DLC's Teaching Young Actors Opens SIDE SHOW Today

Drama Learning Center's Teen Professional Company, TYA (Teaching Young Actors), opens its winter production of Side Show tonight, January 18 at 7:30 PM at Drama Learning Center in Columbia. Available by audition only, the TYA program allows students to work in a professional theatre environment as they learn about all aspects of theatrical work.

Based on the true story of Siamese twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, Side Show is a moving portrait of two women joined at the hip whose extraordinary bondage brings them fame but denies them love. Told almost entirely in song, this show follows their progression from England to America, around the vaudeville circuit and to Hollywood on the eve of their appearance in the 1932 movie Freaks. Nominated for four Tony Awards in 1998, the show made Broadway history when for the first and only time two actresses were co-nominated for Best Actress in a Musical as a team.

"Rehearsing to play a conjoined twin has certainly been a very interesting and challenging experience," says Laura Taylor, a senior at Catonsville High School who plays Daisy Hilton. "Having to maintain the illusion of being physically bound to another person throughout an entire play adds a whole new dimension to musical theatre... we have to be constantly conscious of appearing connected to one another," she continues.

With a book and lyrics by Bill Russell (Pageant; Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens) and music by Henry Krieger (Dreamgirls, The Tap Dance Kid), this rarely performed musical will draw audiences in with tuneful melodies from such famous songs as "I Will Never Leave You," "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" and "The Devil You Know."

Show Dates & Times:
January 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 @ 7:30 PM
January 20, 26, 27 @ 2:00 pm

Production Staff:

Director: Stephanie Lynn Williams
Music Director: Tiffany Underwood Holmes
Choreographer: Adeline Sutter
Costume Design: Amy Rawe
Set Design: Jerry Vess and Kevin Wallace
Lighting Design: Cory Jones
Stage Managed by: Nick Mercer

Starring TYA Company Members: Meredith Beisel, Katie Bogdan, Claire Cerand, Lila Cooper, Seth Fallon, Daniel Giagrandi, Carter Grove, Hailey Ibberson, Alaina Kahn, Aly Murphy, Gabe Needle, Chris Niccolini, Austin Pearsall, Emily Reiss, Alexander Rothfield, Emma Rothfield, Christina Schumacher, Sophie Smith, Tori Stroud, Laura Taylor, Rima Teymourlouei, Amanda Updegrove, Anna Wehr

Special Guest Artist: Troy D. Hopper as Jake the Cannibal King

Tickets: On sale now at www.dramalearningcenter.com or by calling 410-997-9392. $16 in advance; $17 at the door. Performances take place at the Drama Learning Center, 9130-I Red Branch Rd., Columbia, Md.

Pictured: TYA performs "Come Look At The Freaks" in Side Show

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