Howard Community College

HAPPENINGS and choreographer Rachel Dolan had joined the team, and they sat together for the first time in Howard Community College's Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center as actors brought "Dorian's Closet" to life. "I think the music is very strong," Haase said, following the read-through. "It was amazing to hear it out loud and sung by these actors. I sat there and I cried during one of the numbers." Haase enjoys writing ballads – and there are plenty of them in "Dorian's Closet" – but there are upbeat songs intertwined. While composing the songs, Haase gave characters their own style and melody. "I personally love writing songs where people emote basically, and Dorian does that a lot in the show," he said. "I just like dark storylines – storylines about love and storylines about death are my favorite. And this show has them both." "You're getting a lot of different genres of music," said Antoine. "You'll go from a ballad number into something like disco. Then from disco to something that's almost like pop. Throwing all these different genres of music into one show to tell a fully realized story – that's what's really great about this." "Dorian's Closet" is scheduled to run April 26 to May 14, 2017, in the Studio Theatre at Howard Community College's Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center. For more information about the play, visit repstage.org. HCC Theatre Program Kicks off First Children's Touring Show with "Biggity Bad and the Three Little Pigs" The cafeteria at Manor Woods Elementary School in Ellicott City was filled with laughter on September 16, but it wasn't just the children who were squealing. On the stage before them, three little pigs ran in fear as Biggity – a not-so-bad wolf – chased after them with a turkey buzzard close behind. Manor Woods Elementary was the first school to enjoy the Howard Community College (HCC) Theatre Program's performance of "Biggity Bad and the Three Pigs," written by Edith Weiss. The seven-member cast is performing the production at local elementary schools every Friday, ending November 11. "Touring elementary schools is a good community outreach opportunity for us," says Grace Anastasiadis, managing coordinator of the theatre and dance department, who directed the production. "The cast has been having such a good time, and you can feel that in the show." The production tells the tale of three lazy and mischievous pigs on Farmer Maggie's Farm. Bad intentioned Buzz the buzzard would like to see the pigs come to a tasty demise, so he convinces the lone wolf, Rolfie, to become Biggity Bad Wolf and go after them. But as the children at Manor Woods Elementary soon found out, the wolf wasn't so biggity and bad after all. The best part of the play, for many students, was when a bull chased the wolf around the cafeteria while the wolf screamed in terror. "I liked when the bull was chasing the wolf," said Krish, age 7. "It was really funny, and I liked the bull." MacKenzie, 7, agreed. She also enjoyed seeing the wolf try to be biggity and bad. "I liked when the wolf blew the house down and karate chopped it," she said. "And when he was mean, because it was funny." Adam, 7, liked "when the wolf tried to karate chop the brick house." For 7-year-old Olivia, the music was the best part of the show. "I liked the end when they did the song," she said. "And I liked the bull because he's cute."

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