Children in the show range in age from 6 to 15
Published in the June 24 – July 9, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Carol Romo
Families are invited to enjoy a free performance of the musical play “The Aristocats” produced at the Morgan Hill Playhouse 2 p.m. June 26 by local musical theater instructor Carol Romo and the children performers who are part of her Theater Fun summer program.
“The story is based on the Walt Disney movie and is about an alley cat that lives near a house in Paris that has really fancy kitties — the Aristocats,” Romo said.
“The lady who lives there is leaving all her money to these kitties and the butler, named Edgar, goes crazy about that. He’s been serving her for all these years. So he steals the cats in this basket and goes into the countryside and releases them. And then the alley cat comes to the rescue.”
Complications grow as the story proceeds, with the cats getting help from other animals as they make their way back to their home. The children in the Theater Fun group range in ages from 6 to 15 years. They will have five days working with Romo to learn the songs, dances and lines for their various character roles
“It’s a really cute show,” Romo said. “There’s beautiful jazz music in it. Absolutely beautiful. It’s one of the best soundtracks that I’ve ever heard.”
Theater Fun has put on other shows in the region including “The Wizard of Oz,” “Peter Pan,” Aladdin,” and “Willie Wonka, Jr.”
The children theater group will hold auditions for the musical “Annie” Aug. 22 at the Morgan Hill Grange, and Romo encourages families to participate in this theater event which will have seven weeks of rehearsal time and will be performed at the Morgan Hill Playhouse.
Being part of a theater performance provides many benefits to young people, Romo said.
“Theater teaches kids how to deal with other people and other kids,” she said. “It builds their self-esteem because for a lot of kids, it’s a really hard thing to get on stage, especially if it’s their first time. They get camaraderie and form life-long friendships. I have kids from years ago who went through the program and are the best of friends still.”
Romo encourages families with young children to join Theater Fun and enjoy “The Aristocats” performance.
“It’s a great family entertainment and it’s free,” she said. “There’s a lot of humor in it. The kid performers are going to be outstanding. They’ll look like they’ve been rehearsing for weeks. It’ll be a real quality show. Anything that has my name on it has got to be good or else I won’t put it out there.”
