Academy preparing Siamese twin musical

Tom Titus

Last season, the Academy of Performing Arts at Huntington Beach

High School won every production award in sight with “Gypsy,” a

musical based on real people -- Gypsy Rose Lee and her domineering

stage mother -- and their experiences in vaudeville.

When the academy opens its new season next weekend, the initial

offering will be something quite out of the ordinary, but the theme

is the same -- a musical about two real-life women from the days of

vaudeville who shared an extraordinary relationship. That’s where the

similarity ends, however.

“Side Show” recounts the experiences of sisters Daisy and Violet

who shared a different sort of togetherness. They were Siamese twins,

joined at the hip.

For Tim Nelson, who directed “Gypsy” and is putting “Side Show” on

stage, the sisters’ story is fascinating.

“The sisters were born in the early part of the century when

surgical procedures used today to separate Siamese twins was not

available,” he said. “So they became freaks in a side show.”

This experience, however humiliating, was preferable to their

early life, Nelson indicated. “They were born in England to this

horrible mother who abandoned them,” he recounts. “Then they were

raised by an awful aunt who sold them to a side show in America.”

That’s where their story begins in the production, which is

virtually all singing, much like “Les Miserables” or “The Phantom of

the Opera.” The sisters became famous in vaudeville and each fell in

love with one of their producers.

When auditions were announced, Nelson found himself inundated with

potential Daisys and Violets.

“We had 80 girls trying out for these roles,” he said.

Ultimately, the choice assignments went to Amie Shapiro, a senior,

and Nicole Gerardi, a talented sophomore who beat out a plethora of

upper-class candidates.

“It’s a star vehicle for both,” Nelson declares.

The director added that the actresses may or may not use Velcro as

an adhesive to “cement” their characterizations.

“I saw the Broadway production three times and they didn’t use

anything to bind

them; the actresses just moved as one,” Nelson said.

Their producer/love interests will be enacted by “D” Pull and Matt

Bartosch. Pull earned a MACY award last spring for his role in

“Gypsy.” To complicate matters even further, if it is possible, the

conjoined twins have diametrically opposite personalities. One wants

a stage career; the other covets a normal family life.

To research his academy mission, Nelson rented the Todd Browing

movie “Freaks,” in which the real Daisy and Violet appeared. He was

less successful, however, in locating their other film, “Chained for

Life.”

“These girls were vaudeville stars in their 20s, and then

abandoned in North Carolina in their early 30s,” Nelson says. “They

spent the rest of their life there, up until their death at 62.”

“Side Show” will be presented Oct. 11 and 12 and 18 and 19 at 7:30

p.m., with matinees Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. and Oct. 19 and 20 at 2 p.m. in

the Huntington Beach High School auditorium. Ticket prices range from

$5 to $12, and may be reserved by calling the box office at (714)

536-2514, Ext. 302.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.