THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 18, 1995 TAG: 9504180309
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Take two young men with little or no acting experience and put them in a major production of one of America's greatest plays.
Add to that a first-time director.
What happens? Will they fall on their faces or will they shine brilliantly?
For the answer, visit The Little Theatre at Elizabeth City State University any night Wednesday through Saturday this week.
Randy J. Berry is directing Shaunell McMillan and Tony Zachary in the John Steinbeck classic, ``Of Mice and Men.''
Berry, as he has done in the past, will work on sets and lights - and for the first time, direct.
``It's the toughest job,'' he said.
McMillan and Zachary got their parts much to their surprise.
``I auditioned when a friend of mine brought me by,'' McMillan said. ``I told her I always wanted to act. I was especially surprised to get a part this big.''
Zachary had some acting experience - minor roles at Northeastern High School, where he is in his junior year.
``I always wanted to do something like this. I thought I'd try. If I was lucky I'd get a small part,'' he said. ``It surprised me when I got a call saying I got this part.
``I love the story. George is emotional but he puts on a front,'' Zachary said. ``I'm like that - emotional but not wanting anyone to know. That similarity in character really helps.''
ECSU freshman McMillan, a Fayetteville native, plays Lenny, a big, gentle man with the mind of a child.
``I like his innocence. I don't have that in common. I like his childlike nature,'' McMillan said. ``We have one thing in common. We're both laid back.''
Not at the moment. Between schoolwork and rehearsals McMillan is a busy young man.
So is Shawn Smith, the school's director of drama.
``I acted in `Of Mice and Men' when I was in high school. I was with the Junior Players of Durham,'' he said. ``I played George. This time I'm Candy, the old man who befriends George and Lenny.''
Smith sees this production as a chance to balance the scale.
``We've just done a girl's play,'' he said, referring to the last production, ``Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enough.''
Both productions have been helped by a $1,000 grant from the Pasquotank Arts Council.
The Steinbeck classic, a morality play which is considered a work of art, was filmed twice as a movie, once as a televison drama.
The classic version, released in 1939, starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lenny and Burgess Meredith as George.
``The story is a tremendously moving study of two roving farmhands,'' Smith said. ``They cling together in the face of loneliness and alienation.'' ILLUSTRATION: THEATER PREVIEW
What: The University Players present ``Of Mice and Men.''
Where: The Little Theater in the G.R. Little Library off Parkview
Drive on the ECSU campus.
When: At 8 p.m. April 19 to 22.
Cost: $4 for the general public, $1.50 for ECSU faculty and
staff, $1 for ECSU students. For reservations and information call
335-3436.
by CNB