Doo-Wop
2008 · Triopia High School
Set at the end of August, 1958, Doo-Wop unfolds in and around Springville, where the students of Millard Fillmore High School are sorting out love, status, and growing up to the beat of a sweet solo sax. Re-Po, a "not-too-cultured young stud of the 1950s," can't quite work out why his girl Betty Jo won't go to the hop; his buddy Hotwax is busy admiring the front grill of his dad's new Impala; and Myron, a nerdy soda jerk forever pushing his glasses up his nose, just wants to get to class without getting a wedgie. Their world is one of biology-lab frog dissections, the Shop Class Stomp, the View and Woo Drive-In, and the constant background hum of fifties television — Lassie, Sgt. Friday, Gunsmoke, the Lone Ranger, and a parade of other small-screen icons who keep wandering through the story.
Beneath the comedy runs a serious heart. When an Italian foreign-exchange student named Mario arrives and instantly charms Betty Jo, Re-Po's reflexive "stinkin' immigrant oughta go back where he came from" exposes the show's true subject. "It's a show about ethnic tolerance," Ken Bradbury told the press. "I grew up in the fifties and sixties and it seems like we're fighting the same battles again. We attack the problem with comedy." Over two acts the kids of Fillmore High — the boys and the girls, the in-crowd and the outsiders — find their way toward each other and a big rock-and-roll finale.
Doo-Wop was a new musical written by Ken Bradbury and Roger Wainwright, the duo's second collaboration following their staging of David; You and I for the Jacksonville Theatre Guild the previous summer.
Musical Numbers
Act I
- Why Do They Call It Love? (Opening Number)
- Dissection Chant / Dissect My Heart
- What's a Guy / Girl Thinkin'? (How to Think Like a Guy / How to Think Like a Girl)
- The Flamenco Rock and Roll (Parking Lot)
- Doris Day song
- Nothin' But Glitter
- The Shop Stomp
Act II
- Mr. Fortune Teller (Re-Po and Betty Jo)
- The William Tell Hoedown / Sgt. Friday's Fandango / Lassie's Ballet
- Why Can't Life Be More Like the Movies?
- Hurray for the Girls!
- When You Fall
- Finale
Scenes
Act I — Various places around Springville; the hallways of Millard Fillmore High School; the Biology Lab; the hallway after class; Myron's house; the parking lot of Billy's Burger and Beef Barn; Betty Jo's bedroom; Fillmore hallway the next morning; Shop class.
Act II — Various places around Springville; an abandoned storefront; the View and Woo Drive-In Movie; Myron's bedroom; Queenie's bedroom; and Millard Fillmore High the next morning for the Finale.
Cast
- Re-Po McEvers — Erich Nobis
- Myron — Brennan Vahle
- Betty Jo — Hannah Stephens (also Choreographer)
- Queenie — Carrie Greening
- Hotwax — Cody Nordsiek
- Edsel — Michael Roegge
- Fast-Track — Joe Heidershidt
- Dwayne — Jeffrey Carls
- Roger (voice) — Kyle Cummings
- Mario — Sean Parks
- Miguel — J.D. Schone
- Rock Hudson, Tonto, Mighty Mouse — Jacob Whited
- Mr. Omeba (biology teacher) — Dylan Schnake
- Mr. Beam (shop teacher) — Andrew Austin
- Cookie — Annie Schone
- Louella, Doris Day — Brittany DeOrnellas
- Kaye — Amanda Langley
- Patti — Katherine Waymire
- Shanell — Katie Taylor
- Ronette — Brittany Carls
- Betty Jo's mother — Jacklyn Robson
- Joe Gannon — Joe Strattman
- Dancer, waitress — Caty Anderson
Production Notes
Doo-Wop was presented by the students of Triopia High School on April 24–26, 2008, at 7 p.m. The two-act comedy involved some 30 Triopia students and was directed by Chuck West, with choreography by cast member Hannah Stephens. It marked the second collaboration between writers Ken Bradbury and Roger Wainwright, following their production of David; You and I for the Jacksonville Theatre Guild the prior summer. The company's next outing, Party Lines & Privies, Romance & Rumble Seats — a collection of memories of the Triopia community presented with Lincoln Land Community College — followed in May.
Photos
