Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 3/8/99
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   98

Editors: Photo accompanies release   Please note local interest
YOUNG "GARDEN" STARS GET BREAK IN SOUTHEASTERN MUSICAL
     HAMMOND -- Blair Abene of Tickfaw, Teddy Boone and  Kay Nunmaker of
Covington and Simon Pfeil of Hammond have had their share of school or community theatre
stage experience. But capturing lead roles in the Southeastern Louisiana University Opera-Music
Theatre Program's production of The Secret Garden is their young version of a  big theatrical
break.
     With opening night for the hit musical -- March 17 --  fast approaching, the 13-year-old,
16-year-old and pair of 12-year-olds are juggling homework with learning lines and spending
long week nights rehearsing instead of hanging with their friends. But, since they love what
they're doing, they say the sacrifice is definitely worth it.
     "This is like our passion," said Nunmaker, a pretty, soft-spoken blonde who is a
sophomore at Covington's Northlake Christian School. "There is nothing I'd rather do."
     Nunmaker and Abene, a seventh grader at Holy Ghost School, share the hit musical's
leading role of Mary, a spoiled young orphan who is sent to live with her brooding uncle and
invalid cousin in a lonely home in the English countryside. Boone, who is also a Northlake
Christian student, and Pfeil, who is home-schooled, are double-cast as Colin, Mary's sickly
cousin.
     The musical, a Tony Award-winner, is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved
children's classic. The Secret Garden will be performed at 7:30 p.m. through March 20 at Pottle
Music Building Auditorium. The show is directed by Larry Gray with set design by Steve
Schepker and lighting by Pete Pfeil. Frank Dubuy will conduct the orchestra and Scharmal
Schrock is production coordinator.
                             (MORE)
SECRET GARDEN'S YOUNG STARS   Add One
     Nunmaker learned about the auditions for The Secret Garden through Schrock, her voice
teacher. A veteran of productions of Annie, Man of La Mancha, The Wizard of Oz, and A
Midsummer Night's Dream who had her first stage role as a sixth-grader, Nunmaker jumped at
the chance to be in a university show.
     "I've never worked with people with such talent," she said. "It's nice to come to rehearsal
and everything's really professional. I'm used to high school shows, where there is always some
goofing off."
     Boone's stage credits, which he began accumulating in the third grade, include the lead in
Oliver Twist and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. He is no stranger to the role
of Colin, since he played the part last year in a Covington Playmaker's production.
     "And he hasn't once said, 'Well, the way we did it over there....,'" said Gray, laughing.
     "I was really excited to get the role," Boone said. "I wanted to do Colin again, to work
with all new people."
     Abene also learned about the auditions through her voice teacher, Southeastern music
major Jennifer Odom of Moselle, Miss., who has been cast as Lily, Colin's mother. "I've been in
a lot of plays in school and grew up with singing," said the young brunette, whose father, Joe
Abene, has a popular local band called Dominoes. "I'm always singing with the radio!"
     The role of Colin may be Pfeil's first in a big production, but the theatre itself is as
familiar to him as his home. He and his siblings have literally grown up backstage at
Southeastern where his father, Pete, is the university's technical director and his mother, Anna,
has been costume coordinator for many shows, including The Secret Garden.
     Young Pfeil has been tapped by his dad to operate the lighting board for shows such as
Christopher Columbus, Cosi fan tutte and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
"The technical stuff is really interesting,"concludes Simon, "but being in the show is really cool."
     Schrock, who has worked with many young actors through her years of producing
musicals and children's opera, is thrilled with the caliber of her young cast members.
     "They are absolutely some of the most dedicated young people I've ever worked with,"
she said. "It is so refreshing to work with young people who are so naturally gifted for the stage. 
                             (MORE)
SECRET GARDEN'S YOUNG STARS   Add Two
They've been a pleasure."
     Audiences can see Abene and Pfeil as Mary and Colin on March 17 and 19 and
Nunmaker and Boone on March 18 and 20.
     General admission tickets for The Secret Garden, $5, are available at Bayou Booksellers
and Red White & Brew in downtown Hammond and will be available at the door. Southeastern
students get in free, but should use their university I.D to redeem tickets at the Pottle Music
Building ahead of time, Schrock said.
     For additional information about The Secret Garden, call 504-549-2184.
                                
CUTLINE...
COLIN AND MARY ... AND COLIN AND MARY   Local youngsters, from left, Simon Pfeil
of Hammond, Kay Nunmaker of Covington, Teddy Boone of Covington and Blair Abene of
Tickfaw are excited about capturing lead roles in the Southeastern Louisiana University Opera-
Music Theatre Program's production of The Secret Garden. Pfeil and Abene will appear as Colin
and Mary in March 17 and 19 shows, while Nunmaker and Boone will take over the roles on
March 18 and 20. The Secret Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Pottle Music Building
Auditorium. For information, call 504-549-2184.

                            - SLU -
     This press release is available on the World Wide Web:
       www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp99.htm