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June 26, 2008 - 8:17PM
'7 brides', 95 actors take to Queen Creek stage
Martin Cizmar, Tribune
For many community theater troupes, casting a musical like "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" - with its 20 lead characters - could be a challenge. It was never an issue for the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center's Community Theatre, says group president Valeen Nielson.
"We actually got to pick who we wanted for each part, it wasn't just finding bodies," Nielson said. "We wanted it to be inclusive, and we ended up with a cast of 95."
While the massive cast is pretty green - most of the people with speaking parts haven't been on stage before - it is anchored by one of Queen Creek's most experienced thespians, Queen Creek High School drama teacher John Owens.
Owens plays Adam, the oldest of the Pontipee brothers, a family of lumberjacks living in the woods outside a small town in Oregon. Adam marries a woman he just met, only to surprise her by taking her back to his cabin, where she learns he lives with six uncouth brothers. The brothers want wives, too, and set about learning the art of courtship. Hijinks ensue.
Owens is acting alongside his students - something that might bother some high school teachers, but he said the experience "is a lot more fun than being on the other side.
"I just have to worry about myself, my lines, what I have to sing, what I have to work on. That's a lot more fun than trying to control 40 kids."
Actually, Owens said, directing teenagers is a little easier than what Nielson has to do: "The diplomacy is not really required of me. With kids, I can run it like I would a football team. She can't do that."
Like Owens, Autumn Shirley found her part as one of the girls the Pontipee brothers try to seduce easier than her normal role in theatrical productions, though it's the first time the 19-year-old dance instructor from Queen Creek has had a speaking part in a play.
"It's a lot easier than just dancing. You can talk, so you can get your character across that way, instead of when you dance and you have to do it just with movement," Shirley said.
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