After 12 weeks of rehearsal, endless hours of memorization, and the tedious practice of perfecting English accents, students in the drama club at Old Rochester Regional High School were ready for the final dress rehearsal of their production of “The Boy Friend.”

The play, which is more like a theatrical institution responsible for launching the American theater career of Julie Andrews, is a satire centered on a group of young women at a boarding school in the south of France during the 1920s.

While the subject matter of the production may seem both foreign and dated for the cast and crew of over 100 people, they embraced it from day one.

“I am so excited for this show and for these kids,” said Paul Sardinha, ORRHS Drama Club Director. “The kids have really pulled together and they are way excited.”

Backstage, it was excitement mixed with anxiety and uncertainty. On Monday, they had not made it through the entire show from start to finish, which left some members wondering how the rest of the week was going to go.

Katie Holden, a senior at ORRHS, plays the female lead character, Polly Browne.

“We had a really rough Monday. But then something happened on Tuesday and we really raised the bar. The whole night everybody was so amped up because we did so much better,” she said.

While Holden is a four-year drama club vet, she admitted that balancing her character with the rest of the show was a challenge.

“Polly’s character is unique because, the whole show is a farce, but she is the only one who has to play it straight.” Straight, in this case, includes her character speaking in a high-strung, silken head voice while striking exaggerated, statuesque poses one may expect to see in old silent films.

ORRHS junior Max Houck, who plays Tony (the “Boy Friend”), had never acted on stage before.

“I had fun, but I had to play catch up to a lot of people. I didn’t know how to act in a theater or how to even project my voice. But the whole show will be great, so I’m excited,” he said.

For old hands and green horns alike, being a part of live theater means you are part of a family, for better or for worse. Tempers often flare, but the frustration is rarely personal. Each member of the cast and crew knows they are part of a team that shares the same endgame.

Juliana Marques, a senior, has been a member of the stage crew for seven productions, and in that time, has become quite the “Jane” of all trades.

“The fun part for me is that I get to do a lot of different things, so I’m never bored. In the past, I’ve done lighting, sound, costuming, sold concessions,” she said. The set for “The Boy Friend” is sparse, relying heavily on gorgeously ornate painted backdrops to complete the scenes.  But that doesn’t mean there isn’t much to do.

“I’m responsible for a lot of the set moving, making sure people are hitting their marks, and making sure the changes go smoothly,” said Kurt Correia, a senior and stage manager for the show. “I actually love the stress. It’s weird. But at the end of the night when it’s done, the feeling of relief after the stress goes away is amazing,” he said.

After a short delay, the show got off to a great start and the dress rehearsal was indeed a success. With a full pit orchestra, light and sound cues, the audience of senior citizens was enchanted by the whirling melodies and choppy Charleston kicks that emanated from the stage.

The ORRHS drama club was breathing life into an old favorite that ranks as the third longest running show in Broadway history. The troubles of Monday night seemed to be a distant memory for the cast and crew as they barreled forward with an innocent and tenacious charm most common in stage actors. Live theater has always been about giving and taking. The actors give everything they have and the audience takes with them what means the most, whatever that may be.

“The Boy Friend” will run from March 23-24 at 7:30 pm and March 25 at 2:00 pm in the ORRHS auditorium. Tickets are $12 for seniors and students with an ID and $15 for adults and can be purchased at the Marion General Store, the Pen and Pendulum in Mattapoisett, the Plumb Corner Market in Rochester or in the school’s office during school hours.

By Eric Tripoli

For the past five years, Kelly and Marc Weglowski, founders of “Healing little Hearts,” have been working to raise money for pediatric heart research at Children’s Hospital Boston. They have specifically focused their efforts on research of tissue-engineered heart valves that grow with a child and reduce the necessity for multiple, risky open heart surgeries in children with congenital heart defects.  They became involved in fundraising because of their son Brady’s ongoing involvement with Children’s Hospital.

“Brady is alive today because of the amazing efforts of Children’s Hospital Boston. Brady is now a healthy six-year old, but he was born with a severe, life-threatening heart defect — he has endured seven heart surgeries, 15 cardiac catheterizations and five days on life support,” said Kelly.

Family and friends of the Weglowski family work from September to March to plan the event that is held the first week of March every year.  On March 3, 2012, the fundraiser reached a milestone – a half-million dollars raised over the past five years. There were over 300 attendees at the event, many from the tri-town area.

“We are so blessed to have a community of people that come out and support this cause. It means a great deal to our family, and we look forward to the day when tissue-engineered heart valves will be available for all children that need them,” said Kelly.

The Sippican Healthcare Center in Marion has been renamed this week. The new name is the Sippican Royale and she is a cruise ship heading out of Marion Harbor to the ports of call of Bermuda and Hawaii. The ship departed on Monday, March 19 and will return on March 23.

“It’s been a long winter and we brainstormed for ways to break up the monotony of the winter and came up with a cruise theme,” said Activities Director Anne O’Connell Bishop. “Our residents can’t go on a cruise ship or to a casino, so we brought the ship and the casino to them.”

