Elvis Musical Performed at St. Joseph School

Earlier this month the Productions Over the Rainbow, Inc. (POTR) teens performed All Shook Up, a new musical comedy which features the hits of Elvis Presley, seamlessly interwoven into a story based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and set in a dreary Midwestern town in the 1950s.  It was POTR's 27th production in the seven years it has been in operation.

The jukebox musical ran for four stellar performances at St. Joseph School in Ronkonkoma. It was expertly directed by Robert De Persio, Jr., (artistic director of POTR), and co-produced by Robert and Dana De Persio (POTR president and treasurer.)

At the show's center were the powerful vocals of the cross-dressing heroine played by Emily Gates, 14, from South Setauket. She portrayed Natalie, a young mechanic who finally gets the chance at the love and adventure she's always dreamed of, when Chad, played by the charismatic Dan Santangelo, breezes into town.

Chad is a mysterious, Elivis-esque motorcycle riding, guitar playing, hip-swiveling "roustabout", who's stopped in town because his bike needs fixing, since it's making a "jiggly wiggly sound", he informs while performing a gyration making all the small town girls swoon.

At the touch of his hand, as if by magic, Chad fixes the town's broken jukebox, and stirs the passions of those dwelling there who are repressed by the prudish Mayor Matilda Hyde, played by Jessica Spitz, and her public decency laws which include:  No tight pants, no public necking and no loud music.  To which Chad responds, "What's the point in living?"

While Natalie is pining for Chad, he falls for the sophisticated and sultry Miss Sandra, the museum owner, acted with force by Symone Mitchell.  While Chad's new sidekick, the nebbish Dennis, played by Bryan Speroni, continues to be silently head over heels for Natalie who thinks of him only as a friend.

Just when things appear as though they couldn't get any more complicated — they do.  Natalie, seeing how much Chad likes spending time with Dennis, decides to masquerade as a fellow bad boy on a bike named Ed, someone to whom both became extremely attached, as does the determined, and deluded, Miss Sandra.

In the end, Natalie realizes that what, and whom, she had been searching for was right there inside her all along.

This gender-bending farce, with a heart, included big production numbers complete with precise and energetic choreography by resident choreographer Alyse Arpino, and satisfyingly over the top takes on feel good songs familiar to young and old alike.

POTR is a nonprofit organization for all young people, and the young at heart.  It is their mission to provide a safe, educational and positive venue to pursue the arts.  They offer possibilities for all interests and all levels of ability including, but not limited to, the special needs community.  It is their belief that "the process is equal to — or more important than — the product."