The title is my attempt at making relevant the lyric ‘I like to be in America’. Yes, it’s that time of year when Youth Theatre gets its moment and young people across the world take their passions to the stage.
This year, I am part of the chorus of company Ricnic Oxford’s production of West Side Story, the classic tale of ‘starcrossed’ lovers from opposing cultural gangs in 50’s New York. The line above comes from one of the most famous of the songs, ‘America’, in which the Puerto Ricans discuss why they enjoy living in America.
The unique take of Ricnic is that the company and show is open for anybody aged sixteen to nineteen years to get involved with, without having to pay a single thing. It gives people, like myself, who come from less well-off backgrounds, to mingle and act with those who do.
(The rehearsals for this production are also my reason for lack of posting, but that’s not important.)
This post is rather about trying to drum up interest and advertising the show, of which there have been a variety of attempts, both physical and multi-media, including doing a ‘flash-mob’ of the Mambo dance at the gym in the middle of the City of Oxford.
(The inclusion of such flash-mob videos or production videos may be up/linked to soon, time prevailing).
There is no doubt that we have a dedicated team of teens who are not relaxing in the holidays but are working 10 ‘til 5 to get this performance absolutely polished and of high standard. For six shows (four evenings and two matinees) that is a lot of hard work!
So, if you happen to have a free evening, 7pm, in Oxford [England] from the 29th August to the 1st September, we need people to come and watch at the Pegasus Theatre. Ricnic is an incredibly high-quality production team, considering that it comprises entirely of people under twenty years of age. As part of the cast, I can definitely confirm this opinion; the lead and supporting actors are very talented folk, both musically and theatrically, the band is already amazing, the dances are wow-difficult, and the costumes are vibrant (I might be biased on the last one since 50s dress really interests me)!
Website and tickets: http://www.pegasustheatre.org.uk/shows/west-side-story/
Twitter: @ricnicoxford
(Photos by Will Abell and Hannah Cross, the lead actors, coincidently!)
Alexandrina Brant 