Shenango Valley remade as 'Sleepy Hollow'

Oct. 22—SHARPSVILLE — As scenes alternated between a schoolhouse, a church and the wooded countryside of Sleepy Hollow, "Brom Bones" and "Ichabod Crane" competed for the affections of Katrina van Tassel.

The characters, all played by Sharpsville students, were dressed in era-appropriate attire and speaking in rhyme, while narrators occasionally arrived onstage to relate the story of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

The production, a theatrical adaptation of Washington Irving's 1820 short story, will be performed by the Sharpsville High School Thespian Club this week — earlier than its traditional fall performances, director Kathy Jo Bissell said.

"We wanted to do a show that would fit in with the fall and Halloween," Bissell said.

The club will perform "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" at 7 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Sharpsville High School auditorium, with no show Friday. The doors will open a half hour before each showing.

Tickets cost $8 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. Tickets can be purchased at the door or from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Sharpsville Middle School, Bissell said.

Portraying Ichabod Crane is senior Ethan Rodriguez, who said this production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is similar to the original short story, but different from the many other adaptations such as the 1990 film "Sleepy Hollow" or the Disney animated film.

Something unique about this particular production are the lines, since everything is spoken in rhyme.

While there is music throughout the show, it is not a musical in the traditional sense with singing or dancing, said junior Michiah Lenzi, who plays superintendent Hans von Ripper and one of the narrators.

"Everything has to rhyme, so if you forget your lines you can't ad-lib it, you have to come up with something on the spot that rhymes or just start over," he said.

Also unlike other plays, the characters in this particular production generally wear the same clothes from beginning to end, meaning the actors don't have to scramble on and offstage to change costumes, said senior Zoe Dottle, who plays one of the town gossipers.

"The costumes that we have in this show are amazing," Dottle said.

The scenery, however, will continue to change throughout the show. Its high quality, combined with the music and ambience, help to make the show creepy without necessarily being scary, said junior Alexandria Marchetto, who plays Katrina van Tassel.

"It's really the atmosphere of the show, since we have music, the sets, the fog machine — everything combines," Marchetto said.

Seniors Nolan Lapikas and Ava Bee, who play Parson von Pastor and another town gossiper respectively, also credited the stage crew's work in making the production come together, including people working behind the scenes and in the lights and sound room.

"They've been doing an incredible job," Bee said.

Senior Nolan Lapikas, who plays Parson von Pastor, added that he hoped audiences enjoy the show's mix of humor and creepy atmosphere.

"There's going to be something there for everybody," Lapikas said.

This fall production has seen increased participation from Sharpsville's students, with about 35 students in the cast and a further 15 or so students in stage crew, compared to last year's fall show which had a cast of about 23 students, Bissell said.

Bissell attributes this to a showing of last year's fall show to the students in kindergarten through eighth grade, which helped introduce more younger students to the district's theater program.

"We're doing a showing for the kids in fifth through eighth grade this year," Bissell said.

The students in the cast likewise noticed this increased participation, and described the freshman students as having the same passion and talent as the upperclassmen, said junior Justin Haun, who plays Brom Bones.

"All of the rookies that we have with us this year have been amazing," Haun said.

Aside from the students' effort, Bissell also thanked a group of volunteers for their involvement with the production, including Dan Bee, who handled set design and construction.

Samantha Moon handled props, social media coverage and stage management, Michelle Bower handled choreography, and Alyssa Sair and Lindsay May handled lights and sounds.

There was also "amazing" parental support regarding feeding the cast and crew, encouragement and promoting the students, particularly parents Kimberly Marchetto and Rebecca Lenzi, Bissell said.

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Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.