Allan Appel Photo
Imani, left, and Iyanna strut their stuff at Lincoln-Bassett
Wearing their Wonk‑y white and green caps and fuzzy orange gloves, 16 Oompa Loompas, including Imani Patterson Griffin and Iyanna Birch, hit the thespian boards Wednesday afternoon in a rousing run-through of Willy Wonka Jr. at Lincoln-Bassett Community School in Newhallville.
The kids’ musical version of Roald Dahl’s famous tale of chocolate, greed, and gratitude, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory features a cast of 30 and crew of six from all grades, and entertained an audience of the kids’ pals and teachers that filled up the school’s auditorium.
The show opens to the public with performances on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Willy Wonka, aka Dream Keitazulu.
The production is another sign that Lincoln-Bassett, in the third year since the implementation of its state-mandated turn-around as a Commissioner’s Network School, is full of spirit and commitment; last year Lincoln-Bassett placed second in the state in improvement in math among high-needs schools.
The show is the culmination of five months of rehearsal, with auditions having taken place before the Christmas break. Some or all of the kids have been staying after school most days of the week from 3 to 5 p.m., said the show’s director, music teacher Jaminda Wasser.
Charlie’s snoring grandparents, aka Alexandria Flynn, Tiffany Elder, Katrina Armstrong, and Willie Wilson.
Last year Wasser was the engine behind a kids’ production of The Wizard of Oz, in which fifth-grader Dream Keitazulu played the Tin Man.
This year when the child cast as Willy Wonka was unable to continue in the role during rehearsals, about a week and a half ago Dream donned the sparkly top hat and cane and stepped into Willy’s role.
“I have more than a hundred lines to memorize,” she said, but it presented no problem at all during the run-through.
Iyanna, whose previous appearance on Lincoln-Bassett’s stage was as a Munchkin, suggested that Oompa Loompas are easier to play than Munchkins. That’s in part because the role has no words at all, except, of course, for the ensemble singing of the Oompa Loompa work song and other ditties, and the robotic moves of the chocolate workers, the young actor offered.
Wasser with her right-hand, sixth grader and stage manager Ja’niya Jones
As a turn-around school, Lincoln-Bassett has funds that underwrite after-school programs for all grades provided by the Boys and Girls Club and by the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT).
However, Willy Wonka Jr. is not part of either of those programs.
Instead it is a labor of love by Wasser and a handful of other teachers, who simply put in the extra hours after school every day organizing the extravaganza. Wasser said the team includes art teacher Roleen Sheehan, who created the glittering backdrops, the house, and the vertical bed in which Charlie’s two sets of grandparents lie and snore, among other appliances.
The snoring beneath the grandparents’ warm quilt delighted the audience.
Teacher Danielle Dumont did the kids’ costumes, band and orchestra teacher David Campbell did the sound (including microphones for the kids), and fourth-grade teacher Alysha Russell has stayed after school at many rehearsals going over the scripts and music with individual kids or groups of actors.
The Candyman, sixth grader Miniya Ture.
It was also clear from a group discussion with the kids before they went on the stage that they had discussed issues engaged by the play.
So just before Willy opened the show taking the kids to a “once upon a chocolate time” and singing “come with me and you will be in a world of imagination,” the kids told this reporter that the subject was not candy, but gratitude.
“Be grateful for what you have,” one little actor said before going on.
“Even if what you have is very little,” said another.
Wasser, who has been teaching music in the school system for eight years and the past three at Lincoln-Bassett, said that because she also has a background in theater and loves working with children’s theater, it was just time to start the program at the school.
Besides the evident fun, how would she characterize what the kids are getting out of the experience?
“It builds a sense of self-esteem,” she said.
In addition, the kids have learned how to work as team members, she said. She meant not only to make their own contribution but also to feel an important part of a process and to take responsibility for the larger enterprise.
For example, in addition to Dream, Wasser said that two other kids had also stepped into big roles from their understudy positions and have had only one or two weeks to rehearse.
Many of the kids come to the production who are not doing as well as others in their academic subjects. The experience of doing the play “strengthens them,” Wasser said, and there is carry-over to the academic subjects, she averred.
The school is selling modestly priced tickets — $10 for adults and $6 for kids — that support the theater program. They are available at the door (Lincoln-Bassett is located at 130 Bassett St., on the corner of Bassett and Shelton), but come early as some shows from last year sold out, said Wasser.
