Risky Business
If anyone tells you theatre isn’t a risky business, they’re lying, or just plain ignorant. There are so many variables… you never know how it’s all going to turn out in the end.
And that’s why when someone goes out of his or her way to take a risk, it not only catches my attention and sparks my interest, that person garners my respect. One such young producer is Michael Roderick.
Mike had a reading of “Dani Girl” at the Cherry Lane this past Friday. In a nutshell, it’s a musical about a girl who has cancer. By show’s end, she and the only friend she’s ever known (the young boy she meets in the cancer ward), both die. During the course of her story, we meet her imaginary guardian angel, who also takes on the form of cancer (in its many forms), as she struggles to answer the question, “Why cancer?” (Or as I came to understand her question, “Why does cancer happen in the first place?” and “Why is it happening to me?”)
The two young leads, Rozi Baker as lion-hearted Dani, and Zachary Carter Sayle as movie loving Marty, were really fantastic. Their chemistry was palpable (even at such a tender age). John Bolton as Raph/Cancer was literally a stick of dynamite. The bitter-sweet story seemed even more tender in their capable hands. (And though it was a reading, I really appreciated the director’s, Scott Schwartz, light touch.) It was obvious that the show’s creators, Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond, put a lot of loving care into making this show and getting it on its feet.
And though there were some great funny moments throughout, this show would be a hard sell for most… and yet, Mike jumped on board when his colleague Alexander Orbovich gave him the script. “I was balling by the middle of it,” Mike told me afterward. “And I said, Alex, I don’t know how we’re gonna do this, but we’re gonna do it.”
And they did…
Just before the lights came up, I could feel the wave of emotion rush through the theatre. Everyone took the breath they’d been waiting to take whilst stifling back tears.
I’m not sure what the next step is for “Dani Girl”… but I’ll definitely keep you posted.
–Sue
Add comment March 29th, 2010
