'Class of '90' Musical Brings High School to Stage

Class of ’90 - The Musical Through April 16, 2011 Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Adults, $18; seniors/students, $15 The Attic Community Theater 2834 S. Fairview Ave., Santa Ana 714.662.2525 :: atticcommunitytheater.com

I love hearing the back stories of how a theater was built or a show came to be produced. Anyone who has worked in theater can attest to the incredible emotional, physical and mental work that occurs behind the scenes well before the curtain rises. The theatrical process is often compared to childbirth, with all the love, stress and expenses attached to it.

There is a new baby in town and congratulations are in order to the partnership that created The Attic Community Theater (A.C.T.) located in Santa Ana on Segerstrom and Fairview. This new theater house was built with a cash influx from an inheritance and a lot of sweat equity from trio Duane Thomas, Diann Smith and Jim Huffman.

Located in a warehouse space in an unassuming industrial building, this promises to be a diamond in the rough in the close-knit OC theater community of local small venues. The attic is an intimate space, seating 87 patrons. Theater aisles offer business class legroom, a request of six-foot five-inch tall partner Huffman (thank you!).

Other features included in the venue are dance and rehearsal rooms, office space and a prop and costume shop. The 700-square-foot stage offers a nice sized backstage area and front of the house, giving actors enough room to execute some complex choreography even with a decent-sized cast, as featured in A.C.T.’s musical theater christening, Class of ’90 - The Musical.

This musical is another baby, conceived, nurtured and delivered by writer, composer and 1990 Poway High School graduate Erik Przytulski. It is a sweet story about a time in our lives some celebrate and others want to forget. It features the stereotypes many of us sat next to in class: The Preppy, The Slacker, The Drama Queen, The Nerd, The Honor Student, The Leader, and The New Kid.

Class of ’90 is led by Przytulski, who has quite a bond with his musical child. The show premiered at Costa Mesa High School in 2010. This remounted production is directed smoothly by OC veteran actor and director Stephen Reifenstein (La Habra High School class of 1994), who has a great reputation among the young thespians here in Orange County. The musical is choreographed by the talented Amanda Murphy, who is even younger than Reifenstein and most likely had to turn to YouTube MTV archives to train the cast in those signature '80s moves we snicker at in this millennium.

I did some snickering, especially at the costumes, which featured DayGlo orange stirrup pants, ripped sweatshirts, legwarmers, Madonna-bes, and a token goth girl. In 1989, I was working as a stylist in San Francisco and did a few juvenile fashion shows for Macy's, so I reminisced about the neon plastic earrings and lace tutus over leggings, looks that have made a comeback in recent years. Przytulski and his crew were spot-on with the California fashion: The Preppy sports turned up collared polos and Sperrys, while The Honor Student wears big, color-coordinated glasses and “Blossom”-inspired headwear.

The cast features 24 “kids,” meaning there is no “adult” supervision in this production, with only some class reminders from the Principal, voiced by Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit. The New Girl, Jane, played nicely by Jennelle Wax, treats the audience to song and self-discovery through fashion choices. Eric Ronquillo is solid as Mike, The Leader, whose duties are usurped by Jane. The Preppy, Brad, whose character embraces a younger Donald Trump, is portrayed with sleaze by Ben Green. Marty, the A.V. kid, who carts around his oversized movie camera, is captured by James Stucker; while his dream girl, Maddie, is brought to life by Tessa Horner. Other couples include The Rocker, Eddie (Kyle Short), and his shallow fashionista girlfriend, Jasmine (Lauren Brose). Short conveys the identity-challenged Eddie well and has an opportunity to share his strong voice in his lamenting, Nirvana-esque ballad about cheating Jasmine. The Overachiever, Dawn, is turned in on time by Allison Aoun; Tiffany, The Band Geek, is portrayed by Eileen Bering; and the School Paper Editor, Joel, is delivered by Drake Brunette.

Standout performances for me included Alissa Sanchez, as Amy, The Thespian, who performed my favorite song of the evening, “Drama.” Stefani, the evil cheerleader you love to hate, is played by Kayci Decker, who was very easy to hate as her character, so good job. Samuel Goldman is wonderful as The Nerd, Billy, who has some scene-stealing moments in the show. The Goth Girl Heather’s angst is emoted nicely by Lindsey Lee Lusk. Channeling their inner Bill and Ted are Jake Ferris and Rob Webb, who play The Slackers, Trent and Dave.

The ensemble of girls who had to practice their cheers include Haley Vinzant, Cynthia Price, Katarina Weesies, Katie Wilson, and Rachel Russel. The dudes in the ensemble are Adam Jeyarajah, Alexander Murcia and Cade Morgan.

Class of ’90 - The Musical is chocfull of heart, and because of this, you can overlook some of the production’s shortcomings. The musical tracks are a bit grainy, the singing unremarkable, the plot is somewhat formulaic. However predictable, the storyline has similar elements to Jason Robert Brown’s musical, 13, which I loved, so take it as a compliment.

(FYI: 13 spent some time at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, performed 102 shows on Broadway, has a cult following, is licensed, and is in performance multi-nationally. Not a bad comparison.)

There is plenty of room in the musical theater repertoire to include more originally scored shows featuring middle and high school-aged kids - it is a big part of life and certainly relevant for art to imitate. Let’s hope that with a bigger budget and space to provide live orchestration and tighter production and choreography, Przytulski’s baby can grow up, leave the nest and head to greater East Coast pastures.

Congratulations for a job well done and to Class of ’90, go forth and conquer…