THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 p
Page A-15
PHOTO BY HEATHER LATIRI
The cast of Olney Theatre Center’s production of “A Chorus Line,” running Aug. 1 to Sept. 1.
LINE
Continued from Page A-11 “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.” Nachamie said it was a production of “A Chorus Line” he saw at age 13 that solidified his desire to get into theater. “It’s almost like seeing everyone’s collective experience on stage that let me see this is something that can be pursued,” Nachamie said. “I saw a bunch of people on stage doing what I [wanted] to do professionally ... I remember a little part of me thinking, ‘I can do that.’” Nachamie was later cast in a production of “A Chorus Line” at 18 and, in 1993, worked as an associate director
SUNSHINE
Continued from Page A-11 person and connected with them,” Hancock said. “And that’s become something I’ve done with each show. It says, ‘I see you, I acknowledge you, thank you for being here.’” For the past four months, Hancock has traveled to senior living communities in Montgomery County as Seniorita Sunshine, performing a cabaret-style act, featuring songs from the 1930s through 1960s, for residents. A Silver Spring native, Hancock said she’s always loved to perform. “The very beginning was camp,” Hancock said. “I was 9 or something; I believe we did ‘Pippin.’ And then I performed in high school, I was in all the shows. I did some Montgomery College Dinner Theatre.” But after graduating from the University of Maryland, Hancock made the decision not to pursue a career in the arts. “Some people said, if there’s absolutely nothing else you could do or want to do, then you go for it and take the direct line to performing, to showbiz,” she said. “I’m blessed that I can do different things ... I was like, ‘Well, I like to do this, and I like advertising and marketing and that’s what I did after college.” Though she wasn’t on stage for
on the show’s national tour. Though this isn’t the largest production Nachamie’s ever staged — he’s directed productions of “Oliver” and “The Music Man,” both featuring larger casts — he said there are still challenges in tackling such a largescale musical. “I think the challenges are making sure everyone is invested all of the time and everyone is invested in the situation,” Nachamie said. “Most of the show, we’re all on stage,” added actor Kyle Schliefer, who plays the role of Mike. “You really have to know every number you’re hitting ... or else you’ll whack someone in the face.” While “Chorus Line’s” choreogra-
a living, Hancock said she never abandoned her love of performing. In 1993, after moving to Hawaii, she rediscovered the arts. Over the next five years, Hancock did everything from community theater, to improv, to commercials and even landed a spot as an extra in a scene from “Beverly Hills 90210.” While still living in Hawaii, Hancock subscribed to Backstage, a magazine for people in the performing arts industry. “When I was in Hawaii, I started getting Backstage, ordering it from New York,” Hancock said. “And that was the end of it; it was like, that’s where you need to be.” Hancock made the decision to move to New York where she got into stand-up comedy and developed her own musical-improv act. “I kind of did comedy and then my own brand of musical comedy,” Hancock said. She studied at the New Actors Workshop for one summer and said she did what all aspiring performers in New York do: “You perform for love, not money,” Hancock said. “But you get your chops.” To earn a living, Hancock got into the professional organizing business. “I was helping people and I got into the relocation and the downsizing,” she said. After moving back to Maryland in 2005 and working for
phy is certainly part of the show’s appeal, Nachamie said he wanted to focus his attention on another aspect of the musical: its text. After its Broadway premiere in July of 1975, “A Chorus Line” was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, ultimately winning nine. But according to Nachamie, what many people don’t know is that the musical also won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. “The reason it won the Pulitzer was because nothing had ever been talked about in such a frank manner before,” Nachamie said. “Every story that was told in this show, it was the first time telling it ... it was really the start of the ‘me’ generation.” Despite his history with the show,
herself for a few years, Hancock began looking for moving companies in need of her services. “When I moved home, I found a company that focused on moving seniors,” she said. “It wasn’t really a conscious decision.” While Hancock said the decision was not a conscious one, it did turn out to be her introduction to the senior community. In 2009, Hancock started working for Transitional Assistance & Design, helping seniors downsize from their homes into assisted living or independent living communities. “I moved them from their homes of many years, helping them shed their stuff and fit into a senior living community,” Hancock said. “That was a way to connect with people one-on-one. They’re making the decisions, you’re not telling them what to throw away. It was all about really empowering the client; it was their choice.” The professional organizing eventually led Hancock to a sales job at Sunrise, a company that runs several senior living communities, including Bedford Court, in the area. But Hancock said she found herself gravitating toward the activities room whenever she was at work, and soon, the urge to perform again started to creep in. “I met other performers at Sunrise who inspired me, who taught me ... it’s about connecting
Nachamie said there were still things in the script that surprised him this time around. “I’ve been away from the show 10 or 11 years and when we first went through the text, I read things differently,” Nachamie said. “Usually with ‘A Chorus Line,’ you don’t get into the text and why it’s there ... but I’ve had a lot of time to do one-on-one work with the actors and exploration of the characters.” Nachamie added that he’s tried to remain absolutely truthful to the original text, most of which was derived from question-and-answer sessions with young actors and dancers on Broadway. “There’s a speech pattern, there’s a
