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Dear Edwina by Carlsbad Community Theatre 
Forget “Dear Abbey.” For the best advice in town, all the
kids in Paw Paw, Michigan know to send their letters to 13-year-old Edwina
Spoonapple – their local advice-giving extraordinaire. Each week all the
neighborhood kids come around for the taping of The Dear Edwina Show out
of her garage. Decked out in her finest pink-and-green outfit, Edwina begins
answering letters with her special brand of advice that includes turning her
responses into elaborate song-and-dance routines. But this week’s particular
show is no ordinary show. Today there is a talent scout in the audience who is
looking for advice columnists to be included in the annual Kalamazoo
Advise-A-Palooza Festival where Edwina hopes to become famous and get a
clipping put up on the refrigerator door just like her talented siblings always
do.
Filled with zany musical numbers and quirky characters with even quirkier names, this show is both fun and educational for young audiences where you’ll learn things like polite manners (Say No Thank You), how not to act when you are a guest at a party (Frankenguest), how to set the table (Fork, Knife, Spoon), overcoming shyness (Hola, Lola), and financial planning (Put It in the Piggy). Leading the cast is Mallory Arquilla as Edwina herself, Mallory’s beautiful voice complementing a terrific performance as she dishes out her advice, leads many of the song-and-dance answers, all while dealing with the stress of organizing a live show when her entire advice-giving future may be on the line. Some of the strongest scenes included Frankenguest in which an outrageous vampire Vladimir (featuring an excellent performance by Murphy Martin) introduces us to the nightmare party guest Frank (a suitably obnoxious Davin Curtis) who ruins the birthday party of “Shelley Mary” (Janie Escalle). Edwina, the amusing and lovely-voiced Chef Ludmilla (Jillian Porter), and the crazy Fairy Forkmother (Sloane Herrick) helps Carrie (Margaux Parizeau) set out the silverware – a big and colorful number only surpassed by the huge Hola, Lola calypso-ish number led by Edwina, Harry (Murphy Martin), and Lola (Melany Hadorn) and including the entire cast. Other good performances include Emily Stocking as a ballerina doing the Poshkonozvich Dance and Corinne Crockett as MarySueBettyBob teaching us the fine art of piggybanking. And then there’s the scene that brings the house down. Dressed up in a bowtie and glasses, young, nerdy, and romantically persistent Scott (Davin Curtis) doesn’t seem to have a chance in wooing the pretty, popular, and much older Edwina, but since when did that ever stop true love? Backed up by enthusiastic cheerleaders, 9-year-old Davin Curtis sings and dances his heart out in one last, desperate attempt to win his beloved who can’t believe this mortifying event is being broadcast to everyone in the greater Paw Paw area. When Davin throws aside his glasses and his bowtie, and starts dancing like Elvis, his Edwina ballad becomes one for the legends of love!Performed February 5 - 8, 2004.
~ Cast ~
Edwina Spoonapple: Mallory Arquilla Abigail: Kaytlin Barr Queen of Boola Boola: Nicole Chmielewski Featured Dancer: Morgan Cohn Cheerleader, MarySueBettyBob: Corinne Crockett Scott, Frank, Pig: Davin Curtis Johnny, Farmer Bob: Russ Dezonia Shelley Mary, Katie Spoonapple: Janie Escalle Periwinkle: Briana Goehner Aphrodite: Mackenzie Guerre Myra Spoonapple, Lola: Melany Hadorn Billy's Grandma, Fairy Forkmother: Sloane Herrick Neighbor: Casey Hoover Featured Dancer: Jessica Hyde Neighbor, Pig: Jacob Jankowski Billy, William, Ziggy: Josh Jankowski Bobby, Pig: Nick Maddox Vladimir, Harry: Murphy Martin Lars: Leo Newsom Becky: Colleen O'Connell Carrie, Waiter: Margaux Parizeau Neighbor, Waiter: Tyler Pollock Frank's Ma, Chef Ludmilla: Jillian Porter Neighbor: Riley Porter The Voice of Amy Buren: Alicia Powers Waiter, Sonoma: Haley Quartarone Sax Player, Neighbor: Kasie Shahbaz The Reluctant Cheerleader: Havilah Steinman Featured Dancer, Pig: Tzytle Steinman Kelli: Emily Stocking Susie: Chelsea Streano Annie: Tess Team Director: Heather Megill Musical Director: Penny Steinman Choreographer: Kelee Thompson |