Courtesy of The Purcellville Gazette

TOM SAWYER BACK HOME, IN HILLSBORO

Review by David Sackrider

Published March 16, 2007

If you rely upon what your high school English teacher told you about Tom Sawyer, or even if you had read the book, you could be completely unaware that Tom Sawyer's adventures were of the musical variety.  Aurora Studio has taken on the task of correcting that shortcoming in your education.

Dolly Stevens and Tom Sweitzer, two of our local Loudoun valley neighbors, wrote the very impressive "Treasures: The Musical Adventures of Tom Sawyer" which was first performed at the Old Stone School in Hillsboro in 1996.  Its return to that stage this past weekend deserved the warm audience response it received.

The familiar elements of Tom's story - the fence painting, mischief making, cave exploring, crime witnessing, and oath swearing - are all in the Stevens-Sweitzer book.  Without taking away any crucial twists or turns in the story they have added ten original songs, among them several gems. 

Of course we would not recognize these gems for what they are without the solid performances of director Millie Juraschek's cast.  The two young stars, Garertt Milich as Tom and Maddy Curtis as Becky Thatcher, the most recent girl of his dreams, are totally engaging on stage.  Juraschek and musical director Diane El-Shafey have drawn from these two young people exceptional performances, particularly in their duet "I Really Like Him/Her."

The adult members of the cast made a good showing for themselves as well.  A particularly special treat was Laura Stroup as Aunt Polly tenderly singing to her sleeping rascal, "Sleep away, forget the day, and dream" - from a song ("Dream") that would be very much at home on a Broadway stage.  Christopher Saunders sheds a number of years, but none of his talent or stage experience, to play Tom's free roaming pal Huckleberry Finn.  Saunders joins Milich singing "Everything is a Treasures" through which the two boys take a tentative step toward adulthood even though it means not taking another step down the runaways' path.

The chorus performs very well whether in an upbeat number like "A Beautiful Day," or an old hymn such as "Amazing Grace."  With the exception of one very intentional comical instance the children of the chorus showed the signs of excellent instruction.  As she had in Cinderella last year, El-Shafey achieved an enjoyable balance between the adult and children's voices. 

In creating the costumes for this large cast Meredith McMath and her team must have cornered the market on gingham. The costumes clearly evoke the pre-Civil War era.  The sets, far simpler than in Aurora's recent "The Odd Couple" and "The Arms and the Highlander," allow the stage hands to keep the show moving quickly - a remarkable feat on the Old Stone School's cramped stage.

Fortunately we still have two more weekends to enjoy this delightful local creation.  Performances continue through March 25, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm.  For more details go to www.aurorastudiotheatre.org.