MLT Review Features Juniors Past, Present

Past performers return for tribute, fundraiser at McKeesport Little Theater

By Bonnijean Cooney Adams
The Tube City Almanac
July 31, 2024
Posted in: Entertainment

MLT juniors alumna Lydia Richardson reviews the script with director Dorothy Fallows. (Submitted photo courtesy Jennifer R. Vertullo)

The cast is having lots of fun during rehearsals for the latest McKeesport Little Theater Juniors production — and the audience should be thrilled with the results.

“McKeesport Little Theater: A Decade in Revue — Once a Junior, Always a Junior,” is a fundraiser that showcases alumni and some current members of the Juniors program.

With Dorothy Fallows directing, producers Amy Majewski and Lori Stramaski writing the script, music direction by Sean Thorton, and choreography by Samantha Mitchell, the revue opens Friday, Aug. 9, and runs Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10 and 11.

Fallows has been head of the Juniors program for more than 30 years. When planning started, she said she reviewed their musicals for the past decade.

MLT Juniors alum Kaitlyn Majewski, who was named Best Actress in 2023 at the Gene Kelly Awards, sings and dances as Snail from “A Year With Frog and Toad.” (Bonnijean Adams photo for Tube City Almanac)

“I picked songs (to showcase) that they wouldn’t normally do,” Fallows explained. “It could be a lesser-known song from a show, for example.”

“We were out to dinner, and started talking about how we used to do a revue,” Majewski said, “and we went back to 10 years ago, when we did ‘Shrek Jr.’ ”

She said Fallows wanted to include dialog to provide a storyline to weave the show together, instead of just songs and dance numbers.

So she and Stramaski “played around with a script,’ Majewski said, which they submitted for Fallows’ approval and they all consulted to make the show a realty.

Word went out to former and current Juniors about auditions, and Majewski said forms they filled out also asked for their input in what songs they would like to perform.

Cast members aren’t portraying one particular character in the revue, and may be in multiple numbers – a solo, duet or trio, or with a group.

Majewski said her daughter Kaitlyn Majewski performed in “A Year With Frog and Toad” for her first Juniors production. She just completed her freshman year in college and selected “The Letter” featuring Snail from that show as one of her revue numbers.

Stramaski’s son Dylan Stramaski previously performed in “Once Upon a Mattress,” she explained, and now can – and has – performed adult and lead roles, including in the revue.

As far as the performers go, Carley Nicomatti said her last show as a Junior was nine years ago when she was Wednesday in “The Addams Family Jr.”

She said she also was in “Shrek the Musical Jr.,” and will be performing songs from those musicals in the revue.

“I had not done theater for awhile,” Nicomatti said, “but when I found out they were including ‘Shrek’ and ‘Addams Family,’ I wanted to do it. I thought it would be good to do the characters I did before.”

She did return to MLT earlier this season with the stage crew for “Nana’s Naughty Knickers.”

“It is nice to see some people I haven’t seen for 10 years,” Nicomatti added. “It was nice to reconnect and get back onstage.”

Sierra Mitchell and Bowie Koisor rehearse one of the songs from fan-favorite Juniors musicals during the past decade at McKeesport Little Theater. (Submitted photo courtesy Jennifer R. Vertullo)

Majewski said the revue also showcases some of the younger Juniors, which Fallows said was part of the plan.

“The older ones who have graduated definitely are having fun,” Stramaski said, “and the younger ones are just so excited.”
Current Juniors member Summer Ura, 11, is one of the youngest in the revue.

“Basically, I love this theater,” she said. Her previous shows there include “Frozen Jr.” and “SpongeBob.”

Ura said when she learned they were doing numbers from Juniors shows such as “Aladdin Jr.,” “The Little Mermaid Jr.,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” she was excited to participate.

“I get to be Young Fiona (from ‘Shrek’), and I’m in ‘Be Our Guest’ and ‘Friend Like Me,’ too.” She said her favorite part of the revue is when she gets to perform “I Know It’s Today” as Young Fiona.

And her most challenging part? “It’s memorizing all the dances,” Ura said.

Noah Bowytz, last seen as Jafar in the Juniors production of “Aladdin Jr.” and a 2024 Thomas Jefferson High School graduate, said the revue gave him something fun to do over the summer.

“It’s an opportunity to perform one last time before heading off to college,” he said. “There’s a lot of talent in this show. Everyone has a unique voice.”

He said his favorite numbers are as Genie in “Never Had a Friend Like Me,” and as Rapunzel’s Prince in “Agony” from “Into the Woods.”

Isaac Richardson said Covid interrupted some of his theater experiences and he’s glad to be back performing as an adult.

“A week out from our junior year show, we were shut down,” he said.

He said he played Young Shrek when the Juniors did the show previously. Now he’s set to perform “I Think I Got You Beat” as the adult Shrek, his favorite number in the revue.

Richardson said it’s also been nice to reconnect with theater friends.

“I hadn’t seen Carley since ‘Addams Family’ six years ago, and I was just a kid,” he said. He said the most difficult thing in coming back was “just that I hadn’t done a musical in such a long time.”

He credited Samantha Mitchell with making that experience easier through her choreography.

“It was very refreshing,” Richardson said. “She does her stuff well.”

Cast members, who include mostly past and some current members of McKeesport Little Theater Juniors, rehearse for their upcoming revue show. (Bonnijean Adams photo for Tube City Almanac)

For costumes, the performers are wearing their revue T-shirts, with just an accent that represents the show each number is from.

For example, Majewski said, there’s the clover where Horton hears the Whos from “Seussical,” and rakes for the tap dancers from “Frog and Toad.”

Director Fallows was enthusiastic about rehearsals so far.

“This show has fantastic singers and songs,” she said.

Bonnijean Cooney Adams is a freelance contributor. She can be reached at adamsclick@aol.com.

MLT Juniors Revue Cast and Crew

Director: Dorothy Fallows
Music Director: Sean Thornton
Choreographer: Samantha Mitchell
Producers: Amy Majewski and Lori Stramaski

Cast:
Abigail Ross
Bowie Koisor
Bry Zanotelli
Carley Nicomatti
Dylan Stramaski
Emmet Chesleigh
Hadassah Cardaro
Isaac Richardson
Jessica Freuden
Jonah Higdon
Kaitlyn Majewski
Katie Hall
Lucas Alexa
Lydia Richardson
Nie’Zhay Jefferson
Noah Bowytz
Sadie Mitchell
Sierra Mitchell
Skylar Crenshaw
Summer Ura
Sydney Hrinda

Originally published July 31, 2024.

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