'Jungle Book Kids' on stage in Sandusky

Love and clubs' rivalry come to forefront in 'Fox on the Fairway'

Dylan Passman and Kate Kennedy share a touching moment in the production of Ken Ludwig's 'Fox on the Fairway' at the Huron Playhouse.

Cast members for the production of Disney's 'Jungle Book Kids' at the Sandusky State Theatre include, left rear, Grace Glenaman; left front, Lexiana Poe; middle front, Olivia Paolana, Tiernan Jesrani as the Old Monkey, and Marilyn Miller as Shere Khan.

SANDUSKY -- The Sandusky State Theatre's Children's Summer Theatre Workshop will have a roaring good time Friday as it presents Disney's The Jungle Book Kids.

"It's an exciting production. They learn all the aspects of theater: acting, dance, movement, makeup, costuming, set building, and lighting," said Thomas Kazmierczak III, the theater's executive director.

The Disney kit is an inclusive teaching tool, Kazmierczak said.

It includes a DVD, recorded music, parent kit, script, and information on all aspects of theater production including how to strike a set.

This adaptation is based on Rudyard Kipling's 1894 novel The Jungle Book, that has inspired several musicals and films, including the treasured 1967 Disney animated classic.

Sandusky's performance is directed by Vicki Bickley and includes 25 actors ages 7 to 10 who are participating in the session of the theater's summer camp.

Included in the production are David Grant as Mowgli, the child raised by wolves who is reluctant to leave the jungle for civilization. His friends Seton Bueher as the panther Bagheera and Madeline Milas as the bear Baloo do their best to guide him and keep him safe from Marilyn Miller as the tiger Shere Khan, intent on killing Mowgli before he grows up and becomes a tiger hunter.

The 30-minute production includes songs "The Bare Necessities," and "I Wan'na Be Like You." 

"Disney's The Jungle Book Kids" will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Sandusky State Theatre, 107 Columbus Ave., Sandusky. Tickets are $12. Information: 419-626-1950 or www.sanduskystate.com.

Dylan Passman and Kate Kennedy share a touching moment in the production of Ken Ludwig's 'Fox on the Fairway' at the Huron Playhouse.

Foxy Fairway

HURON, Ohio -- Two rival country clubs will tee off Tuesday as Huron Playhouse opens Ken Ludwig's Fox on the Fairway for a four-day run at McCormick School.

Jarod Mariani as Bingham, director of Quail Valley Country Club, will lose his job if Crouching Squirrel Country Club directed by John Calabrese as Dickie, once again wins the tourney. They both have a plan to put the best golfer out there and secure that title, but love, slamming doors, mistaken identities, and crazy antics get in the way.

"I like farces," said director Dennis C. Seyer, who is being assisted by Maddie Drees. "We all have failings, faults, and foibles, that we all experience in our lives. At the time the things are happening they're catastrophes, but when you look back at them and see how foolish it was, you ask yourself, 'Why did I get so upset?,' " he said.

This Ludwig comedy is a tribute to the great farces of the 1930s and 1940s.

The cast includes Dylan Passman as Justin, an employee who loves golf; Kate Kenned as Louise, a waitress in love with Justin; Brittany Kvitko as Pamela, Bingham's assistant; and Ella Stickradt as Muriel, Bingham's strong wife.

"The Fox on the Fairway" will be performed by Huron Playhouse at 8 p.m. nightly Tuesday through July 7 in McCormick School, 325 Ohio St., Huron, Ohio, about 65 miles southeast of Toledo.

Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for seniors and students, and $13 for children 11 and younger. Information: 419-433-4744.

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