Welcome to Hollywood

There is a sign in the Hollywood Hills which, for years, has been the symbol for the entertainment capital of the world. Its solitary existence on the hillside was once again threatened by developers, but thanks to several sizable donations, this icon will remain off the endangered species list. Little do the residents of Hollywood realize, however, that their "fair city" is not the only place in town for "show biz". In fact, if you had attended the Delaware Hayes High School musical this past weekend, you would have experienced the earth rumble, much like one of those notorious California earthquakes, when the cast drew its applause from the audience.

Delaware Hayes put on "Guys and Dolls" this past weekend after 2-3 months of rehearsals. Being a musical, it required a significant cross section of talents from the student body, as well as some hefty input of expertise from the music and drama departments. Well, for this first time attendee to this annual event, I was monumentally impressed. The young performers clearly were enjoying themselves, but for the viewing audience, we may as well have been in Hollywood or on Broadway for that matter, because the quality of this performance was every bit as entertaining. They weren't high school students, they were accomplished actors and musicians who "acted" as though they were a professional production company. The singing and choreography, along with the exquisite set designs and costumes captured one's imagination of the era from the outset. The live accompaniment from the "pit" orchestra complemented the "cast" of characters wonderfully. It was a delightful display of talent, here "off" Broadway, in our own backyard.

The storyline may have been about a crap game as it related to guys and dolls, but this was far from "crap". In fact, this was money in the bank, because this collection of young people aren't guys and dolls at all. They are an ensemble of young men and women who, collectively, pooled their talents to make themselves, their parents, their school, and their community all very proud.

Frank Loesser, who wrote the score for "Guys and Dolls" and coincidentally would have celebrated his 100th birthday on May 1st, certainly would have joined in on the standing ovation the crowd deservedly provided following the show. In this case, the performance was nothing "Loesser" than spectacular!