Summer theater class ends with Roaring '20s musical

It is the middle of a Chesapeake Public Schools summer class and teachers Jeannette Schuler, Arlene Martin and Jeffrey Pardue are exhorting their students in preparation for their "final exam."

"C'mon, bounce!" the three yell in tandem at the 20 or so middle through high school students assembled across the Indian River High School stage. "That's it, smile! Wave those arms, and... bounce!"

The group then shimmies and shakes its way through a song about "hotsy-totting to the Roaring '20s," amid huzzahs and hurrahs from the trio of teachers.

The "exam" these students are preparing for is "Charleston: A Crazy Musical Comedy of the 1920s," the final for the 16th annual "Introduction to Theater" summer class, developed by Schuler in 1992. The "exam," a sort of musical mash-up of "The Untouchables" and "The Boyfriend," will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday in front of parents, families, friends, neighbors and anyone else looking for a bit of free family fun.

"This is something the city can be proud of," said Martin, the class artistic director who also teaches art at Great Bridge High and Old Dominion University. "... And with these tight economic times, where else could you entertain the entire family for free?"

This class also gets volunteer help from three former students who work on lighting and other technical chores.

Schuler said it's the support of school administration officials that has allowed her to bring tweens and teens into the magic of theater.

"It builds self-esteem and self-confidence, along with cooperation and team building while helping foster creativity," she said. "We touch on many of the required SOLs in English, art and history."

In a scant few weeks, participants audition for parts, rehearse, perform, build sets and costumes, conduct research, and even create publicity and posters for the annual summer musical.

On the first day of class, Schuler, Pardue and Martin already have several scripts in mind, with the final choice based on the size and theatrical experience of the group.

With 25 students - including nine for a second or even third summer - the teachers chose a 1920s-era musical full of flappers, gangsters, swindlers, radio stars and high society. The returnees use their expertise as wardrobe directors, prop masters, assistant directors and stage managers.

"This is one of our youngest groups; we have a lot of rising ninth-graders who recently studied the 1920s in their eighth-grade history," said Pardue, the session's musical director and English department chair at Indian River Middle School. "And we have a lot of guys this year and this particular musical can accommodate that."

Pardue said students went on the Internet to discover facts on Prohibition, the Stock Market Crash, the Great Depression, speakeasies, ragtime and early jazz, radio stars, gangsters, silent films and early talkies and those crazy fashions.

"They even had to learn the slang and expressions of the times like the bee's knees, the snake's hips, hotsy-totsy and voh-dee-oh-doh," Martin said.

Pardue said even the era's dance steps "were so completely different from any other era in (U.S.) history."

Martin said she and her two colleagues see a distinct "metamorphosis in students" at the end of the session.

"They get an understanding of other kids, different age groups, grades, schools and communities," she said.

Schuler added that she, Pardue and Martin have as much fun as their students.

"It's a total fun experience that requires hard work," she said. "And in many ways we're all kids, too. That's why we love it."

Eric Feber, 222-5203,

eric.feber@pilotonline.com