The Journal News - 10/15/06
BABES ON BROADWAY
Random Farms Kids' Theater floods New York stages with talent
By PETER D. KRAMER
Anya Wallach started Random Farms Kids' Theater in her neighborhood's clubhouse in Chappaqua 11 years ago, gathering children and putting on shows. Now, Random Farms kids are taking Broadway by storm. Ten young actors appear in five shows this fall: "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas The Musical," "Mary Poppins," "Les Miserables," "Annie" and "Spring Awakening."
Cast in "The Grinch": RFKT alums Libbie Jacobson from Tarrytown, Sky Jarrett from Chappaqua, Brianna Gentilella of Pleasantville, Danielle Freid from Upper Saddle River, N.J. and Nicole Bocchi from Queens. Bocchi plays Cindy-Lou Who.
In "Mary Poppins," the role of Jane Banks will alternate among three young actresses, two of whom studied under Wallach: Kathryn Faughnan of Pleasantville and Delaney Moro of Pomona.
This time last year, Moro was landing a part in "Cinderella" at Random Farms, playing one of the wicked stepsisters.
One of her Cinderellas is coming to Broadway, too: Jennifer Damiano will be in the ensemble and understudy one of the lead characters in Duncan Sheik's "Spring Awakening." Damiano also played Dorothy in the Random Farms production of "The Wizard of Oz."
The "other Dorothy" in that production was Yorktown's Marissa O'Donnell, who plays the title role in the 30th anniversary national tour of "Annie," which comes to The Theater at Madison Square Garden from Dec. 6-30.
The tenth, and smallest Random Farms kid to hit Broadway this fall is Kylie Goldstein, of Montebello, who'll play Young Cosette in the revival of "Les Miserables." (Ali Ewoldt, of Pleasantville, plays the grown-up Cosette. Read her behind-the-scenes blog at www.lesmiz.lohudblogs.com.)
Is there something in the water at Random Farms?
Nope, says Wallach. She attributes the success to a strong program, talented, energetic kids and a schedule that puts the family first.
"(It's a) short but intense time commitment - we rehearse for three weeks and then perform - so kids who are performing professionally are still able to participate," she says. "We don't tie them up for a long time."
In rehearsal, Wallach's approach is to teach actors, dancers and singers by letting them act, dance and sing. She schedules workshops and mainstage productions year round, keeping tuition low by suburban standards - $225 for a mainstage production.
This year's Broadway crop has something special, she says.
"All these kids are triple threats," Wallach says. "But I think what sets them apart is a sparkle in their personality. It's an energy. You're drawn to them. They're magnetic."
Wallach isn't sitting idly by waiting for those opening nights: She has a show to cast.
Today, she begins auditions for "High School Musical," a stage version of the wildly popular Disney telemovie. Wallach had planned two auditions for the February production, but demand has forced her to add a third day of tryouts.
"We've never seen such a turnout for auditions," she says. "I'm guessing we'll have 250 to 300. Which makes it an event unto itself." She's planning two high-school and two middle-school casts.
It's not uncommon for families to drive down from Newburgh or up from Queens for rehearsals in Chappaqua and performances at the Tarrytown Music Hall, where Random Farms is the resident children's theater program.
But Wallach is clear about one thing: Not everyone is going to make it to Broadway.
"There's only so far you can take somebody. That gift of acting or that sparkle in the personality can be developed, but it can't always be learned. Sometimes it appears right away, sometimes it never appears, sometimes it happens slowly. It's a beautiful process to watch; I've seen all three happen."
"We try to emphasize having a good time, because most kids aren't going to do this professionally."
They’re Young, but acting vets
Here’s a look at the 10 Random Farms alumni appearing on Broadway this fall:
Sky Jarrett, of Chappaqua, played Tiny Tim to F. Murray Abraham’s Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” at Madison Square Garden in 2002.
Jarrett and Random Farms go back to when his sister, Bonnie, began taking classes with Wallach. Soon, at 4, Sky was begging to get on stage and Wallach cast him as one of the urchins in “Oliver!”
Now 13, the Robert E. Bell Middle School seventh-grader is one of those Grinch-bothering denizens of Whoville in “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical.”
Wallach calls Jarrett’s voice “angelic, like out of a boy choir. He’s very gifted, musically. When he was 5, he was in one of the workshops and we had him sing ‘Where Is Love?’ from ‘Oliver!’ It was a duet with Kathryn Faughnan, who was also 5.