In the lobby sits an impressive seven-foot ship named the Sippican. Crafted by artist Tom Lynch, it’s made of cardboard egg crates. The ship has portholes, flags, a smokestack and a colorful deck.

Residents wearing sailor hats with nautical decorations admired the ship along with the other decorations, which included buoys and life preservers. A red carpet leads the way to the dining area, with colorful parrots dangling from the chandeliers.  Residents will have the opportunity to have their photo taken with the captain, Rosemary Carlson, Administrator at the health care center.

“The whole building is involved, including the food service,” said Food Service Director Randy Frazier.

According to Frazier, the facility will go all out on Thursday, March 22, when the ship docks in Hawaii, and will offer a buffet with a captain’s table, ice sculpture and carving stations for ham and a turkey.

“Residents can choose whatever they like, instead of the usual planned meal,” said Frazier.

Candida Rose, a talented vocalist will entertain with a Love Boat theme during the buffet dinner. Rose’s godmother is a resident and when she heard about cruise week, she volunteered to sing at the Thursday dinner event.

Residents will be served pink drinks and enjoy karaoke before the buffet. After dinner, they will head to the casino to try their luck at the roulette, blackjack tables and slot machines.

The activity room has transformed into a casino with real slot machines and a blackjack table where staff act as dealers, with vests, chips and cards. The room has been dubbed the “high roller casino” and has large playing cards, hula dancers, palm trees and seashells as decorations. Residents carry homemade passports and must present them when asked.

“I won with 19 out of 21,” said resident Loraine Laverviere, beaming at her win as volunteer Joe Kelly dealt another round of blackjack.

“When we posted our cruise idea to the staff, they all got involved, with our two real slot machines being loaned to us by one of our nurses. Others brought in lava lamps, lighted palm trees, life preservers, hula skirts and many of the decorations in the various common rooms. We wanted to lift spirits and the planning and organizing of this week was so much fun for our residents and staff. You can feel the excitement,” said O’Connell Bishop.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Marion Art Center is not your grandmother’s theater.

It is clear that the center is leaping into edgier material, hoping to attract audiences craving productions outside the typical realm of classical theater.

Romantic Fools, a vaudeville comedy playing at 8:00 pm on March 23 and 24 at the MAC, represents this move toward contemporary theater. It joins the other recent adult-only shows at MAC, including You’ve Got Hate Mail and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, with some material you probably wouldn’t want to watch with your parents.

The play includes 11 two-character sketches that explore all of the complicated – and often hilarious – dynamics that can happen in male-female relationships, with scene names like “Nightmare with a Sexy Skirt,” “At the Orgy,” “Find Me a Primitive Man,” “Stepford Guy” and “Power is the Greatest Aphrodisiac.”

“We are trying to go outside the box. If we keep doing [only classical] shows, people will stop coming,” said Romanic Fools Director Sheila Furtado. “We do this just to be contemporary.”

For frequent MAC goers, Romantic Fools has a lot of familiar faces – including real-life married couples Kim and Richard Teves, Mary and Brad Cardwell, Holly and John Ashley – as well as Nancy Sparklin, Jay Ryan and Jamie Alves. Newcomers Justine Brown and Gregory Ruf also joined the cast.

The talent of this group is a major draw for a lot of the audience, Furtado said. Over their many performances, “they’ve all gelled,” she said.

“This group has incredible comedic talent,” she said, remarking that many of their antics on stage were self-created. This is particularly true in one hilarious scene where a woman has a blind date with a primitive man (Ruf), who offers her meat, flowers and an animal hide. “You can’t direct grunts,” Furtado said.

Romantic Fools is definitely the funniest show I’ve seen at MAC, and the top-notch performances transformed a decent script on vignettes on relationships, dating, lust and love into a truly hilarious comedy.

One of best scenes is about a man’s ultimate desire – which we learn after he invites over a prostitute (played hilariously by Teves). Instead of exciting sex, he said that all he wanted was dull sex, to which the woman confessed that it is “very popular”.

The prostitute changes from her regular gear into oversized pajamas and hair rollers and when complimented, she says, “These are my nana’s.” Maybe you had to be there, but I was in stitches.

Also Sparklin and Ryan are very funny in one scene about an orgy, that turns into an Abbott and Costello skit about “whose on top.” And their second performance, “Vegetarians in Lust,” is even funnier. It is about a couple who find that dirty talk about processed foods and meat is just what they need to get in the mood.

Furtado said that the MAC will continue to push the edge in its choice of productions, hoping to set to stage some of the lesser-known shows. It was also announced that due to its popularity, the center will present the popular musical, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change again this summer.

The MAC is located at 80 Pleasant St, Marion. Tickets for Romantic Fools are $10 for MAC Members and $12.50 for non-members. It is highly recommended to call for reservations: 508-748-1266. Cabaret tables may be reserved for parties of four.

By Laura Fedak Pedulli