The Spirit of Rocky Point: Rhode Island Youth Theatre offers the next generation’s take on Rhode Island icon

By Tim Forsberg
Posted 6/30/16

Thanks to graffiti on a local landmark, the Rhode Island Youth Theatre (RIYT) will soon take audiences on a cosmic ride through history with a musical revue celebrating the state’s most famous …

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The Spirit of Rocky Point: Rhode Island Youth Theatre offers the next generation’s take on Rhode Island icon

Posted

Thanks to graffiti on a local landmark, the Rhode Island Youth Theatre (RIYT) will soon take audiences on a cosmic ride through history with a musical revue celebrating the state’s most famous destination of yesteryear - Rocky Point Park.

For the past 29 years, the RIYT has served more than 12,000 students throughout the state with theatre workshops, camps, intricate musical performances, scholarships and internships that allow children and teens to explore theatre production.

But it was one teen’s trip to the former summertime playground long known for entertaining children of all ages that recently inspired a much different kind of Rocky Point ride.

“I did a tour of the park with my mentor, Ann O’Grady, and the moment I entered the place it felt different, it felt like a world of its own,” said 17-year-old Mitchell Cardone, writer of RIYT’s upcoming production “The Spirit of Rocky Point.” “I kept finding these ruins that just had so much to offer, and there’s a story behind them.”

Last year, Cardone wrote the theatre’s first full-length, student-written musical, “The Outcast of Sherwood Forest,” which went on to receive the prestigious Moss Hart Award from the New England Theatre Conference.

“He’s got the writing bug, and he’s always been a storyteller,” said Ann O’Grady, executive director of RIYT. “He actually hiked the park in the fall with his brothers, and he saw what we thought was the observation tower and saw the graffiti on it. The next day, he had the idea for the story, which is a group of kids that come into the park to ‘tag’ it [with graffiti] and they then sort of go on a cosmic ride.”

The 36 members of the RIYT ensemble have joined together to create a 90-minute original performance that explains the long life of the former amusement park. The musical follows the park’s opening as a Sunday school picnic ground, to its golden age as one of the country’s most popular amusement destinations, to its closing in 1996 and abandonment.

While none of the company members ever had the thrill of riding the amusement park’s signature attractions like the Musik Express, Corkscrew or Freefall, the cast has studied the roller coaster-like history of Warwick’s summertime playground. They’ve researched the park through old books, magazine articles, and newspaper clippings to discover the storms and fires that ravaged the park and the numerous attractions that called the seaside resort home.

Brian Roque plays historical figure Captain William Winslow, who in 1847 was part owner of a steamboat that brought passengers on excursions at the point from Providence.

“Captain Winslow comes from back in time, he was the captain of the steamship Argo,” said Roque, who provided insights into the musical’s plot. “His job throughout the play is to serve as narrator, he moves the story forward throughout the years by bringing these five kids who were vandalizing Rocky Point in the present right to the beginning of the park. He then brings them throughout the ages to show them the importance of Rocky Point and why it’s such a cool place and why people shouldn’t take it for granted.”

For further reference, the cast turned to the Internet seeking the experiences of others who’ve worked, played and fell in love at the park.

“The kids have been interviewing people about their memories of the park. It’s provided a connection with grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors,” O’Grady said. “They’re filled with great stories.”

Recently, cast members visited the park for a guided tour with some of the leading experts of Rocky Point history, such as director David Bettencourt of the film “You Must Be This Tall,” Rocky Point historian George LaCross, and writer Jason Mayoh, author of the graphic novel “Tales of Rocky Point Park.”

“I was very impressed by the research the theater group had committed into the park’s history and by the enthusiasm they’ve displayed for their project,” LaCross said. “It’s amazing how much effort they are putting into getting every detail correct in their musical.”

Such efforts are paying off, as that attention to detail is helping the crew learn the intricacies of theater production and the creation of sets that audiences will enjoy.

“From the 1840s picnic ground all the way up until when it was in a ruinous state, and now we’re back to this beautiful field and ocean park, we wanted [the stage] to be a really flexible space that could be changed and altered and reminiscent of all these times,” said director Caroline Bateson, who’s tried to bring in original signs and props to recreate the carnival atmosphere onstage. “So we structured the whole stage around two park structures, one being the tower and one being the arch, and pulling on how they look now as a ruin to all the way back to what things may have been like during it’s heyday…so when you come around the corner you have that Disney magic type of experience and you see the arch and say, ‘OK, now I’m at Rocky Point.’”

The show will offer musical hits such as “Wind of Change,” “Space Oddity” and “Buffalo Gals,” which has been creatively reworked into “Rocky Point Gals.” Without ruining too many of the show’s surprises, RIYT has worked very hard at retrieving the usage rights of more recent Rocky Point jingles, ones which those of a certain age will instantly remember.

Through the experience of creating “The Spirit of Rocky Point,” it’s clear that the members of the RIYT have found that change at Rocky Point over time has been constant, and that the park has meant something different to each generation.

“After hearing all the stories of people talking about how much they loved the park and how many memories they made there, everyone can pick at least one thing they really remembered from the park,” Roque said. “Taking all those stories, it brings a picture to my mind of how these people saw this park and how important it was to them, so it should be important to all of us, too.”

With hundreds of hours of preparation under their belts, the excitement of waiting for their musical journey to start seems to offer the same thrills the park has always been known for.

“Of course I feel nervous because it’s an original piece that I’ve just come out with, and there’s a lot of people that want to come to remember the park. I just want to try to convey those memories as best as I can,” Cardone said. “I’ve seen in this cast great potential, and they’re all amazing in what they do, and I’m confident that they will bring the story to its fullest.”

“The Spirit of Rocky Point” will be accompanied by a rocking band at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, 2115 Broad St., Pawtuxet Village, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, July 8, and at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 9. Tickets are $10 for the 10 a.m. show and $12 in advance or $14 at the door for the evening shows. Additional information may be found at riyt.org.

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  • leekhat

    Great idea for a musical revue. Very timely.

    Tuesday, July 5, 2016 Report this

  • mthompsondc

    A composer visited RP in 1966 and wrote this piece...which has been popular with college orchestras ever since. Might wanna consider adding it to the production... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Em2qO0Hnpk

    Sunday, July 17, 2016 Report this