A New Twist On Cinderella
The Waterford Standard, Volume III, Issue 4 - 1/23/03 Renee' A. Hughes, Reporter/Deborah Beckwith, Photographer
	After growing up backstage, acting lost its charm for East Lyme resident Lee Rummel when he entered adulthood.  His mother, Brenda Kerr, grew up in New London and became a driving force behind community theater in the 1950s, but Rummel did not follow in her footsteps.  His attitude toward theater changed, however, when he had children of his own.  Rummel, with the help of his wife, Liz, re-entered the acting arena last spring by starting a home school theater group, a branch of a proposed non-profit youth theater organization called the Brenda Kerr Theater, designed for all children of any age group.  The project, still in its infancy, would be similar to ones created in Hartford and for Middlesex County but based in southeastern Connecticut.
Children attending the home school theater group come from areas including Waterford, East Lyme, Groton, Montville and Ledyard. Over ten weeks for two and a half hours on Tuesdays, youngsters ages 12 to 16 take parts and rehearse a play, which, at the end of each session, is performed at the Spirit of Broadway Theater in Norwich.
Recently, the acting group finished a play called The Liberated Cinderella. According to actor Logan Rummel, Liz's son, the play is not about the Cinderella, who despite being abused by her stepsisters and stepmother, is able to win the love of the handsome prince.  "It is not exactly your Cinderella fairy tale."  Logan said.
The updated story takes place against the background of the disco era and Logan, who plays Prince Pimple, decked out in high waters, big suspenders and medallions, is not the love of Cinderella's life.  In fact, his father, the King of Swing, captures Cinderella's heart and Prince Pimple marries her stepsister.  "Everyone in the show except for Cinderella this that the prince is perfect," Logan said.  According to Liz, the characters of the prince and king were inspired by Saturday Night Live's "two wide and crazy guys" play by actors Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin.  Logan, who enjoyed playing his unique character, said the hardest part of his role was memorizing his lines.
The main character, played by actress Amy Lewis, breaks the sweet Cinderella mold portraying a rebellious character, who is outspoken and sarcastic.  The night of the big ball at Papa Bears Disco, a Mafia movie-type Godfather visits Cinderella instead of a fairy Godmother.  At the disco dance, Sarah Mader, a Waterford resident, plays the girlfriend of Wolf, who earlier tries to hit on Cinderella and the stepmother.
"It is a very, very funny play," Liz said.  "There are a lot of funy parts with the right sense of humor."
In addition to performing Cinderella, the acting group presented the comedy Once Upon a Beginning, where Logan played the biblical character Adam.  In the same play, Lewis acted the part of Noah's wife.  They have also performed little skits where Logan remembers playing a boy in the Emperor's New Clothes and Lewis tries out being a godmother in the story of the Frog Prince.  Logan said, "We always have a blast in public."
The group has also explored other aspects of acting by dealing with more serious topics through monologues.  They dealt with works such as the Diary of Anne Frank  and portrayed tortured characters such as a boy whose abusive father dies.  "it is very intense to see these kids do these serious monologues," Liz said.  The theater group helps the actors who are shy at the beginning to come out of their shell.  "The kids have such a good time," she said.
	Logan has even taken the skills he has learned from the home school theater group and applied them to other plays.  Currently he is performing in the play Oliver at the Spirit of Broadway Theater.  Besides catering to the 12 to 16 year old age group, Liz said that the home school theater program also has an acting group for younger children. According to Liz Rummel, who home schools her three children Logan, Audrey and their five-year-old Claire, not many people really understand the concept ofhome schooling.  "I have been doing it for five years when Logan was going into fourth grade and Audrey into first grade," she said. "At first, I was very nervous, but I studied and researched for two years."  She discovered that there is a huge group of local children home schooled and obtained significant help.
Michelle Benoit of East Lyme, who teaches her daughter Abby, 6, said there are many curriculums available for parents and event attended a conference.  Also, on a field trip for home school children, more than 42 youngsters attended.
One of the advantages of educating her children at home, according to Rummel, is the ability to shape subjects so they reflect the children's interest.  "When they become this age, they are more open to what they want to do," she said.
For example, Logan loves the theater program. According to Rummel, is she gives him the book A Tale of Two Cities to read he is not enthused, but he will finish the play script of the story in record time.  "For Audrey, it is anything that has to do with animals," she said.
For Benoit, helping her child to learn and explore her interests is very rewarding.  "It is exciting to be a part." she said.  Even though the concept of home school is daunting, she thinks that in many ways it is just as natural as teaching a child in the early stages of his or her life.
When a person also teaches to that child's learning level, they do not move on until their child understands the concept.  According to Benoit, it reminds her of a Farside cartoon where a child is sitting in the middle of the room by himself and his mother asks for volunteers to give their oral report.  Former Waterford resident Susan Roy, who home schools Sam, 10, and Max, 6, had her children in the public school system, but she was not satisfied with the education they were receiving.  One of the concerns regarding home schooling is that removing children from the school environment could negatively affect their socialization skills.  Roy said her children receive the necessary interaction with other children through extracurricular activities such as karate.  Also, she said she is not sure that a group of student peers offers the best role model for her children.  "There are a couple ways to look at it.  Who do you want to be a major influence on their life?" she said.
Just like in dealing with the public school system, home school parents have their own set of problems.  "We have our good days and our bad days," Rummel said.  Sometimes she feels she is not making progress, but incidents like when she asked her husband if they should go to the pool today by spelling the word pool and Claire understood makes it worthwhile.
The children themselves also have their own opinion of home schooling.  Abby said she enjoys it. "I like it.  I get breaks."
Youngsters interested in the home school theater, organizations wishing to have the group put on a performance and those interested in the Brenda Kerr Theater project are invited to call the Rummels at 437-8246 for more information.
Click here BACK TO PRESS PAGE to return to the main Press Page