The more silly than spooky production opens Nov. 12
Submitted by Jeanette Lipp
The "Transyl-Mania" Zombie cast Photo provided
Cue the lightning! Cue the thunder! It is going to be monster mayhem at Orinda Intermediate School's (OIS) Bulldog Theater during the fall production of "Transyl-Mania" - a frightfully fun comedy.
Transylvania High School is where kids of all the classic monster movie villains go to learn the tricks of the trade. There are vampires, mummies, werewolves, zombies, witches, Frankenstein's daughter, the Invisible Man's son, and even the Phantom of the Opera's kid, all of them struggling to live up to their parents' legendary examples. From science fair projects to cliques, these monsters struggle with the same stresses as typical teenagers. When a group of human high school students stumbles upon the monster school thanks to a broken down bus, utter mayhem ensues. Far more silly than spooky, this comedy delivers both loads of laughs and a gentle message about befriending those who are different from us. "Transyl-Mania" is appropriate for ages 7 and up.
The production is directed and produced by Bay Area Children's Theatre (BACT) as part of their education program. Jacob Russell-Snyder serves as director with Sidney Spiegel as assistant director. Presented as a "Totally-Teen" comedy, Russell-Snyder notes, "Over the past few months of rehearsal, we have taken the comedy of this show very seriously. We have memorized jokes, practiced our chase scene and worked on the timing of both physical and verbal jokes. It has been important for us to really know and understand not only what the characters say, but why they say what they say. Each actor was responsible for coming up with their character's back stories and even had input over their costume and how their character might dress."
There are two casts, comprised of approximately 43 OIS students along with additional 14 OIS students serving on tech crew. Performances will run Nov. 12-14 at the OIS Bulldog Theater. The performance lasts a total of 90 minutes, including one intermission. For show time information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.showtix4u.com. Tickets are also available at OIS Theater one half hour prior to show times.
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