Each summer for about the past 15 years, theater in Annapolis has entered the machine age.
That's machine as in Talent Machine, of course.
The brainchild of the late Bobbi Smith, the demanding, dynamic director-choreographer who had hundreds of kids hoofing with primal energy and immense joy during her remarkable career, Talent Machine has become an integral part of Annapolis' summer season in the arts.
What a proud legacy this appropriately named ensemble has bequeathed to its audiences over the years. Bobbi Smith's back-to-back productions of Singin' in the Rain and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1994-1995 were such marvelous fusions of talent, energy and artistic vision, that they rank among the best shows brought to the Annapolis stage in the past two decades. Not just by kids, but by anybody.
True to the tenacity of its founder (who died unexpectedly at age 60 in January 2001), the ensemble did not fold. Under the leadership of Smith's daughter, Lea Capps, her sister Vicki Smith and several gifted Talent Machine alumni, the company has mounted enjoyable, high-energy shows during the past two seasons, and this summer promises to be no exception.
The youngest members of the company (ages 7 to 14) will switch on the Machine's power with Camp Hawyah, a musical comedy revue scheduled to open July 11 at Key Auditorium on the campus of St. John's College.
Written by Jake Thornhill, Steve Love and Amy Sonntag, senior Talent Machinists past and present, Camp Hawyah is the story of a group of campers enjoying a summer together.
Dominating the proceedings is Harvey, a young misfit seeking to find his place in the world - and standing out like a sore thumb.
But as Harvey enters this summer world so full of eccentric counselors, colorful cabin mates and multitalented peers, his personal horizons start to broaden.
Songs such as "Hand Jive" (Grease), "Go Into Your Dance" (42nd Street) and "All That Jazz" (Chicago) help the young man find himself on this musical voyage of self discovery.
Camp Hawyah will be performed July 11-13 and July 17-20 at Key Auditorium.
The older members of the ensemble will take the same stage Aug. 1 with the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe favorite Brigadoon.
Brigadoon, which opened at New York City's Ziegfeld Theater in 1947 and ran for 581 performances, tells the story of two New York fellows lost in the Highland mist of Scotland who stumble across the strange town of Brigadoon.
