Take a ride on award-winning 'Carousel'

Rebekah Torres said she finds her leading female role in the New Tampa Players production of "Carousel" a "sentimental thing for me."

Torres, 27, who grew up and still lives in Town 'N Country, plays Julie Jordan in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical being presented this weekend and next.

"My grandmother loved the show. In her broken English she would sing 'You Never Walk Alone,'

" said Torres, who graduated from Blake High, majored in music in college and works as a paralegal at a lawyer's office.

She said her father's sisters from New York are coming to Tampa to see the play and to reminisce with her family about seeing it in New York.

"Carousel" is set in the 1870s in New England and begins with a young millworker (Julie) meeting a carnival barker named Billy Bigelow at a carousel. The play originally opened on Broadway in 1945 and has had several revivals, as well as film and television versions.

The community theater production is directed by Connie LaMarca-Frankel, who teaches theater and humanities at Pasco-Hernando Community College.

She said it is a challenging production to stage because, in part, of the serious issues of class and gender. The cast has rehearsed several nights a week for two months.

"It was very ambitious of them to choose this one," LaMarca-Frankel said during a recent rehearsal.

"With community theater, everybody's got jobs, schedules. But they are so talented," she said.

Ty Yadzinski of St. Petersburg has the leading male role of Billy. Originally from Cincinnati, Yadzinski, 46, has worked in theater for 35 years, performing in "Oklahoma," "The Secret Garden" and other productions.

"This is one of those traditional theater roles I have never done," said Yadzinski, who served as a director for a New Tampa Players production last year.

An employee of Marriott International when not at the theater, he said acting gives credence to his role as a director because the actors see him living the part of an actor, too.

"I'm loving what I can give to the rest of them," Yadzinski said.

Matt Riegel, 39, who moved to Tampa a year ago from Indianapolis, said he also likes the "spirit of camaraderie" he has found in the group.

A former mental health counselor who attends a graduate program in psychology, Riegel plays Enoch Snow, a fisherman, in the production.

"I've met so many wonderful people through the theater down here," Riegel said. "It's been a lifeline to being new in town."

Yadzinski said the New Tampa Players is "continuing to grow themselves. I see a lot of growth potential."

He said he likes that the group "eventually will have a space and theater of their own or be a resident company at another facility."

The city of Tampa has approved land for the company's use.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The New Tampa Players' production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel"

WHERE: University Area Community Center, 14013 N. 22{+n}{+d} St., Tampa

WHEN: 8 p.m. today and Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 8 p.m. Aug. 27 and 28; and 2 p.m. Aug. 28

COST: $14 adults; $12 students and seniors; $10 each for groups of 10 or more

INFORMATION: www.newtampaplayers.org or (813) 386-6687