THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140035
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARSHA GILBERT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
BIG DREAMS can lead to heights and fortunes beyond belief - at least that's what Jack Sprague found out.
Instead of paying his family's back taxes, Sprague gambled with his mother's small fortune, hoping a little bit of magic would make them a profit. His greed led to thievery and a run for his life.
No, this isn't the plot of a new prime-time movie.
It's the story of the well-known children's fairy tale ``Jack and the Beanstalk.''
The Hurrah Players will perform this classic on weekends from Friday through March 24 at Willett Hall in Portsmouth.
There is a mechanical beanstalk that grows on stage to 22 feet high, a 12-foot-tall giant who dances the tango, a talking harp, a dancing cow and a goose that lays golden eggs.
``So far everything, including the rental of Willett Hall, renting wireless microphones for the cast, building the set and making the costumes, has cost over $30,000,'' said Hugh R. Copeland, the production's director and choreographer. ``We haven't made that yet. That ($30,000) was our limit.''
The giant is really 5-foot-10 Norfolk resident Lucius Bennett, perched on stilts and topped with a huge headdress. All of the furniture in his castle is also over-sized.
``Hugh asked me to help out and told me later about the stilts,'' said Bennett, 47, an electrician by trade for 28 years. ``It took about 30 minutes to get used to them. Now I'm able to walk and dance on them. I just treat them like part of my body.''
Theatergoers might remember Bennett in his earlier roles with Hurrah as Chop-Chop in ``Aladdin,'' a caterpillar in ``Alice in Wonderland'' and the king in ``Cinderella.''
After Bennett bumped his head practicing in his home, he started rehearsing for four hours a day in the rehearsal hall to get his moves down.
``It is so much fun,'' giggled Sylvia Hutson, 34, of her role as Jack's mom. ``I'm having an absolute ball. Hugh is so good for my ego. The kids are brilliant.''
Hutson, a native of Ireland now living in Virginia Beach, has been acting in children's theater for the past five years in Puerto Rico and England.
``I play a strong woman who is having a hard time making ends meet,'' Hutson said. ``She loves her son dearly and would do anything for him. Jack sold her cow for magic beans. She gets angry and throws the beans away. That's what starts the beanstalk growing.''
Tyler Marcum, who plays Jack, is already a veteran actor at the age of 12. He has performed with local groups in ``Scrooge,'' ``The Music Man,'' ``The Wizard of Oz,'' ``Pinocchio,'' ``A Dragon's Tale,'' ``Tom Sawyer'' and ``Alice in Wonderland.'' He's also acted in a movie for the Family Channel called ``Touch of the Supernatural.''
Marcum, a seventh-grader at Great Neck Middle School in Virginia Beach, loves this role and being on stage. He has rehearsals five days a week and takes acting lessons at Hurrah Players.
``I definitely want to work on Broadway when I grow up, either as a singer or an actor,'' Marcum said, rushing to finish his homework in the hour between getting home from school and going off to dress rehearsal.
``This is a great show,'' he said. ``I'm ready.'' by CNB