The Capitial Players present 'Grease' By PHILIP NARSH STAFF WRITER PSNSOO 1 @PSU.EDU WOP-BOP-A-LOO-BOP-A -WOP-BAM-BOOM! Get your letter jackets and poodle skirts ready, because this spring the Capital Players will present the classic 50's musical "Grease". Audiences may be surprised at the size of the show this semester, as it promises to be the biggest yet. "We've cast 26 students for Grease," boasts director Jim Johnson, theater professor and theater club faculty advisor, "That is more than double the amount of actors and actresses we've presented in any of our previous plays!" Yasmine Roc (Sandy) is a junior at Penn State Harrisburg. "Grease" is the first musical/play she has ever been in, though she has sung all her life. Yasmine started off singing in her church choir since age 7, and today she sings with Campus Choir and is President of Sounds of Praise Gospel choir on campus. Cody Page (Miss Lynch) has been involved in behind the scenes work in high school, as well as being the Assistant Stage Manager for last semester's production of "Fifth of July". "Grease" is The life of a community assistant at PSH By WILLS KING STAFF WRITER WPKSOO4@PSU.EDU For students living on campus at PennStateHarrisburg,thepresence of a community assistant helps with a variety of problems that can arise with college living. The five community assistants assume many of the responsibilities towards keeping campus housing safe and peaceful. The choice to take on this role requires major commitment and provides benefits in various forms, while ultimately creating a lifestyle unique to any other student. Shaquwana Duncan, a junior, is currently serving as a community assistant for the Cody's first appearance on the year, is an international student Green Gables". She was in the stage at Penn State Harrisburg. from Taiwan. She moved around Dance club throughout high For the first time as well Cody will a lot as a child due to her father's school and performed in various be donning some high heels as he job as a diplomat. She lived in locations throughout Taiwan. Lisa The cast of 26 students performing in "Grease" is more than double the amount of actors and actresses previosly presented at PSH. embodies the old maid English Egypt during her middle school performed in the Capital Players' teacher named Miss Lynch. years, and performed in "Joseph production of"Godspell"last year. Lisa Mei (Patty), a public and the Amazing Technicolor Rebecca Rubendall (Jan) is a relations major in her second Dream Coat" and "Anne of freshman nursing student who second consecutive year. Duncan, who is the assistant for the 5000 and 6000 buildings, thinks of the community assistant as somewhat of a student counselor. Duncan says she is very open to helping students overcome the initial challenges of adjusting to college. "I know that it can be a hard transition coming from high school to college and not really knowing anything" said Duncan. "I like to know that I can help people who are in the same predicaments that I was." Such positive attitudes are necessary for a student to become a community assistant. Students must be recommended by an associate with the campus to be eligible for the position. They THE CAPITAL TIMES Community assistant Jasmine Cunningham sits on duty at the community center. must also take a class that helps train them to deal with students as a community assistant. As a result, community assistants are trained and prepared for the situations they will face. By taking on the role of community assistant, these students know that they will almost certainly be viewed differently average They know before the job that they will student. they take 25 2009 startedat Penn State Harrisburg last semester. She has been involved in her high school's musical for four years, performing in "Annie", "Copacabana", "Damn Yankees", and "The Music Man". She loves to sing and hopes to continue performing in musicals for a long time, though not professionally. Steven Howell (Roger), who has been performing in musicals since elementary school, describes himself as having been a part of the "musical scene" for most of his life. In high school, Steve performed "Peter Pan", "Anything Goes", "Fiddler on the Roof', and "Godspell". Steve also performed in "Godspell" last year with the Capital Players. Steve is a diretor of PSH's Gospel Choir and Millerstown UMC's Praise Team. Dustin McQuaid (Doody) is a freshman at Penn State Harrisburg, studying communications, but plans to transfer to University Park to study Theatre. In his senior year of high school, he was honored to be one of 300 students from the whole state of West Virginia to perform in the All- State Chorus. Some past shows Please see GREASE on page 14 be viewed as more than just students. That, Duncan says, is one of the benefits of the job. "The main benefit of being a CA for me is to be a role model that somebody can ask for anything" said Duncan. "You know taking on the job that you're not seen as an everyday student. You're held to a higher standard." The opportunity to have a positive impact on the community constitutes one aspect of the job, while the incentive of free room and board in a personal suite makes the decision to serve as a community assistant a little easier. In the end, the goal is to have an environment where students always have somebody they can turn to for help with a problem.
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