A chance to shine

Suzie Harrison

The good news is No Square Theatre is providing a stage for amateur

performers to show off their goods. But while they open their doors

to the public for the new Open Mike Nights, doors have been shutting

on No Square Theatre.

The community theater group’s two summer shows have been canceled

because they can’t use the high school’s theater where they usually

perform. The high school will be under construction during the

summer.

“We have such strong support from the community and no place to do

our thing,” No Square’s founder and artistic director Bree Burgess

Rosen said.

The theater usually presents a musical and youth production in the

summer. Rosen said if they don’t find a new place to hold the shows

they will have to be canceled.

But for now, No Square Theatre will please the crowd by offering

“Local Vocals” on Mondays. It will be an opportunity for adults in

the community to sing along with professional piano accompaniment.

Every fourth Friday and second Sunday they will be hosting “Broadway

Maybe,” an open mike night for families.

Last Wednesday night Rosen, along with No Square’s Adam Hemming,

Gregg Barnette and Linda Martin, were at the piano belting out show

tunes as if they were trying out for a Broadway musical.

“We’re setting up the sound system and moving things in place,”

Rosen said. “Most of the cables are at the high school for ‘A

Midsummer Night’s Dream’,” I’ll have to go get them. This spells out

community at its best.”

No Square has decided to have these open mike nights, according to

Rosen, to further the arts in the community.

“The reason we decided to have this is to nurture the performing

arts, a way to nurture people with talent so they can perform,” Rosen

said.

She explained how performers often go to piano bars to try their

talent, which can be a stressful event.

“We wanted to encourage people to get experience, get used to

performing and to find better talent,” Rosen said.

Main Street Cabaret on South Coast Highway is virtually the only

local place offering an open mike.

“That’s where I met and cast the entire first ‘Lagunatics,’” Rosen

said.

At the piano bar it was not about drinking. Most are professional

actors and performers with some on the edge of becoming professional.

“We were all there to sing and sing, we would sing about 50 songs

and fight over who gets to sing ‘My Funny Valentine,’” Rosen said.

“Then the drunks would always have to comment, they would say, ‘You

guys are great, have you ever thought of doing this professionally?’”

Rosen said that the open nights at No Square are going to be great

because they will have the fun, greatness and the piano without the

drunks.

“It’s all about the singing without the bar,” Rosen said. “We’re

looking forward to it, there’s so much talent involved.”

“Local Vocals” will run from 7 to 10 p.m. every Monday and adults

will sing along with the piano accompaniment from local Saif Eddin.

He is an accomplished professional singer, actor and musician who has

performed in nightclubs and cabarets in Los Angeles, Orange County,

Switzerland and Germany. Eddin directed the original Lagunatics and

co-wrote and directed other No Square productions. He has appeared on

various TV shows such as “Today,” “Good Morning America and “Third

Rock From the Sun.”

“There are a significant number of talented people in Laguna who

will come, who have real jobs, but are really talented and don’t get

a chance to do something like this,” Rosen said. “People like Judy

Akin, who is a nurse and an exceptional performer, where are you

going to hear her sing, in her living room?”

“Broadway Maybes” will alternate live piano on Fridays, beginning

March 28 from 6 to 9 p.m. with a Karaoke DJ from 5 to 8 p.m. on

Sundays starting April 13. Kids and parents can sing along with

renowned composer, pianist and musical director Terry Alaric. They

can also enjoy local Vicki O., who holds the national title of the

American DJ Assn’s. “Karaoke Host of the Year.”

Show tunes and standards are encouraged for these free events and

participants can bring their own sheet music or choose from what is

provided.

“The idea is to get people singing show tunes, duets and things

like that -- the ties that bind,” Rosen said. “It’s a leveling venue,

a piano bar encourages nerves of steel.”