“It was heart-breakingly adorable. At 5 years old, to be able to get up on stage is a huge triumph. These two kids were singing on pitch and doing a duet with taped accompaniment, so you knew there was something special there with both of them.”
Kathryn Faughnan, 12, is now a seventh-grader at Pleasantville Middle School. She’ll play Jane Banks in “Mary Poppins.”
She found out she got the part while vacationing on the Jersey Shore.
“I came back from the beach and my mom was holding a spoonful of sugar and she said, ‘Jane, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,’” Faughnan says.
“I covered my mouth, then my grandma started to cry and I started to cry and my dad started to cry,” she says.
Like the other student-actors, she’s getting assignments from school and keeping up with her work. Sometimes the day starts with school’ sometimes schoolwork is fit in later in the day.
She has been at RFKT for seven years, and played Gretel in “Hansel and Gretel” and Alice in “Alice In Wonderland.”
“On stage,” Wallach says, Faughnan is “very engaging and very believable.”
Another Pleasantville Middle Schooler, Brianna Gentilella, 11, come to “The Grinch” on Broadway by way of the “today” show, where she won the on-air contest “Are You A Who?”
Three judges picked her from six finalists in the national contest. She’s in the Little Who ensemble.
“When we did ‘Grease,’” Wallach says, “I remember telling her mom, ‘She needs to be in a Broadway show. If she can’t be in one, they need to write one for her.’”
The sixth-grader’s school roles have included Violet Beauregard in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the Queen of Hearts in “Alice in Wonderland.”
When she needed to get her hair cut to make the “Grinch” wig fit better, she donated the trimmings to the Locks of Love program that provides wigs to sick children.
Also playing Jane Banks in “Mary Poppins” is Delaney Moro, whom Wallach calls “a little spitfire.” The 11-year-old Pomona girl, a student at Saddle River Day School, was in the “Annie” national tour.
Moro learned a valuable theater experience at Random Farms: handling autograph-seekers.
“After the show, we went out and gave kids autographs,” she says. “I liked how we were still in our costumes, so the kids wouldn’t forget who we are.
“When Jennifer Damiano came out – she was my Cinderella – all of the little girls just went right over to her.”
Moro says she’s most excited to be wearing a wig made just for her and to be on the other side of the footlights.
“It’s a really cool experience,” Moro says. “When I see a Broadway show, I always wonder what it must be like for those people. Now, I get to feel that.”
Another resident of Whoville, Danielle Freid, “came to me already a pro, just off the national tour of ‘Annie,’” Wallach recalls.
Freid, 12, plays Belle Who, and understudies Betty-Lou Who. She’s a seventh=grader at Emil A. Cavallini Middle School in Upper Saddle River, N.J.
“The costumes are all great and they’re all true to the book,” Freid says. “They’re mostly using red, white and black, which is what the book used.
“It’s amazing to be part of this. I was in the ‘Annie’ national tour, but this is my first time on Broadway.”
The tour meant 50 cities over four months, when she was 6. Then she did “Annie” at Random Farms, playing the same part, Molly.
Her biggest Broadway surprise, so far: “You never realize how much work they put into everything on Broadway, even into one little prop.”
Nicole Bocchi, 10, goes to P.S. 178 in Queens and remembers playing evil orphanage matron Miss Hannigan in “Annie” at Random Farms.
“She was tiny as a peanut, with this huge string of pearls, a huge voice and this mop of wig hair,” Wallach says. “I will never forget her flouncing around, swinging her pearls and strangling that doll.”
Taking a break after “Grinch” rehearsal, Bocchi, still as tiny as a peanut, is a seasoned vet. “It’s a lot of work, but I wanted this job, I went for it and now I’ve got to work for it,” she says.
“Everybody has their own Who-ish thing and has to learn to walk like a Who,” she says, demonstrating a penguin-like walk.
“I cannot wait till it opens. I’m very excited because my half-birthday is Nov. 7, the day before we open.
Being in “The Grinch” is a bit like coming home for Libbie Jacobson. It’s not that she’s a Who; she’s just a kid from Tarrytown. But the last time she was on Broadway was in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” in the same theater, the Hilton on 42nd, when she played a “sewer child.”
Coming back to the Hilton for “Grinch” rehearsals was strange, she says, because she was looking around for the “Chitty” costumes that used to hang in the hall.
The tryouts for “Grinch” included an eight-hour dance audition that was “quite painful, because my jazz shoes were too small that day and I didn’t realize it until about the third hour.”
