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| Media Article for Winnie-the-Pooh |
| As published by The Tuscaloosa News on March 18, 2005 written by Mark Hughes Cobb |
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From left, Lincoln Eason, 14, as Rabbit, Emily Poole, 13, as Pooh and Will Flowers, 13, as Eeyore star in ?Winnie the Pooh."
Staff Photo | Dan Lopez
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TCT presents children?s classic 'Winnie the Pooh?
By Mark Hughes Cobb
Staff Writer
March 18, 2005
Winnie the Pooh never goes out of style. In the eight decades since A.A. Milne published the first book of the Bear of Very Little Brain, Pooh and his 100-Acre Wood friends have been adored as movie stars, video icons, stuffed animals and, not least, stage performers.
Tuscaloosa Children?s Theatre returns to the musical ?Winnie the Pooh" this weekend, having last performed it in 1997.
?It was my first show to direct for Tuscaloosa Children?s Theatre," said TCT coordinator Brent Jones. ?I also directed it for Central Elementary, so I love this show."
Long-time music director Benny Russell again teaches the kids their vocal parts and leads the orchestra, noting that because this show is aimed at a younger audience, the score is simpler than TCT shows such as ?Honk" or ?A Christmas Carol."
But just because it?s relatively less difficult doesn?t mean he can slack off.
?Even though it?s the same show we did in 1997, it?s all different people," Russell said.
The 46-member cast is lead by veteran Emily Poole as Pooh. Just 13, she?s performing her 13th show for TCT. In 1999, the Poole family saw an audition announcement for TCT?s ?Anne of Green Gables."
?So Mom put my sister (now 16) and I in matching sundresses and drove us up," Poole said, obviously not relishing the memory of matching couture.
But she landed a part and got hooked on performing. The Hale County High School student, in Moundville, has missed only a couple of shows since that time.
Jones knew Will Flowers, 13, a student at Tuscaloosa Middle School, from the days when he was teaching at Central Elementary.
The vocally flexible Flowers sang bass for one of Jones? musical revues. That ability is coming in handy for Eeyore.
?You?ve gotta talk real, rea low," he said. ?You?ve got to change your attitude, talk softer."
But in what could be a plus or minus, he added ?You don?t have to be that active."
Poole has done some character analysis, not being very Pooh-like in her preparation.
?Pooh tries to look for the better things," she said, ?while being a little bit blonde."
Melissa Clough directs the production, her first since moving to Tuscaloosa 20 months ago with her family, for her husband to attend graduate school at the University of Alabama.
She grew up in theater, performing first at age 5, and has been acting, directing or otherwise working in theater since.
?I?m a product of children?s theater. I performed Annie seven times. I always said they wanted to save on the wig," the red-headed Clough joked.
Wanting to establish herself quickly, Clough sought to differentiate her production from Jones? of 1997.
?It was done eight years ago in a very traditional style, so I wanted to bring something different."
So her show is designed to be more vivid and bright, reminiscent of the Disney cartoons.
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