Buellton’s First Community Play ‘Annie’ Helps Local Couple Adopt
BUELLTON / SOLVANG, Calif. (KEYT) - The City Of Buellton’s Arts Council is helping a local couple adopt with their first community theatre production, ‘Annie: The Musical.’
The ensemble cast is from several communities in and near the Santa Ynez Valley.
It’s the first performing arts initiative coming from the Buellton Arts Council, opening for only two nights on April 17-18 at the Solvang Festival Theater.
“Tickets are going fast,” says 9-year-old Lily Anne Wolfe, who lives in Buellton and is playing the title character Annie. “You don’t want to wait. You don’t want to wait.”
The company quickly evolved into the Santa Ynez Valley Community Theatre, with cast members from several surrounding communities.
“I really wanted, an intergenerational thing,” says the show’s director, Allison Firey. “So they're learning from community members who have done this, and then they're also gaining the really wonderful opportunity to work with professional actors as well.”
Including an appearance from ‘Yours Truly’ as New York City's famous radio announcer Bert Healy, reminding listeners, “You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile.”
“Allison and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet in 2001,” says Lloyd Alexander-Holt, a professional actor from Missouri who is playing Warbucks. “She reached out when the idea first just kind of came to light, and it was just on the drawing board And of course, we were all in.”
The theme of adoption in the show runs close to the heart for many who are involved.
“It makes sense to me,” says Lily Wolfe. “I had the same problem when I found out that I wasn't with my real parents. But I didn't go on a big adventure, though. I was just figuring out who it was, like, Annie, trying to find out who it was.”
The director, who lives in Buellton and works for the city, has volunteered a portion of the proceeds to a los alamos couple, Nicholas and Cassandra Conforti, who are adopting fraternal twins. “Cassie's sister is in a tough position and found out she was pregnant with fraternal twins. And she asked us to step in and take them.”
The twins are due next month.
“The adoption piece is very special to me as well,” says Fiery. “My oldest is adopted, and, she made everything whole for us.”
Rehearsing at the Solvang Theater and Jonata Middle School’s multipurpose room in Buellton, the cast is putting the final pieces together, overcoming challenges such as this weekend’s weather.
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