News release
Public Information Office
SLU 10880 Hammond,
LA 70402 phone:
985-549-2341 fax:
985-549-2061publicinfo@selu.edu
www.selu.edu/news
Contact: Janelle Woolley
Date: 4/10/03
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DIRECTOR RETURNS FOR SLU’S “OLIVER!” – Wendy Taucher, an internationally acclaimed freelance director and choreographer, will be the guest director for Southeastern Louisiana University’s summer musical production, “Oliver!” The show will be staged June 27-28 at Southeastern’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts. Taucher is making a return visit to campus. She directed Southeastern’s 2001 musical, “Annie,” which was a sold-out success. She is pictured above in a rehearsal with the “Annie” orphan chorus. CAST ANNOUNCED FOR SOUTHEASTERN’S “OLIVER!” HAMMOND – Dylan Passman and Evan Raider, both of Baton Rouge, have been cast as Charles Dickens’s famous orphan, the title role in Southeastern Louisiana University’s summer production of the popular musical “Oliver!” The musical is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 27-28, at 7:30 p.m. and June 28 at 2 p.m. at Southeastern’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Hammond. Music and choreography rehearsals begin May 19. New York guest director Wendy Taucher, who directed Southeastern’s popular “Annie” in 2001, will join the cast and production staff in early June. Taucher has received national and international acclaim as a director of numerous productions including “Annie,” “The Sound of Music,” “West Side Story,” “Grease,” and “Oliver!” Bradley Barrios of Mandeville will play the conniving criminal Fagin, the leader of a band of homeless young pickpockets. Charles Miller of Hammond and Weston Twardowski of Mandeville share role of the wise-cracking, streetwise young thief, the Artful Dodger. Darrell Haynes of Boutte will play the wicked burglarer Bill Sikes, a former member of Fagin’s gang. Brandy Hotard of Port Allen is his lover Nancy, a prostitute with a heart of gold. Supporting cast members include Maggie Rownd, Hammond, Bet; Cedric Bridges, Abita Springs, Mr. Bumble; Kay Schepker, Hammond, Widow Corney; Justin Hutchinson, Amite, Mr. Sowerberry; Daveda Karanas, Mandeville, Mrs. Sowerberry; Jacquie Brecheen, Ponchatoula, Charlotte/Strawberry Seller; Tom Anderson, Hammond, Mr. Brownlow; Sarah Osterberger, Baton Rouge; Mrs. Bedwin; Brett Morrison, Hammond, and Scott Davis, Baton Rouge, Pauper’s Assistant; Jonathan Brecheen, Tickfaw, Dr. Grimwig; Patsy Kay Turner, Hammond, Old Sally; and Paris Pujol, Tickfaw, Old Lady. Cast in the children’s chorus are, from Hammond, Taylor Blouin, Jude Cali, David Hogan, Joshua Bobb-Semple, Aaron Pfeil, MiMi Scardulla, Holly Settoon, Eryn Short, Kaitlin Short, Katy Stuart, Bret Wagner, and Rebecca Wagner. Children’s chorus members from Ponchatoula are Gabriella Acosta, Christopher Ekker, Jonathan Lyons, Miles Lyons, Zachary Stewart, and Dara Stewart. Other members include Sidney Fortenberry of Madisonville; Dustin Forsberg, R.J. O’Neill, and Shelby Pinkley of Tickfaw; Graham Griener of Mandeville; Marcus McClain of Baton Rouge; Natalie Newton of Roseland; Corryn Richardson from Maurepas; and Natalie Rossano of Independence. Hammond residents in the adult chorus are Jesse Brooks, Janelle Bourgeois, Donny Campbell, Timothy Cowsar, Adam Dennison, Ashley Dennison, Nelie Durham, Megan Kerber, Simon Pfeil, Roxanne Pfeil, Scott Thornhill, Betty Turner, and D’Andreas Williams. Also in the chorus are Dori Christian and Christine Thomas, Independence; Stacey Cooke, Ashley Herrick, Chelsea Herrick, and Bridget Lyons, Ponchatoula, and Shannon Pinkley, Tickfaw. Advance tickets for “Oliver!” will be available at the Columbia Theatre box office in the lobby of the theatre, 220 E. Thomas St., beginning Monday, June 9. Ticket prices are $15, $18, $21, and $24. |
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