Published: June 16, 2008 11:13 am      

ACT II Youth Drama Camp presents ‘Don’t Rock the Boat’

ADA — Ada Community Theatre (ACT II) Youth Drama Camp 2008 will present its eighth annual production with a performance of Tim Kelly’s “Don’t Rock the Boat: the Musical” on June 19-22 at the Dorothy I. Summers Theatre of ECU.  Performances begin at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Tom Butterworth (Daniel Carpenter) is determined to be the youngest cruise ship captain in history, even if this means sailing on a converted gunboat named “Vengeance.”  He has a crew of rejects (Karlie Warmuth, Shelby Davis) from Maritime High School with their cranky teacher (Stephen Davidson), and a trio of girl singers (Makenzi Lamb, Jenny West, Micah Worcester) who are passing themselves off as a famous show biz act. The engineer (Nathan Wright) is seasick, the cruise hostess (Brittany Dawn) is pulling her hair in frustration, and a gung-ho nurse (Megan Wright) is practicing giving hypos by stabbing anything that's handy. And the passengers, well, they're a pretty unusual bunch! There's a fabulous Hollywood star (Julia Smola) with her assistant (Kelsey Dial), an eccentric Hollywood producer-director (Dylan Cunningham), ditsy old ladies (Katie Cowger, Mia Bentel) senile old men (Cody Morris, Chris Geisler), a snooty couple with their pet (Rudy Lupinski, Natalie Hale, Dexter) a pair of jewel thieves (Nick Geisler, Rosie Jenkins) and an insurance representative (Kristin Morris) who informs the captain the ship has no insurance. To top it all off, there's a hijacking by a misguided group of pirate loonies (James Wallace, Dalton Dial, Cody Morris, Ethan Lamb). By the final curtain, it's all romance and laughter.

Funding for this project was made possible with assistance from the Oklahoma Arts Council.  “Don’t Rock the Boat” is produced by special arrangement with Eldridge Publishing Co. Vickie Reifsnider is the show’s director, with choreography by Brittany Dawn and music direction by Rudy Lupinski.  Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, $4 for children 5 and under.  Box office opens 30 minutes prior to performance time.  For more information, call 436-2282.