STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

Tell us about it

• What would you add to this story? Tell us what we missed.
• Do you have photos from this event? Documents we need to see? Share with us.
• Upload photos & videos
• More ways to get your stuff online and in the paper.

More Local News

• Island business reaches agreement with school board over development of Tract K
• Quotes from Marco City Council's review of City Manager
• POLL: Marco Island to keep City Manager Steve Thompson

Share and Enjoy [?]

Director Gina Sisbarro reaches into the deeper ranges of her voice and bellows for everyone to keep quiet.

Temporarily startled, the 20 young actors rehearsing for a summer theater camp play over at the Marco Players theater, quiet down somewhat.

Somewhat.

It’s an understandable scenario. They’re kids, they’re naturally excitable, and on top of it, they’re doubly stimulated because they’re in performance mode.

Sisbarro knows this only too well, and despite her stern outbursts, it’s clear they’re more theatrical than anything else.

The play the children will present this Saturday at the theater is Clue, described by Sisbarro as a murder mystery comedy.

It’s the first in a series of three plays students will present during the summer, and Sisbarro says the remarkable aspect is that they have just five days in which to nail it down.

“We had auditions on Monday, and started rehearsals on the same day by noon,” she says.

Alyssa Lopez, 10, is a rookie at the game, but her clear diction is impressive.

“It’s fun to be somebody you’ve never been,” she says during a break in rehearsals.”

Jacob Hartman agrees, putting it this way: “I like acting because it’s like putting somebody else’s shoes on.”

Hartman plays “Colonel Mustard,” whom he explains is a military man (also a suspect in the murder) who’s busy working on the next fusion bomb.

Sisbarro has been running the theater program for the past five years, having progressed from a Marco Players actress herself to a director after being proverbially bitten by the bug.

Traditionally, she opts for musicals for youngsters, but says this year she decided on something different, hence the mystery with an element of fun.

By Wednesday some of the actors are clearly familiar with the script, and as they repeat scenes, they become visibly more theatrical.

Saturday’s shows are at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and donations to cover costume and rental costs will be taken at the door.

Sisbarro requests that parents of actors choose one show only to give everyone a chance to see the young thespians in action.

The Marco Players theater is in the Town Center.