Emma Degerstedt’s experience playing Annie in the...
Emma Degerstedt’s experience playing Annie in the Stepping Stone
Players musical is the type most actresses can only dream about. She
admires her director and is charmed by her co-stars.
Michael Le Beau plays Daddy Warbucks in the community theater
production opening this weekend at Hoover High School’s Auditorium.
“He’s funny,” Emma said. “We had a photo shoot of both of us. I
was supposed to have a serious face, but he kept doing poses and
making funny faces and made me laugh. Then we got serious and
finished the photo shoot.”
A good working rapport is especially important on stage, she said,
when portraying father and daughter.
“When you hug the person, it kind of shows when your acting that
you don’t like somebody,” she said.
Emma, a sixth-grader at Marine View Middle School in Huntington
Beach, said she also loves working with the three dogs in the play,
especially Sandy.
“She really likes me, so that’s a good thing,” she said.
Director Susan Kussman has been a great teacher for the budding
actress, Emma said.
“She taught me a lot of new things. One thing she told me that
sticks in my head is that instead of acting a part, we have to think
about it. I have to listen to what Daddy Warbucks is talking about as
if I’m hearing it for the first time, so it shows in my face. It
works really good,” she said.
Emma has high hopes of going into acting professionally. She is
auditioning for commercials and plans to go to a college in New York
to take acting and dancing.
“I want to make it on Broadway, and be a dance teacher because I
also love to dance. I’ve two careers in mind,” she said.
During a trip to New York with her parent, they saw the Broadway
production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”
“I really want to play Millie someday or be in ‘Chicago’ and play
Roxie Hart. I like the songs in it,” she said.
Show times for “Annie” are 7 tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Performances continue Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 21
at Hoover High School Auditorium, 651 Glenwood Road in Glendale.
Matinee performances on Sept. 14 and 21 will be interpreted in
American Sign Language. Tickets are $10. Group rates are available.
For ticket information, e-mail info@steppingstoneplayers.com, call
246-8822, or visit online at www.steppingstoneplayers.com.
SPECIAL EVENTS
GRANDPARENTS HONORED AT CONCERT
Grandparents and their grandchildren will be celebrated when
Arthur B. Rubinstein conducts the Symphony in the Glen Orchestra in a
free concert Sunday, National Grandparents Day, at Griffith Park.
A pre-concert activity, a Junior and Senior Maestro Workshop, will
be from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Grandparents and grandchildren will receive
free chopstick batons and workbooks and learn the basics of
conducting an orchestra.
Six pairs of participants will be chosen by drawing to conduct the
orchestra during the concert, which is from 3 to 5 p.m. Performance
pieces include music by Grainger, Ginastera, Kodaly and others.
“What makes this performance special is we will play a song that
is the official song of the holiday, based on a Mozart aria “La Ci
Darem La Mano” which means “Your hand in mine, dear,” Rubinstein
said. “I wrote lyrics for it and the Grandparents Day Council adopted
this as the official song.”
The maestro also composed the scores for such films as “WarGames,”
“Stakeout” and “Lost in America.” He won an Emmy for the theme for
the TV series “Scarecrow and Mrs. King.”
The orchestra plays near merry-go-round, 4790 Crystal Springs
Drive. Spectators can follow the signs on entry into the park. Free
parking and shuttle service to the site are available.
POPS ORCHESTRA SALUTES THE STARS
The Pasadena Pops Orchestra and Music Director Rachael Worby will
present a musical space odyssey titled “Beyond The Stars” at 7:30
tonight at Descanso Gardens.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is providing images from the Hubble
Telescope to be shown along with the music from Holst’s “The Planets”
as well as Mozart’s “Jupiter” and others.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for picnickers. Tickets range from $19 to
$61 at the door. Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La
Canada Flintridge.
ART SHOW MIXES ANIMALS AND ANIMATION
Animation and animals combine in the exhibit opening today at
White’s Gallery in Montrose.
“Animalia” is the title for the show featuring works of three
artists, James Worthy, Jean Paul Orpinas and Romy Muirhead.
Worthy, who draws for Nickelodeon, shows his animal character
pencil illustrations. Orpinas, who works for Disney Studios, exhibits
sketches of animals from the Los Angeles Zoo. Muirhead brings her
paintings of giraffes.
An artists’ reception is from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday. Gallery hours
are 1 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays,
9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. The exhibit
continues through Sept. 13. The gallery is at 2414 Honolulu Ave.,
Montrose. For more information, call 957-4071.
ON STAGE
‘DAMN YANKEES’ ARE UP TO BAT
“Damn Yankees” is continuing this weekend at Glendale Centre
Theatre.
Written by Abbot, Wallop, Adler and Ross, the musical is about one
fan’s attempt to save his favorite baseball team. It has entertained
numerous generations since it first premiered on Broadway. The run
continues through Oct. 11. Tickets range from $14 to $17.
For the children, “Jack and the Beanstalk” by Byron Simpson
continues at 11 a.m. Saturdays through Nov. 15. Tickets are $12 and
$10 for children.
For reservations, call 244-8481. Glendale Centre Theatre is at 324
N. Orange St., Glendale.
‘RAPUNZEL’ ENDS AT THE FALCON THEATRE
“Rapunzel,” written by Lori Marshall and directed by Joseph Leo
Bwarie, is ending its run at The Falcon Theatre in Burbank.
Based on the classic fairy tale of love and deception by the
Brothers Grimm, Rapunzel and friends look high and low for happiness
in a magical forest, only to find that it was right in front of them
all along.
Performances are 1 and 3 p.m. today and 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets
are $10. The Falcon is at 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. For
reservations, call 955-8101.
* If you have press releases for the 48 Hours column, please call
JOYCE RUDOLPH at 637-3241 or e-mail joyce.rudolph@latimes.com or fax
them to 241-1975.