July 24, 2014

Eric Jones and Hugh Copeland knew they couldn’t go wrong with the idea: a blowout tribute to Michael Jackson.

A smaller show the performer and artistic director of The Hurrah Players produced in 2010 was a huge success. So they added more dancers, bigger sets, better lighting and props for this weekend’s tribute to the late King of Pop.

The trickiest aspect of creating “The Magic and Music of Michael,” though, is turning EJ – Eric’s nickname – into MJ.

It has taken hours of dissecting MJ’s dance moves, voice and various nuances on the part of the 25-year-old Jones, and the steady hand of makeup artist Raymond Dimaano.

October 13, 2013

Last week, Schuyler Midgett was leading a chorus line of rats in a little soft shoe.

It was during a rehearsal for “Shrek the Musical,” a show opening today with the Hurrah Players – her old stomping grounds.

After two years away from her friends at the family theater, Midgett was singing, tapping and acting like an old pro. She looked slim, fit and confident in her black leggings and leotard, and bore a short and sassy haircut.

That’s what performing in a national tour of “Shrek” can do for you.

October 13, 2011

Sporting stylish red wedge sandals and a bright blue wrap dress adorned with a blingy "55" pin - a shout-out to the Enterprise, the carrier where her husband is based - the petite woman strolled into rehearsal, carting a laundry basket filled with costume parts, her broom prop and a hot-pink makeup case.

She took off her stylish eyeglasses, settled into a chair facing a mirrored wall and waited for makeup artist Raymond Dimaano, 21, to work his magic.