Man grants daughter’s hole 12 months want, cash $20,000 production of Tiny Girls musical

When Mark Cerisano’s 18-calendar year-old daughter Julia reported she needed to place on a musical, he set out to make it happen — even if it ends up costing him countless numbers of bucks.

Julia Cerisano is on a hole yr adhering to her graduation from Three Oaks Senior Large Faculty in 2022, where she participated in significant faculty productions including Heathers.

Her father mentioned he could not say no to her request to put on a generation, specified his qualifications in tunes. He has completed anything from instructing music to playing trumpet on cruise ships to directing exhibits to starting off a piano-tuning company.

The $20,000 creation, debuting this month, is dependent on Louisa May Alcott’s typical story Very little Females, about 4 sisters growing up in the U.S. through the Civil War.

Julia will play a lead purpose of Jo March.

Her father formed a new non-financial gain theatre team for the present called 8th Avenue Players, and is hoping to split even from box office environment revenue.

“If we never split even, then I will have to pay back for it,” he claimed. 

Cerisano also roped in his son to help with the production as just one of many volunteers.

He reported it has turned into an emotional working experience of group energy and spouse and children bonding.

“I’m just wanting at her and considering, you know, ‘I cannot think she’s my daughter, she’s so proficient,'” he mentioned. “And I truly feel that way for a great deal of the actors.

“I am going to just be stopping and hunting at them and they are, like, escalating so much.”

‘The significantly less operate it is and the a lot more exciting it is’

Cerisano mentioned work on the generation began previous drop, right after they secured the musical rights from New music Theatre Global and booked the location for the present — the 290-seat Scott MacAulay Carrying out Arts Centre in Summerside.

Ahead of his present-day business as a piano tuner on P.E.I., which he’s been undertaking for 12 years, Cerisano’s love of songs exposed him to the work associated in assembling tunes productions.

Now, he leads the way as the musical’s producer, director and musical director. He’s even developing the sets for the clearly show.

“I would love to do just just one occupation,” he reported. “You will find a whole lot of people today that are assisting, but nobody’s really using on the responsibility of coming up with and making, like getting all the wooden.”

Cerisano said he did not want the audience to knowledge the show without live music, so he set with each other a are living orchestra that include some musicians from the P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra.

He also many thanks A few Oaks Senior Significant School tunes trainer Krista Bryson for lending percussion devices for the creation.

“We have only had 1 rehearsal with the orchestra and it really is just sounded good,” he mentioned.

“The far more persons that assistance out, the considerably less function it is and the extra pleasurable it is.”

‘Watching the magic’

As opening night time techniques, Cerisano stated the chance of items heading mistaken is what live functionality is all about.

“A lot of times when points go mistaken, the viewers has no strategy, but we do. And it’s kind of, like, a roller coaster journey, you know?” he reported.

“You just never ever know what is actually likely to happen — and when it happens, [it’s] viewing the magic.”

Minor Women: The Broadway Musical will operate Feb. 23-25 at the Scott MacAulay Accomplishing Arts Centre at the College of Piping in Summerside.