CHESTERTOWN — A muggy, Saturday night at the Garfield Center for the Arts brought out the witches. No better conditions for performers, Jennica McCleary, Lillian Hope and Margaret Sommerhof, portraying the beloved Sanderson sisters, characters of the 1993 family/comedy, “Hocus Pocus.”
Inspired by the film, McCleary, owner of Velvet Toreador Company, performed the season opener of Winnie’s Rock Cauldron Cabaret, featuring the witches singing and dancing.
Playing the lovable, scheming, Winnie, (Bette Midler’s character), McCleary wrote and directed the show and performed it to around 60 people that night.
She joked to the crowd, “We’re back from the dead, just enjoying the fact we’re here in July... sweating.”
Prior to that, McCleary introduced the show with some classic songs, some with her own twisted spin on them, and brought out her companions, Hope, playing Mary and Sommerhof, portraying Sarah.
Twirling around the cauldron beneath the lights, joking, improvising, shrieking, gyrating, the witches held the audience under their spell.
They sung occult-themed songs like Pat Benetar’s, “Shadows of the Night,” Frank Sinatra’s, “Witchcraft,” and “One Night Only” a song from the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls.
McCleary showed why she’s a nationally-acclaimed performer, doing an impeccable Midler/Winnie impersonation, right down to her high-pitched cackle.
Of course Winnie would be nothing without her sisters.
The director pointed out this was both Hope and Sommerhof’s first time performing this show. They didn’t show a trace of nervousness and never broke character.
In character, Hope made the crowd roar in laughter with her rendition of the late Prince’s “Purple Rain,” sung with revised lyrics suited for Hocus Pocus fans.
“Burning rain, burning rain,” she belted out, brandishing a plastic guitar and a Prince jacket while her cast mate spritzed her down with water.
“This was a tribute to the sprinkler scene from the film,” Hope said.
The fun-loving, ditsy character, played by Sarah Jessica Parker in the film was still there, yet had just the right gestures to garner emotion, as Sommerhof (Sarah) hushed the audience with some powerful solos such as “Spider in the Roses,” by Sonia Leigh, and “Come Little Children”, also known as “Sarah’s Theme.”
In the crowd was Sommerhof’s mother, Maria, who was the show’s biggest cheerleader that night. “My feet haven’t hit the ground yet,” she said, flushed.
She explained that she watched Sommerhof perform from four-years-old. She remembers her daughter playing Anne Frank and after the performance, Sommerhof felt sad, because, she lived the characters she took on.
The night was made extra special because this was Maria’s first time she’s seen her daughter perform in two years, driving from Illinois to pick her up in New York. “She was born to do this,” Maria added, holding back tears, a proud mom.
After the first act, Executive Director Steven Arnold thanked everyone for coming out. Since, he said, they are trying to make repairs and improvements he talked about their Stage and Safety Campaign. He noted rigging on the stage needs replacement for safety purposes and to keep bringing great light shows and superior sound to their productions, they need to keep upgrading technically.
Theater favorite, Jim Landskroener provided more details.
Landskroener explained the crowd’s reactions, like what the Sanderson sister’s just received, is the reward to the actors and actresses.
“The people on stage owe you a great debt.”
And so in order to keep that experience going, they’ll be looking at various ways to fund the projects.
“We all need all of you to help us on this journey.”
After conversation, drinks, and refreshments, the Sanderson trio returned.
In Act II, they were more sadistic. Act I they claimed they had learned their lesson. That they didn’t want to sacrifice the life force from children anymore. However as they chanted and danced, their frolicking evil emerged to the audience’s delight.
Winnie changed her wardrobe three or four times, once right on stage as her sister’s used their garments to shield her. She went from victorian dress, to elegant in a sparkling evening gown, to bawdy and modern in shorts and fishnets, throwing a little hip-hop in with her tunes.
They also performed renditions of Guns n Roses, “Sweet Child of Mine,” (of course), “Vogue,” by Madonna and a humorous version of “Let it Go,” from Disney’s “Frozen,” film.
“Let them burn! Let them burn!(to the tune of Let it Go),” Winnie sang.
They closed out with the classic sung by Midler in the film, “I Put a Spell on You.” After wiping the hex sweat off backstage after a terrific performance, the witches snapped selfies with their fans.
Hope was pleased with her performance. She was familiar with the roles already, her favorite character being Winnie, but said she had so much fun playing Mary. Born and raised in Columbia, Maryland she recalled playing Little Orphan Annie as a child.
Her notable works were in a show called “Disaster,” in New Jersey, as Dina, and in a play called “Puffs.”
McCleary, was also happy to talk even after playing, performing, directing and lugging the huge styrofoam cauldron her father had made for her to the front of the stage.
She commended the young actresses, Hope and Sommerhof. They had the chemistry of a troupe who didn’t just learn the act in two weeks in New York under an emergency audition situation.
She talked of some of the changes the show has gone throughout in it’s seven years, and what to expect from her in the future as a multi-hyphenated artist.
The show’s become a little more burlesque with queer elements involved she said, like the Madonna, “Vogue,” segment.
All of the elements in the show will be tested, as she’s looking forward to her show in Orlando at Dr. Phillips Center, Oct. 17- 26; the largest version of Winnie’s Rock Cauldron Cabaret she’ll perform.
Fans can see an online version of it in December, and McCleary encouraged people to find her at “Rock the Cauldron,” on Instagram and Facebook.
Even though she travels all over, McCleary was excited to perform for the Kent County crowd, who she said was given a “diet version” of the show, with some of the best highlights, condensed down.
“The people here always get it that they’re in on the joke. They’re so much fun!”
It’s that give and take from the audience and the performers that makes theater magical, with or without witches. But on this night, fortunate for the audience, with them.
Most Popular
Comments / 0