When people do something they’re especially pleased with, they sometimes stand back and proudly say, “Ta-da.” However, TADA also stands for the Theatre Arts Directors Association, comprised of the middle- and high-school theater teachers and directors in Fairfax County Public Schools.
On Sunday, March 29, at 7 p.m., this group will present its second annual TADA Cabaret, in the Russell Theatre at Robinson Secondary School, 5035 Sideburn Road in Fairfax. Tickets are $5 at the door or at www.fcpsdrama.com.
Directing this year’s event is Robinson’s theater director Chip Rome, and he said it’s going to be a terrific and entertaining show, sure to please all ages.
“It’s not true that those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach,” he said. “Because those of us who teach can do, too, and people should come see for themselves. It’s also going to be lots of fun.”
Besides that, the program is a fund raiser for TADA’s “sunshine events” — births, deaths, illnesses, weddings and other important occasions within the theater community. “It helps us support our colleagues at significant times in their lives,” he said.
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THE SHOW </b>has eight acts signed up to perform, so far. “It grew to twice that number last year, so we’ll see what happens as time goes on,” Rome said. “There’ll be skits, songs and dances. Some students will be in it as backup, or to accompany a performer, but the focus is on the teachers.”
Fairfax High Theater Director Wendy Knight is the producer, and Westfield High Theater Director Scott Pafumi, assistant producer. The stage manager is Woodson High Theater Director Terri Hobson.
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THIS YEAR’S </b>participants include Tim King, a Washington Irving Middle School teacher, accompanied by musicians from the school, performing the song, “The Origin of Love,” from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” The high-school theater director at Lake Braddock Secondary, R.L. Mirabal, will entertain with Miraband, a band of two students, an alumnus and Mirabal himself playing bass, guitar, piano and drums.
Ariel Baska of Rachel Carson Middle School is doing “Director’s Notes,” a comic monologue by Victoria Wood; and Philip Lee Clark will perform the song and dance routine, “Mr. Cellophane,” from “Chicago.” Stone Middle Theater Director Lois Walsh will sing and be part of a dance number.
Pafumi will sing the Bobby Darin classic, “Beyond the Sea,” and Amy Hard, middle-school theater teacher at Robinson, will dance with some other instructors. In addition, Knight and Fairfax Academy Theater Teacher Mike Replogle will do a two-person, comedy scene.
“We have a good time,” said Rome. “It’s a very talented group of people, and the opportunity to see them demonstrate their skills for entertainment, and not just education, is certain to be worth one’s time and money. Parking is free — and where else can you go to be entertained for five bucks? And the more, the merrier.”