Published: July 01, 2009 09:04 pm      

Edmond actors shine at OSAI

EDMOND — LONE WOLF — Edmond students commanded leading roles in the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute’s acting program at Quartz Mountain, showcasing a variety of dramatic, vocal and sound effects skills.

Under the direction of actor, writer and producer John de Lancie, best known as Eugene Bradford on “Days of Our Lives” and for his recurring role as Q on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, the young ensemble performed de Lancie’s audio play, “The Lost World,” based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, before a full house of fellow artists, parents and community members.

De Lancie co-wrote the adventure-packed script with Nat Segaloff, filmed before a live television audience in 1998 with Leonard Nimoy as Angus McArdle and de Lancie as Sir John Roxton.

OSAI acting students recreated the melodrama with a pianist, percussionists and an array of other sound effects, ranging from shotgun blasts to the deafening cries of ancient birds and exotic jungle animals.

De Lancie and Nimoy are co-owners of “Alien Voices,” a production company devoted to the radio-style dramatization of classic science fiction.

In addition to “The Lost World,” de Lancie produced, co-wrote and directed audio dramatizations of “The Time Machine,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “The Invisible Man” and “The First Men in the Moon,” as well as three television specials for the Sci-Fi Channel. He also played the lead in Yuri Rasovsky’s award-winning audio version of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.”

“The Lost World” is a classic adventure story published in 1912 about a scientific expedition that embarks on a journey to South America. Led by the arrogant Professor Challenger, a troupe of scientists and adventurers seeks to verify reports that prehistoric life still exists in a remote interior region of the continent.

De Lancie’s live radio-show version of the tale invites the audience to respond to cue cards prompting them to applaud, cheer and boo at the appropriate times. The set is made up of simple platforms, and like a television sound stage, there are stand-mounted microphones for the actors and foley artists.

Edmond North’s Leah Coleman (McArdle) narrates from the diary of an assumed-dead, previous explorer to the region. Her velvety voice and clear enunciation are a pleasant contrast to the bombardment of jungle sounds and energetic utterings of monkeys and dinosaurs.

North’s Cliff Synar is perfect as the Ape King, leader of a tribe of chimp-like people, brought to life by Classen School of Advanced Studies students Alix Golden, Erin Murray, De’Onna Prince, Jessa Schinske and other cast members.

Coleman said science fiction is a new genre in her thespian experience. “I thought it was real fun,” she said. She added that she hadn’t really heard of her director prior to the workshop, but her parents remembered de Lancie from his many “Star Trek” roles. More recently, De Lancie appears as Donald Margolis on AMC’s award-winning “Breaking Bad” series.

Edmond Santa Fe orchestra student Victoria Mooers said de Lancie spoke to them about the competitive nature of the entertainment industry.“He told us he’s one of the two percent that actually make it and become successful,” she says.

The production involved about 30 participants, some 14 with speaking roles, many doubling as foley sound effects artists and singer-dancers for the whimsical commercial breaks.

De Lancie was not introduced in person or in the printed program, leaving most of the audience unaware of his audio-play expertise. The radio format made more sense with the actors’ use of the cue cards and mics, although the microphones sometimes hid actors’ faces and created extraneous noise.

The show’s intense energy and the young actors’ focus was evident as they displayed a variety of talents. The drama program was followed by a beautiful and moving ballet performance, including Edmond’s Anouk Lenaerts of Classen SAS and North’s Audrey Danser.

The climax of the evening was the modern dance debut of “dre.diohead” by New York choreographer Andrew Palermo, showcasing Edmond Memorial’s Emily Oliver and Melissa Yowell, and Sequoyah Middle School’s Alex Hay. The intense, emotional exhibition earned a standing ovation, crowning the achievements OSAI’s first group of “Onstage Weekend” performers for the 2009 season.



JANET PATTERSON is an Edmond resident.