High School Theater Bonanza

/
High School Theater Bonanza

Many schools coast through the fall season on drama alone, leaving the big musicals — with their outsized casts, props, orchestras, and budgets — for springtime, when young people’s thoughts turn naturally to such things as great first-act finale songs. Not Santa Barbara High, though, where student interest in musical theater has traditionally been through the roof and where director Otto Layman and a remarkably diverse team of creative personalities consistently deliver musicals in both autumn and spring semesters. This year’s fall production is Pippin, with music by Stephen Schwartz and the book by Roger O. Hirson. SBHS stage veteran Bradley DeVine is Pippin, and the divine Camille Umoff will perform the role of the Leading Player. Christina McCarthy’s choreography is sure to be spectacular, and her UCSB colleague Jon Nathan is the show’s music director. In addition to Layman, who is now in his 20th year at the school, the other creative principals are Mike Madden (lighting), Bonnie Thor (costumes), and Rachel Short (vocal director). 

Read More

Review: Big Fish at SBHS

/
Review: Big Fish at SBHS

Surely one of the most ambitious shows to be mounted in the area this season, Big Fish is the Santa Barbara High School Theatre program doing what it does best — big musicals with lots of dancing and professional production values. Theater program director Otto Layman is the auteur responsible for this marvelously complex and layered evening, with Jessica Hambright on board as choreographer to help realize the multidimensional vision of the show’s original Broadway director, the legendary Susan Stroman. Aaron Linker plays Edward Bloom, the tale-spinning, shape-shifting protagonist, and Andrew Gutierrez is his son Will, the relentlessly practical and analytic counterpoint to his father’s slippery grandiosity.

Read More

Santa Barbara High School Theatre Captures a musical bygone Era in Business in its Spring Production

/
Santa Barbara High School Theatre Captures a musical bygone Era in Business in its Spring Production

The World-Wide Wicket Company takes center stage in this Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning musical about a young window cleaner, J. Pierrepont Finch, played by Aaron Linker, who, after reading a book titled “How to Succeed in Business,” begins a meteoric rise from the mailroom to the vice presidency of advertising. Directed by Otto Layman, with choreography by Christina McCarthy and musical direction by Jon Nathan, the Santa Barbara High School Theatre production opens May 1 with performances through May 11.

Read More

SBHS Theatre: Life-Changing Experience?

/
SBHS Theatre: Life-Changing Experience?

Every year, Santa Barbara High Schools drama program stages three “all-out” productions. These productions consistently play to full houses and earn nothing but positive media reviews making them a significant contribution to the enjoyment and pride of the entire Santa Barbara community. The recent musical of Chicago was such a success, “phenomenal” was the word used most often by audiences and critics alike to describe this production.

Read More

A Show To Remember

/
A Show To Remember

I caught Otto Layman’s Santa Barbara High School musical production of Chicago last Friday night. And, it was terrific. It was better than terrific. It was overwhelmingly good. I didn’t simply “enjoy” the show, I was bowled over by it, riddled with glee, sumptuously entertained, jubilantly absorbed... you get the picture.

Let’s start with the performers: Let’s start with, say, Camille Umoff, who takes on the role of Velma Kelly (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones in the movie version). Camille was Nancy in Janet Adderley’s Santa Barbara Youth Ensemble Theater production of Oliver! at the age of eleven. She is now thirteen and a freshman... a freshman!... at SBHS.

Read More

Chicago Gets Remade: Santa Barbara High

/
Chicago Gets Remade: Santa Barbara High

On a Monday in October at 4:30 in the afternoon, the theater at Santa Barbara High School buzzes with half a dozen different constructive activities. And I do mean buzzes — and constructive — as one of the most noticeable things happening onstage is a young man welding. Not 20 feet from where this safety-hooded figure solders pieces of metal, a dance rehearsal with choreographer Christina McCarthy goes on. As the dancers in their sweats practice a combination, the giant tabloid newspapers with headlines about murder and scandal sit suspended overhead; suddenly, things start to make sense. We’re in Chicago — not the Windy City, but the Broadway show, which plays at Santa Barbara High School Theatre November 1-10.

Read More

Coming & Going

/
Coming & Going

King Arthur (Jordan Lemmond) and his trusty steed (Clayton Barry) set off in search of the Holy Grail in the SBHS production of Monty Python's Spamalot. Spamalot  is indeed "(lovingly) ripped off form the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail," as its publicity proclaims, but it also cribs unapologetically from Life of Brian and other Python creations.  No matter; it's all good.  In fact, from what I saw of the cast's first dress rehearsal, it's all very, very good indeed.

Read More

The Drowsy Chaperone

/
The Drowsy Chaperone

Last night I had the pleasure of attending Santa Barbara High School's fall performance, "The Drowsy Chaperone." I had never heard of the play, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Musical comedy by a bunch of teenagers? I tried to think of an excuse, but if I'm going to fight for more funding of the arts in our local schools, I had better be prepared to support them in person as well.

Read More

Beauty and the Beast

/
Beauty and the Beast

This high school production of the enormously popular Disney musical was as high-tech and ambitious as any play produced in Santa Barbara this year. Otto Layman, Chris Walas, and the extraordinary cast did a wonderful job deepening and darkening the familiar fairy tale, contributing to an evening of nonstop musical fun and laughter. As Belle, Santa Barbara High’s Jana McIntyre brought a beautiful voice with a warm rich tone along with excellent acting skills to this demanding lead role.

Read More