“By the end of the day, I had this horrible blister and my feet were a little misshapen,” Jacobson says with a laugh.
The 14-year-old ninth-grader goes to the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan, majoring in musical theater.
She gushes about how she’ll look on stage: “My costume looks like a frilly, pink pear. It has a giant bulge out by my hips. It’s a lot of fun. And I have these crazy tights and these kooky little shoes with twirly points.”
Wallach recalls the “amazing comic flair” Jacobson demonstrated as Mrs. Mayor in “Seussical,” last summer’s mainstage production.
For the past year, the sun ahs been coming out eight times a week for Yorktown’s Marissa O’Donnell, the title character in the national tour of “Annie.”
Soon, it’ll come out over the Theater at Madison Square Garden.
“When we were trying to cast ‘Annie’” at RFKT, Wallach says, “we had a million little girls, all of whom could sing and dance. So how do you pick Annie?
“We came up with the ‘adoptability factor.’ The audience has to want to take her home. Marissa has the ultimate adoptability quality. She’s so honest on stage, you root for her. You want to scoop her up in your pocketbook and take her home with you.”
O’Donnell, reached at a tour stop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recalls how far her director would go to make great theater.
When she was Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” O’Donnell says the dog playing Toto was too big for her to carry.
“So Anya said we could use her dog, Phyllis, a Maltese teacup. I loved her and she would come to me on stage. That, I thought, was a great idea.
“Anya was also thinking about dying her do black, for the part, but then we figured out that that wouldn’t be good for the dog, so we didn’t do it.”
Now, O’Donnell is dealing with two dogs in “Annie” – Lola, who plays Sandy, and Lola’s understudy, Mikey.
Last year, Kylie Goldstein, was a singing mouse in “Cinderella” at Random Farms. This year, she’s Young Cosette in the revival of “Les Miserables.”
The 8-year-old from Montebello is a third-grader at Viola Elementary School in Suffern.
She explains her role in “Les Miz”: “We’re at a very dirty house and Cosette is like a maid of Madame Thernardier. Madame Thernardier is really mean to Cosette and she lives there her whole life. Then Jean Valjean comes and takes Cosette and she becomes a little successful.”
Goldstein will have the Broadway stage to herself, singing “Castle on a Cloud.”
“I’ve been waiting for this happen,” says the 8-year-old actress.
Jennifer Damiano, 15, of White Plains, has been with Random Farms for five years.
“She came through the ranks, doing ensemble roles, lead roles, then Off-Broadway,” says Wallach. “So Broadway was the next natural step for her.”
Wallach calls Damiano, who played Cinderella at RFKT last winter, “an extremely mature performer. At 15, she’s performing at the level of a college kid, or someone in their 20s. She needed this challenge.”
Cast as a member of the ensemble and as an understudy in “Spring Awakening” this fall, Damiano will be ina play that contains graphic and possibly disturbing images.
Wallach isn’t worried. “Doing stuff like this is a personal decision for the family and the kid, deciding if the material’s appropriate.
“Jennifer had seen it several times when it was Off-Broadway. My feeling is if she’s comfortable with it and her parents are comfortable with it, then great. Good luck. Have fun. I’ll be there on Opening Night.”
The Journal News - 1/12/2002
Theater Group Grows Talent
Random farm's child actors have risen to bigger roles
By ELLEN BEST
Special to the Journal News
CHAPPAQUA - When Anya Wallach was 16, a dozen neighborhood children auditioned for her first show in the basement of her home in the Random Farms section of Chappaqua. Six years later, her auditions attracted so many hopefuls that she had to rent space at the Westchester Conservatory of Music in White Plains
So, on a recent Saturday, Wallach, founder and director of the Random Farms Kids Theater, saw 200 girls under 4-foot-10 sing, dance and read lines for an upcoming production of "Annie."
The reason so many child actors want to be part of a Random Farms play is that Wallach has sent an unusual number of young performers on to bigger stages around the county and to television, film and Broadway. Some have started their own theater groups while still in grade school, with her blessings and advice. In Westchester, Random Farms stands alone as a professional yet child-friendly theater group that also uses adults.
Wallach, who now lives in Manhattan and has been acting since childhood, is very generous with her personal connections to people in "the business." Agents she invites often discover talent at auditions and performances. That gives Random Farms a unique rung on the ladder of children's theater in the New York City area.
Lisa Pitliuk of Echo Entertainment in New Jersey was on the casting panel at this month's auditions.
