items tagged with Alyssa Castro

The Playcrafters Barn Theatre's current, holiday-themed family presentation Papa's Angels begins on a note - or rather, a bunch of notes - of incredible sweetness.

As the lights come up on scenic artist Bill Marsoun's lovingly designed playing area, we find ourselves outside a mountain cabin in North Carolina, circa 1935 - a place and time elegantly conveyed through the live, off-stage sounds of a jaunty fiddle solo. After a few beats, the musician walks into view. And if, like me, you don't peruse the cast biographies before the show starts, you're likely in for a shock, as the gifted fiddler - Morgan Williams - doesn't appear to be a day over 12.

Sydney Crumbleholme, a freshman at Moline High School, plays the title character in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's current Anne of Green Gables, and I doubt there has been a better, more inspiring piece of casting on area stages in all of 2008.