Gas Lamp performing ‘Twelfth Night’

The Gas Lamp Teens will put the Bard on board for four shows tomorrow through Sunday, with a musical production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” at Ridgewood Avenue School.

The romantic comedy is a story about the intersection of love and masquerade. Confused identities and outright lies abound with only true love sorting it out.
Briefly, there is a shipwreck. Viola makes it ashore, but her twin brother, Sebastian, is lost at sea — temporarily. Viola disguises herself as “Cesario” and promptly falls in love with her/his employer, Duke Orsino. Orsino uses “Cesario” as the go-between with his love, Olivia, who falls in love with the messenger Cesario. The comedy tangles on. At a recent rehearsal, several cast members and a co-director spoke.

Glen Ridge High School senior Ellie Hudon plays Lady Toby Belch, a role ordinarily played by a male as Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s uncle and oft-times drunkard.

“My character is a character indeed,” Ellie said. “She’s a fan of partying and a little mischievous. She likes to pull the strings to feed her lavish lifestyle, but
depends on Olivia for all the money that goes into her lifestyle.”

It was fun, Ellie said, to play someone who was dynamic.

“I worked with the directors to make the character my own,” she said. “Usually, she’s played by a man and a little bit of a slob. But we made her, rather than a slob, more mischievous. Part of the reason that she’s a girl is to make her more demonic. It makes the show more interesting.”

Ellie sings two songs. One is about partying and the other is about instigating a duel.

Claire Liotta, a GRHS senior, portrays Olivia.

“She’s full of herself,” Claire said. “She’s mourning her brother and she likes the attention this gets her. I like to play around with that.”

At first Olivia is in love with Cesario/Viola, but at the end she falls in love with Viola’s rescued brother, Sebastian, Claire said.

“What’s interesting about this musical is that the dialogue is Shakespearian, but the lyrics are modern,” Claire observed. “That helps the audience to understand the language because Shakespeare is definitely difficult at first, but we had a wonderful director.”

(Claire is no stranger to Elizabethan speech having competed nationally in the National Shakespeare Recitation, placing in the top 10 and in ‘23 and was a semifinalist in ‘24.)

Orsino is played by GRHS sophomore Theo Browning.

“Similar to Olivia, he’s full of himself which makes him confused when Olivia doesn’t like him back,” Theo said. “It hurts him through the play. When he meets Cesario, actually Viola, he falls in love with him. Cesario tries to tell him about women because Orsino is always around men. He doesn’t know women. Orsino falls in love with Cesario for knowing so much about love, but I think he’s relieved when he finds out Cesario is actually a woman.”

Theo said he sings a song he likes. It is titled “Tell Him.”

“He thinks Cesario makes the world turn around,” Theo said of the lyrics.

Steven Hogel is a co-director. He said one challenge in directing the show was, of course, the language.

“But also because the show is a shortened teen version,” he said. “There are parts that were taken out that have to be shown, but condensed. There are things that jump forward that have to make sense.”

But Shakespeare is a challenge for any cast, Hogel said.

“We go through it line by line to know what it means in a modern sense so we hit the beats,” he explained. “Its a fun challenge when you start digging. It’s a puzzle piece and once you put it together, it makes sense.”

The songs are modern, so the audience does not have to decipher what is happening, he continued.

“The songs lead to the emotions of the scene,” Hogel said. “You get to a part where you have to sing the song.”

“Twelfth Night,” by the Gas Lamp Teens, will be presented Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m., Sat, Feb. 28, 1 and 7 p.m. and Sun, March 1, 1 p.m. It is performed without intermission. Running time: 90 minutes. An admission fee will be charged.

Glen Ridge students cast: Christine Malonzo, Charlotte Pomerantz, Theo Browning, Ava Murtha, Olivia Murphy, Francesca Peach, Drew Ingle, Alice Rayner, Sofia Porawski, Claire Liotta, Chloé Novoa, Sydney Medlar, Olivia Thomas, Sofia Perez, Benjamin Schaper, Kara Misener. Bloomfield students cast: Ellie Hudon, Willow Hughes, Artemis Gonzalez-Hunte, Aliana Arroyo.

Directors/Choreographers: Steve Hogle and Emily Rozek, Assistant Director: Susan Knight, Musical Director: Steve Zimmerman, Executive Producer: Kate Wilson, Producer: Dana Hudon and Stage Manager, Michael “Mookey” Vincenty.