"In two days, I've seen terrific, raw, unrepresented talent," she said. "The quality keeps improving at RFKT. It's a tribute to Anya.
Wallach, now 22 and recently graduated from New York University with a music education major, has been organizing these shows while attending college and pursuing her own acting career. The focus stays on children, she said, by doing children's plays.
For the "Annie" auditions, 30 children and a dozen teens and adults will be cast. Vying for those parts were people from as far away as Philadelphia and Delaware, as well as New York City, New Jersey and Westchester and Putnam counties.
It was a melting pot of Annie hopefuls - professional starlets, a local 5-year-old with no stage experience who clung to her mother's skirt, and others whose experience came from school plays, camp musicals or just practicing in front of their mirrors.
Wallach tries to make everyone feel special. She told of a girl who had auditioned earlier in the day, unable to pick up simple dance steps. Wallach said the girl kept trying and had unbelievable determination.
"I think she may have had some disabilities. We gave her a callback, and I offered to give her some extra coaching beforehand."
Although she is supportive of each individual, Wallach is quick to admit that, in the end, she picks the most talented children for the parts. But attitude both in the children and their parents is also a consideration.
"One girl at the audition was especially encouraging to the younger girls in her audition group. Besides having talent, we felt that she would be an asset to the cast," Wallach said. "One of the mothers was so pushy and abusive that we would not consider her daughter for a part."
Last year, Pitliuk, the New Jersey agent, discovered 11-year-old Ben Moss of Katonah at the Random Farms audition. Ben will appear in the soon-to-be-released feature film "Far From Heaven," starring Dennis Quaid. "I can't say enough about Anya and how passionate she is about children's theater," said Brian Moss, Ben's father.
After participating in two workshops and one mainstage production, Christian Valiando, 11, of Redding Conn., met Wallach's agent. The agent has since booked Christian in two Broadway productions "A Christmas Carol" and "Annie Get Your Gun" and he also will be in Random Farms "Annie."
Other professional child actors also want to stay connected to Wallach's group. Kristin Klabunde, 10, of New York City will soon play the part of Cosette in "Les Miserables" on Broadway. She was in the Broadway National Tour of "Annie" and has been on "Saturday Night Live," "Late Show With David Letterman," soap operas and numerous commercials. But still she wants to be in "Annie."
Rehearsals for "Annie" during the summer will be held at night, so children such as Kristin can still go to auditions and classes, or fulfill other commitments during the day.
The auditions are by appointment in small groups, and callbacks are announced right afterward. Children are involved in almost every aspect of production alongside professional lighting technicians, set and costume designers, and hair and makeup artists. Last year, a 9-year-old worked the curtains.
Bonne Brook, a 14-year-old assistant director, was one of the original neighborhood children who showed up in Wallach's basement for the first Random Farms production. She feels that the difference between Random Farms and other theater groups is "the way the kids smile and the way the group comes together."
"It's a perfect balance between kids and adults," Bonnie said. "Anya treats kids like kids, not expecting them to got o bed at 1 in the morning. Sometimes, as assistant director, I end up screaming. Anya never loses it, never shows her frustration, is always patient.
Wallach said, "What I learned in college changed my perspective completely that there are so many ways to make kids feel good about themselves. It's not worth it to hurt their feelings, to make them cry because they forgot their entrance on stage. Who am I to do that? They will forget the show, their dance, and how many tickets were sold. But they will never forget their experience.
"Annie," complete with live orchestra, will talk place at the Tarrytown Music Hall on Aug. 2, 3 and 4.
Random Farms Kids Theater, a nonprofit organization, charges a $125 registration fee for those who are cast in audition-only productions. [There is no fee for adults.] "Alice In Wonderland" will be offered as a workshop from June 24 to July 6 in Chappaqua and has open enrollment. For more information, call 212-217-6134 or visit www.rfkt.org.
The Journal News - 1/12/2002
Putnam Boy Plays Role In DeNiro Film
Actor, 7, got his start in productions at Random Farms
By ELLEN BEST
Special to the Journal News
CHAPPAQUA - Christopher Jumper, 7, of Putnam Valley got his first taste of the stage at the Random Farms Kids Theater when he was 5.
Two years later, he has made the jump to the silver screen and will appear as young Robert DeNiro in the movie "City by the Sea," due to be released this year.
The movie was supposed to be released in the fall, but because of its subject the life of a police officer the release date was delayed after the World Trade Center attacks.
