Inside Out Dance Company Dancers Featured in “Lincoln: The Musical”

 

Inside Out Dance Company Dancers Featured in “Lincoln: The Musical”

 

Dancers from The Inside Out Dance Company, under the direction of Brenda Ingrid Cromwell Hall, were recently featured in the Drama Circle’s production of “Lincoln: The Musical” by Michael Riccards and directed by Genevieve Fraser. The Inside/Out Dance Company is the year-round performing company of The Dance Studio, located at 5 South Main Street in Orange MA, which has been inspiring dancers in the North Quabbin region since 1977.  

“Lincoln: The Musical” opens and closes in Ford Theater.  The opening featured Jack Arnot as Senator Butterworth singing the 19^th century Irish ballad, “The Last Rose of Summer,” a personal favorite of Abe and Mary Lincoln.  Each night a different “rose” was selected to perform a ballet to the tune as the newly elected President Lincoln watched from the balcony.  The dancers were Marley Aldrich, Haleigh O'Reagan, Angie Price and Haley Jean.

In Act 2, the final scene opens with a red, white and blue clad dancer,         Courtney O'Regan, performing “en pointe” to Faust’s “The Soldier’s March,” a tribute to the Union victory in the Civil War, as the Lincolns arrive and are warmly greeted by an appreciate audience.  At the conclusion of the dance, O’Regan salutes the President and First Lady, and the play, “Our American Cousin” commences with John Wilkes Booth slowly ascending the staircase for the assassination.

“ Lincoln: The Musical” opened at the Orange Town Hall on July 7 and closed on July 15.  Though free to the public, performances were used as a fundraiser for the Town Hall Restoration Fund.  “Lincoln: The Musical” was  sponsored by the Drama Circle, the Performing Arts Division of Art for Life - CF Pals, and was funded, in part, by Heyes Forest Products, the Miller’s River Café and a grant from the Orange Cultural Council which is funded by the Mass Cultural Council.

For further information, contact the artistic director of the Drama Circle, Genevieve Fraser at Tel. (978) 544-1872 or email: FraserGenevieve@gmail.com

PHOTO CAPTION:  Pictured left to right (standing): Marley Aldrich, Courtney O'Reagan, Angie Price and Haley Jean Seated: Haleigh O'Regan

“Lincoln: The Musical” to Raise Funds for Orange Town Hall

Abe and Mary with John Wilkes Booth ready to strike

“Lincoln: The Musical” to Raise Funds for Orange Town Hall

The world premier of "Lincoln: The Musical" by Dr. Michael Riccards, with songs from the Civil War era, enters its final run on Saturday, July 14 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, July 15 at 2:00 pm at the Orange Town Hall, 6 Prospect Street, Orange, Massachusetts.  The play, which is produced by The Drama Circle and directed by Genevieve Fraser, is free of charge; however, donations are gratefully accepted and will be used to purchase lights and sound for the Ruth B. Smith Auditorium at the Orange Town Hall.

“Over $1,300 was raised from the July 7 and 8 opening of the show, due in part, from a very generous donation from one of the Quabbin Civil War Remembrance steering committee members, Paul Robichaud,” Fraser commented.  “We will be requesting that the Orange Select Board reactivate the Orange Town Hall Renovation Committee so that the money raised can be spent on a state of the art sound and light system.”  The Orange Town Hall Renovation Committee was convened in the mid 1990s and spent nearly a decade renovating the auditorium to its former splendor.

John Wilkes Booth

“As a producer/director, it is easy to fall in love with this extraordinary hall which was built in 1868 and designed by one of the great 19^th century architects, Elbridge Boyden, who was raised and educated in Orange.  Boyden also designed Mechanics Hall in Worcester which is considered by architectural historians as the nation’s finest pre-Civil War concert halls,” Fraser stated. 

“And though the Orange Town Hall auditorium acoustics are extraordinary, there are spots within the hall where the sound fades and needs amplification,” Fraser continued. “In addition, theater and dance require systems for special sound and lighting effects.  Once we acquire these and upgrade the electrical system for air conditioning, the town can offer one of the finest venues in the region for the performing arts.”

“Lincoln: The Musical” chronicles Abraham Lincoln’s determination to lead the country into an era of prosperity but instead faces a conflict that threaten to tear it apart through the American Civil War. “Lincoln: The Musical” is sponsored by the Drama Circle, the Performing Arts Division of Art for Life - CF Pals, and is funded, in part, by Heyes Forest Products, the Miller’s River Café and a grant from the Orange Cultural Council. 

Refreshments for the July 14 – 15 show dates will be sponsored by the Orange Lions Club.  All proceeds will be donated to the Town Hall Restoration Fund, Account # 253 192 4800.  Admission to “Lincoln: The Musical” is free of charge and open to the public.  For further information, contact the artistic director of the Drama Circle, Genevieve Fraser at Tel. (978) 544-1872 or visit website: http://thedramacircle.blogspot.com/