Heights Youth Theatre enables donations for displaced Haitians at ... - Cleveland Plain Dealer

By Ed Wittenberg, Sun News

March 11, 2010, 8:38AM

LINDA HATCH/SPECIAL TO SUN NEWS Abbey Fox, left, of South Euclid, playing the part of Mama Euralie, tries to console Alexis Floyd, of Bratenahl, portraying Ti Moune, during Heights Youth Theatre’s rehearsal of “Once on This Island.” At right is Jack Bistritz, of Shaker Heights, as Tonton. Heights Youth Theatre decided about a year ago that its third and final production of the 2009-10 season would be “Once on This Island,” a musical set in Haiti.

Treva Offutt, director of the show, led a workshop for those interested in auditioning for the production.

“I talked about the culture and history of Haiti, so they could get the context of how it relates to the show,” Offutt said. “I wanted them to know what they were representing.”

Three days later, an earthquake hit Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people and causing major damage to Port-au-Prince, the capital.

Immediately, the HYT executive board decided to make “Once on This Island” a fundraiser for the earthquake victims of Haiti.

“When I saw (the children) again for auditions, it was very difficult, because my thoughts were with the people of Haiti,” Offutt said. “It made the show even more relevant and more powerful.”

“Once on This Island” opened Friday and continues through March 20 at Wiley Middle School, 2181 Miramar Blvd., University Heights.

The 66-member cast includes children in grades 1-12 from Beachwood, Cleveland Heights, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Pepper Pike, Richmond Heights, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid and University Heights.

Donations for health kits

At the end of each performance, donations will be collected for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, a nonprofit organization that responds to disasters.

Through the United Methodist Church at University Circle, UMCOR has coordinated efforts to assemble and ship health kits to Haiti. The cost to put together each kit â€" containing such items as a hand towel, washcloth, comb, nail file, bar of soap, toothbrush and bandages â€" is $12.

“We’ll purchase the items and then enlist the help of cast members and volunteers to help assemble these kits,” said Pam Fine, HYT executive director. “They will go to people (in Haiti) who have had to leave their homes, or for educational purposes.

“If each person (who attends the show) gives a dollar, it will go far.”

Offutt, also the show’s choreographer, said it’s an effort by the theater to expand upon what it has done in the past.

“We would like to bring attention to the fact that the people of Haiti still need our help and to celebrate the culture of Haiti,” she said.

Story of love, pain

“Once on This Island” tells the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl who falls in love with a “grand homme,” Daniel Beauxhomme. She wants to marry him, but due to differences in their economic status, upbringing and ethnicity, it is not meant to be.

Playing Ti Moune is Alexis Floyd, of Bratenahl, a sophomore at Hawken School. Daniel is portrayed by Nick Hyland, a senior at Shaker Heights High School.

Other principal characters include David Levitz, a sophomore at Shaker Heights High School, as Papa Ge; Katrina Ruth, of Cleveland, a senior at Cleveland School of the Arts, as Erzulie; Sidney Perelman, a freshman at Cleveland Heights High School, as Asaka; Ryan Thurman, a senior at Shaker Heights High School, as Agwe; Abbey Fox, a junior at Brush High School, as Mama Euralie; Jack Bistritz, a sixth-grader at Woodbury Elementary School in Shaker Heights, as Tonton; Sydney Fieseler, a fourth-grader at Mercer Elementary School in Shaker Heights, as Armand; Katie Wilkinson, a seventh-grader at Shaker Middle School, as Andrea; and Zoe Coyle, of University Heights, a second-grader at Gesu School, as Little Ti Moune.

The musical director is Joanna Li.

“One thing I have added that wasn’t in the original production is large-scale puppets,” Offutt said. “We have puppets representing the four gods, and we bring the feeling of the island to life through the puppetry.”

Director is performer

Offutt, a fifth-grade teacher at Laurel School in Shaker Heights, is directing her first show for HYT. A Beaumont School graduate, she’s a professional singer, dancer and actress who has toured the world with various dance theater companies.

Offutt returned to Cleveland Heights last summer after living in New York and Los Angeles since 1987.

Her daughter, Trinity Offutt Decker, a third-grader at Laurel School, is a dancer in “Once on This Island.”

“I’m very proud of everybody and the work they’ve contributed and how everything has come together,” Offutt said.

The two-act show runs about two hours, including an intermission.

HYT, based in Cleveland Heights-University Heights, is in its 55th season. It was launched at Cain Park and has performed at Wiley Auditorium the last 40 years.

The theater was once funded by CH-UH schools, but due to budget cuts, it was reincorporated in 2004 as a self-sustaining nonprofit.

Show times and dates for “Once on This Island” are 7 p.m. Friday and March 19, 2 p.m. Saturday and March 20 and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, available at the door, are $9 for general admission and $8 for senior citizens and children under 6. Call (216) 780-2235.

Contact Wittenberg at (216) 986-5896 ewittenberg@sunnews.com

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