Trish Jumper, Christopher's mother, said his experience with Random Farms taught her son how to take direction a key factor in his being able to audition for the DeNiro movie.
Christopher's interest in performing was evident at a young age. Christopher's sisters, Alexandra, 11, and Samantha, 9, are also professional actors and Random Farms players.
"Since the age of 2, he was always singing, and saw his older sisters performing. At age 2, I couldn't pull him away from their rehearsals. He'd sit there for hours, enthralled, until 10:30 at night," his mother said. "When he got a part in Random Farms Theater's "Newsies" last summer, his second production, you tell he was into it. He was patient. He listened and didn't run around like a typical 6-year-old.
"And he was on stage from beginning to end."
The day before the show opened last summer, Christopher got injured while playing outside and had to get stitches under one of his eyes. He went to the dress rehearsal that night anyway, and instead of resting and watching, he got on stage and did his part.
He found being on the set with DeNiro less taxing.
"I got to ride on a carousel and eat cotton candy," he said.
The Journal News - 8/9/99
Young Cast of 'Oliver!' Breaks Expectations
BY Lori Sacahre
Special to The Journal News
It's not what you'd expect of just a children's group," remarked 10-year-old Serena Pomerantz of Greensburgh at a recent rehearsal of the Random Farms Kids production of "Oliver!" in which she shares the title role with Alexandra Jumper of Putnam Valley.
And the show's director, Anya Wallach, is not what you'd expect of a 20-year-old.
Random Farms Kids Theater, in its fifth year, started with 13 neighborhood youngsters in the clubhouse of the Random Farms development in Chappaqua. Now, a cast of 45 ranging in age from 5-17 from all over Westchester combines first-time actors with Broadway and regional veterans.
"They all share an eagerness to perform," said Wallach.
Wallach has been acting professionally since she was 12.
"One day I said, 'Gosh, it would be fun to run a theater group,'" she said.
Sitting in her kitchen the day before rehearsals begin, Wallach can instantly locate a resume of one of hundreds of children she works with from her meticulous files.
"She is organized beyond her years," said Donna Greene, Pomerantz's mother. "The children really like her."
"Anya's my role models," said Pomerantz.
Wallach generally casts youngsters in all roles including adult parts.
"When I was that age, I was so gung-ho and I wished I had some sort of venue such as this, whether it was professional or not," she said. "Just the opportunity to perform."
She has performed in many regional and Manhanttan productions, including the Westchester Broadway Theatre, and has walk-ons in several current movies.
At last month's rehearsal, the actors were belting out "Consider Yourself," complete with English accents, in the Wallach's unfinished basement.
"Anya always makes you fee at home," said Victoria Riehl of Mahopac, 12, as if inspired by Lionel Bart's lyrics.
Riehl appears in the current movie, "The Thomas Crown Affair."
"Anya makes you feel like a star, even if you're not," said Alexandra Simon of Chappaqua, 8.
The only adult in the show is Wallach's neighbor, Art Salzfass, a gook publisher who has never acted. He plays Fagin.
"He exudes a theatrical quality," Wallach said. "He is one of my discoveries."
So how does he like working with all those kids?
"They are really focused and a lot of fun," Salzfass said. "Not a bunch of stage kids."
"Every child has the potential to do really amazing stuff, it's a matter of giving them a chance," Wallach said with her trademark smile.
Those who are not selected for the main show can participate in workshops, which also culminate in a performance. She also gives private acting and singing lessons.
Wallach is entering her junior year at New York University as a theater education major. In her spare time, she interns in the children's division of SEM&M, a talent agency.
"I'm not an agent or a manager," she stressed, but she does enjoy helping children make connections.
Some actors in Wallach's shows have gone on to Broadway and movies.
"I have an eye for these things," she said.
Wallach says that a high point in the company's history came last year, when an agent who had seen its production of "Pete's Dragon" hired one of the actors, Christian Valiando, as Tiny Tim in "A Christmas Carol" at Madison Square Garden.
"Once he got into a Broadway play, the agents started taking me more seriously," Wallach said.
Chappaqua resident Carol Mendelson, whose daughter Sophie, 7, has been acting with Wallach for three years, had praise for the program.
"They get to see the full spectrum of how a show goes on," she said. "It's a great thing she does."
WHERE AND WHEN TO SEE THE PLAY
"Oliver!" will be presented at the North Castle Library Theater in Armonk on Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.
All tickets are $10. To reserve tickets, call 944-8057.
A compact disc of the cast's sound track will be available at the show.
