’ and I turned around and said, ‘I’m having auditions for “West Side Story” tomorrow, and you are going to be there.’ Every since then, whenever there is a spot, I make sure she is in the show. She has grown tremendously.”

Colgan noticed Hummell in a Main Street Theater performance of “Guys & Dolls” and cast him immediately in “My Fair Lady,” now he is using him in “Hooray.” He said the cast – made up completely of Arts Center veterans – has gelled in rehearsals, despite differences in age and experience.

“(Hummell) is 18 years old, and he is with seasoned Broadway veterans, and they are mixing along with 18-year-old Clark and 17-year-old Caroline,” Colgan said. “Everyone is the same age in rehearsals.”

The week of performances kick off with a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 28 and 8 p.m. shows March 2-6. There’s also a matinee on March 7.

Tickets for the week of shows are $55 for adults and $30 for kids. For tickets, visit www.artshhi.com or call 843-842-ARTS. Subscribers get a discount and should call the box office for details.

The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina is a non-profit performing arts organization. In addition to a 349-seat, main-stage theater that hosts an annual theater and performing arts series, the organization oversees two art galleries and regional arts educational programs, as well as produces four community outreach festivals. The Arts Center received the 2006 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for top arts organization in South Carolina. 30