Theater Students Perform at Martin Center

Published March 17, 2016

Members of Ravenwood High School’s upcoming musical All Shook Up had the opportunity to showcase their talents for members of the Fifty Forward Martin Center in Brentwood on March 15. About 11 members of the cast and crew performed four musical selections and then enjoyed a pot luck lunch and conversation.

Martin Center Program Director Sherry Coss invited the students to the center at the request of some members. “Several of our members had told me about the upcoming show and asked if we could invite the students to the pot luck to perform,” said Coss. “Our members always enjoy seeing the students show off their talents, and they especially enjoy getting to talk with the students and getting to know them.”

Sophomore Cami Norman enjoyed meeting some fellow thespians who were in the audience. “It was an amazing experience getting to meet a lot of the people afterwards,” said Norman. “They all had such wonderful things to say, and a lot of them had theatre backgrounds themselves. They were all awesome people and I would love to go back. As they say 70 is the new 30.”

Ravenwood Theater Teacher Brian Kaufman said that All Shook Up is a show based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with music inspired by Elvis Presley. “It was a wonderful treat watching the students perform and interact with the community,” said Kaufman. “As a teacher one of the best aspects of the job is watching your students grow and mature. This experience has injected more excitement and energy for their future performances.”

The performers enjoyed the interaction as much as the center members. “I had a great time performing for everyone at the Martin Center. They were huge Elvis fans which made it a fun environment to perform in,” said Senior Connor Jeffries. “It was exciting to hear about their backgrounds, as well as the experiences they each had had involving Elvis.”

Sophomore Ethan Crofts agrees. “It was so cool to meet people who had been at Elvis concerts,” said Crofts. “The way they described him, it was like I was actually there.”

All Shook Up will run from April 7 through April 10. More information about the show will be in upcoming issues of InFocus.