It’s child’s play
at Fox Chase Rec Center

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Joseph Laub attended his first Broadway show when he was 5 years old. His parents paid about $15 for the ticket.
That was many years ago.
Nowadays, on the other hand, $15 might not even get him a cup of coffee at the Starbucks down the street from the theater.
Laub, a longtime Lawndale resident and Navy depot employee, believes that high costs are preventing young people from developing an interest in live theater. So for the last decade, he and a handful of volunteers have been bringing it to the community.
Laub directs The Actors Group out of the Fox Chase Recreation Center. Last weekend the troupe completed a four-performance run of The Wizard of Oz, the second production of its 10th anniversary season.
Since that first performance of Night Must Fall in September 1996 at the Lawndale Recreation Center, TAG has given some 280 children, as well as some adults, the opportunity to strut their stuff onstage in front of a live and local audience.
"Community theater is really supposed to do arts in a local setting. It’s for people to get involved," Laub said.
When he moved to the Northeast from the Wilkes-Barre area in 1982, the lifelong theater buff didn’t find many programs to involve himself.
"I was anxious to do some theater, but there was nothing around that I saw anyway," he said.
In 1990, he got a group together at St. William Church, Rising Sun Avenue and Devereaux Street. They put on five shows.
Later he got involved with the recreation department program at Lawncrest under Tom Korytowski, who founded the city’s original community theater program, the Vogue Players, in the mid-1960s. The Vogue Players still perform under director Tom Dignam at the Thomas Holme School.
When Korytowski took a leave of absence in 1996, Laub founded TAG, which soon moved to Fox Chase when Korytowski returned to Lawncrest, Laub said. At the time, Fox Chase Rec was growing rapidly under supervisor John Curry, so Laub hoped he’d find plenty of interest there.
The theater group actually performs in the auditorium at the Fox Chase Elementary School, next door to the rec center. Laub thinks that the theater program is a great complement to the many athletic programs that seem to dominate activity in the neighborhood.
"Fox Chase is a big sports haven," he said. "They have soccer, basketball and Fox-Rok (Athletic Association). But there are a lot of children who may not play them well. This is an alternative activity for them."
TAG’s plays, which by and large are musicals, have grown in popularity with audiences as with young performers.
Oz opened to nearly packed houses on March 23 and 24. The second weekend included March 30 and 31 performances.
"For this play, we’ve gotten real good crowds," said Emmie DiCicco, an eighth-grader from Burholme who played the dual role of the Tin Man and Hickory, during a mid-week rehearsal. "It was filled for the first two shows. It was a lot of family. A lot of senior citizens come to see the show."
"It’s one of the most satisfying things you ever do. People are clapping and recognizing the hard work you do," added Amber Stolarski, a Bishop McDevitt High School senior from Mayfair. "People are happy about (the show)."
Audience recognition is one of many reasons that kids in the show keep coming back for more. DiCicco has been in the troupe for five seasons, while Stolarski has been around for six.
Generally, TAG produces two or three shows a season. Past titles have included Bye Bye Birdie, The Music Man, Godspell, Peter Pan, The Goodbye Girl, Oliver, Footloose, The Sound of Music, Grease and Annie, among many others.
In addition to musical elements, a large emphasis is placed on ensemble casts to maximize use of the youngsters’ talents and get as many of them involved as possible.
For Oz, there were two full casts who split the four performances. The kids ranged in age from 8 to 18. Most get a big confidence boost by being onstage.
"It’s hard to be in front of people being yourself, but when you’re onstage, you’re not playing yourself," said Deborah Sweeney, a St. Cecilia eighth-grader from Fox Chase who landed one of the Dorothy roles.
Rachael Freedman, a Burholme resident and eighth-grader at the School Lane Charter School, also played Dorothy. It was a difficult role to learn.
"It’s harder to memorize the lines when you have a bigger part," she said.
But you can’t let a little slip-up throw off your whole performance. "You just have to keep going with it," Freedman said. "It all works out in the end."
Having so many friends around takes a lot of the pressure off the youths. Despite the hard work, there’s always a social atmosphere around the stage.
"This is a real friendly place because you have (students from) all schools coming together," said Chris Fitzpatrick of Rockledge, a sophomore at Roman Catholic who played the Scarecrow and Hunk.
St. Hubert’s senior Leslie Spain, who lives in Mayfair, joined the troupe mainly because she’s close friends with Stolarski. The duo shared the roles of Auntie Em and Glinda the Good Witch.
"This is my first year, but I’ve been seeing all of the shows since eighth grade," said Spain, who has been in several Father Judge stage shows.
Theater is like a second family to many, and is really a family affair in some cases.
Freedman’s mom has been in prior shows with the company. Laub’s daughter Mary Therese is a set designer and the sound director for Oz. She’s a junior at the University of the Arts.
John Evans is a senior at Judge, where he took part in shows all four years before joining TAG for the current season. Now he has two younger brothers who are also getting involved in the theater.
"It’s benefited me because it’s become a family thing," Evans said.
Though Oz is now history, TAG will soon hold auditions for its spring production of Neil Simon’s Lost In Yonkers. Candidates should be 21 and older. The nighttime auditions are scheduled for April 16 and 18 at the Fox Chase Elementary School. Call 215-742-7753 or e-mail dramajoe@yahoo.com for information. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com