truth and if you try to change it, you’re all of the sudden not in that time period,” Nachamie said. Though the “Chorus Line” script may be true to the time period in which it was written, the Olney cast said the musical’s stories are timeless. “There are struggles that they went through in the 1970s that we’re going through now,” Cordiner said. “That’s what a dancer goes through, that’s what a dancer’s life is like.” “I can play myself in kind of a roundabout way,” added Bryan Knowlton, who plays Paul. “Most of my life story is found within Paul. When you identify with someone, it inspires you.” chedgepeth@gazette.net
with an audience,” Hancock said. Now working full time as Seniorita Sunshine, Hancock said she applies the same philosophy to her act that she did to her professional organizing: empower the client. “The opportunity to have someone interested and giving them attention ... that’s huge,” Hancock said. Hancock said she’s also witnessed the incredible power her music has. “I saw firsthand, for the memory impaired, how incredibly beneficial and therapeutic music is,” she said. “How somebody who might have difficulty expressing themselves verbally, once songs are turned on, show tunes or those standards ... they know all the words ... They’re enlivened, a switch goes on and I wanted to be a part of that.” Looking ahead, Hancock said she hopes to take her Seniorita Sunshine act to private events including anniversary parties and milestone birthdays. Wherever she performs, she said she’s determined to spread her musical message. “Sunshiny and happy, that’s my message,” she said. “I want to always stick with that.” For more information on Seniorita Sunshine, visit her website, www.senioritasunshine.com. chedgepeth@gazette.net
CARA HEDGEPETH/THE GAZETTE
Seniorita Sunshine (Andrea Hancock) performs for residents at Bedford Court Retirement and Assisted Living facility.
ROLLIN’
Continued from Page A-11 horns — there wasn’t a single sound.” Newmyer also gave Mick Jagger a lot of credit for his song delivery and stage presence. “He could do shrieks and howls that not many people could do, and he has a sense of phrasing,” he said. “He’s a mesmerizing figure — you couldn’t not watch and listen to him.” Singer and actress Julia Nixon said she’s looking forward to performing “Play with Fire” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Nixon said she can’t guarantee she’ll do jumping jacks on stage like Jagger, but she’ll put an equal amount of passion into the song. “Anybody who knows me and knows how I sing knows that I love that raw, rock, in-yourface, hard-driving [sound],” said Nixon, who formerly lived in Washington, D.C., but now lives in North Carolina. “When I was growing up in the south in the Bible Belt, rock ’n’ roll was something that was not permitted,” she said. “[The Stones] were seen as potheads and forbidden, and I couldn’t see Jimi Hendrix either.” After Nixon left home in the 1980s, she discovered the Stones and has seen them on video. “They’re just free spirits up there, they all were,” she said. “Their energy level was unbelievable.” Laura Tsaggaris, who lives in
PHOTOS FROM BANDHOUSE GIGS
Vocalist Julia Nixon will perform “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Play with Fire” at BandHouse Gigs’ tribute concert to the Rolling Stones. Guitarist and singer Laura Tsaggaris (left, front) will be performing “Let’s Spend the Night” and “She’s a Rainbow” at BandHouse Gigs’ tribute concert to the Rolling Stones on Saturday at The Fillmore Silver Spring. Washington, D.C., said she will be singing a verse of “Sympathy for the Devil” along with other performers and also singing two songs on her own — “Let’s Spend the Night” and “She’s a Rainbow.” “‘Let’s Spend the Night’ is one of those iconic songs,” she said. “I remember hearing about them singing it on the Ed Sullivan show, when they had to change the words.” Tsaggaris said she hadn’t heard of “She’s a Rainbow” before, and welcomes the chance to learn and perform it for the concert “It’s really an interesting, quirky song,” said Tsaggaris, adding that the tribute is “pretty cool,” because both the
artists and the audience discover something new about the Stones from hearing some of their lesser-known songs. Country rock singer Scott Kurt, who lives in Arlington, Va., said he learned about the Stones in the 1980s when MTV first took off. “They embraced it with songs like ‘Start Me Up’ and ‘Waiting on a Friend,’ which were in constant rotation when I was a kid,” he said. Kurt said he will be the lead singer in an acoustic arrangement of “Factory Girl,” and he will also be singing “Happy,” one of his favorites because Keith Richards, who wrote most of it, also sang it on the band’s “Exile on Main Street” album.
ROLLING STONES TRIBUTE n When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday n Where: The Fillmore, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring n Tickets: $20 standing; $25 reservations (Eight-ticket limit per household) n For information: 301-9609999; fillmoresilverspring. com; bandhousegigs.com.
“It was high-energy musicianship and effortless cool,” said Kurt about the legendary Stones. “I think it was the way they moved.” All three performers said they enjoy the chance to sing and play with other people in the tribute concerts, which are known for Newmyer’s practice of throwing two or three per-
PHOTO FROM DAVID KITCHEN
Guitarist David Kitchen is one of 55 performers in the BandHouse Gigs tribute to the Rolling Stones on Saturday at The Fillmore Silver Spring. formers together, giving them a little time to rehearse with each other and seeing what happens. “It’s like flash performances,” Nixon said. “You just
go out there and turn it on and roll. That’s the magic of BandHouse.” vterhune@gazette.net