'Robin Hood – The Musical'
July 19-22
$6 youth/$9 adult
(248) 541-6430
ROYAL OAK – The Baldwin Theatre has been transformed into the lush Sherwood Forest for Stagecrafters Youth Theatre's production of "Robin Hood – The Musical."
"I'm still a kid at heart, so working with the youth has been a fun change of pace from my other theater experience," said Sandi Glover, director of the musical, in a press release. "As soon as I read the script I began to develop a vision for the show. We (the production team and myself) have worked to keep the show true to the character of Robin Hood. He's not the cartoon character with the feather in the hat that many people know. Robin Hood was so named because of the hood he wore, so we're incorporating that into the play."
The story takes place in Sherwood Forest in medieval England where Robin Hood (Nick Yocum of Royal Oak) is leading a merry life with his followers. King Richard (Rich Ditri of Royal Oak) is away on crusade and the evil Prince John is placed in command of the kingdom much to the dismay of the citizens.
The icy cold Lady Merle of Cornwall (Allison Megroet of Berkley) hopes to make Prince John more acceptable to the people of England by having him marry Maid Marian (Elyse Moon of Royal Oak), Robin's childhood sweetheart. It's up to Robin to stop the marriage, defeat the nasty Sheriff of Nottingham (Mackenzie Gibson of Royal Oak) and secure the kingdom for King Richard's return. Intermixed with the sword play and song is the humor of zany Salome (Aubrey Thompson of Royal Oak) and the antics of the Sherwood Clan.
In directing a youth theater show, Glover has stepped outside her past roles at Stagecrafters, which has been everything from being on stage in adult character roles to behind the scenes doing make-up.
"I, myself, started in the theater in the fourth grade. I was so shy off stage and at auditions, but onstage I could be anyone I wanted to be. The theater was a good training ground for real life. You learn some hard lessons such as 'you don't always get what you want.' More importantly, you make great friends and build positive life skills such as self-esteem, confidence and responsibility.
"For this show, I gave each and every character a name. Some shows list roles as 'ensemble,' but I felt it was important that every character have a name and can take pride in and responsibility for their role," Glover said.
