GILROY
– With the opening of John Bisceglie’s 1920s era
”
Red Hot Revue
”
tonight, the Jazz Age era of nightclubs and speakeasies kicks
into high gear at Gilroy High School’s theater.
GILROY – With the opening of John Bisceglie’s 1920s era “Red Hot Revue” tonight, the Jazz Age era of nightclubs and speakeasies kicks into high gear at Gilroy High School’s theater.
More than 75 local youth appear in the all-singing, all-dancing multimedia show that also features mock Busby Burkeley “movie” footage featuring the kids and their parents dancing in extravagantly choreographed numbers.
“It’s Broadway in Gilroy,” said John Bisceglie, who wrote, directed, produced and choreographed the show.
On Wednesday night, sisters Alex and Shawnte Garcia were costumed in “flapper” attire complete with feather boas and headbands sporting massive ostrich feathers.
“It’s dangerously itchy,” Alex said, describing how the boa gave her a bit of a rash.
Shawnte said she became entranced by theater magic when she saw a previous Bisceglie production.
“I saw ‘Summer in the City,’ ” she said. “It was cool, so I started to get involved.”
Their father, Greg Garcia, helped out with building the set. He also plays a role in the show’s movie.
“My kids love it. They love the singing and dancing,” he said. “But it’s a lot of man hours.”
Gilroy resident Zachary McMahel, 7, stops the show when he sings “Red Red Robin” while playing a guitar. The movie shows him climbing a tree and looking into a huge nest filled with robin eggs.
“We used tree branches to make the nest,” he said. “In the film, first I look at the eggs to see if they’re going to crack open. The red robin chicks like the music and come out of the eggs.”
“Red Hot Revue” is his third show, and he plans to make theater a profession.
“I’m hoping to be on Broadway,” he said with a grin.
Dressed in flapper vogue, Elissa Archuleta, 19, performs two solos in the show. In one, she sings the old standard “Witchcraft” as a duet to herself while holding a black cat.
“He kind of sort of attacked me during the making of the video,” she said. “I got scratched a little.”
Michelle Zappa, 16, also decked in flapper style, dances in several numbers.
“They have the best costumes I’ve ever seen. John (Bisceglie) never goes halfway on the costumes.”
“Red Hot Revue” mixes live dancing and singing of classic tunes with sequences shown on a large “movie screen” on stage.
” ‘Red Hot Revue’ has a lot of cine-magic going for it,” Bisceglie said. He described how the “movie” sequences were digitally enhanced to show scratches, flickers and speed changes. “We also get glimpses of the Great Depression. We show a news reel that’s a parody of propaganda pieces on (President) Hoover.”
Bisceglie has produced and directed 30 children’s musical shows in Gilroy in the last 14 years. His larger-than-life productions are locally famous for glitzy costumes and stage sets. Profits from the shows go to the Kids Discover Arts program aimed at teaching local children the joy of visual and performing arts.
“I am a show man, I love to produce these theatrical shows celebrating different genres,” he said. “We try to take the time period and go all out and push it so it’s over the top.”
More than 150 hours of video footage was edited by David Singletary to create the multimedia aspect of “Red Hot Revue.” One highlight: the show-stopper “Razzle Dazzle” from the musical “Chicago” done in a Busby Burkeley style with 37 women – all mothers of children performing in the show – dancing around in 1920s attire.
“That was filmed at the American Musical Theater of San Jose,” Bisceglie said. “We did a six-hour film shoot. We had a roll-off as a camera goes down the line of legs and a guy throwing confetti.”
In one sequence, the moms spread back massive red fans like a rose unfolding in bloom, revealing a woman wearing a four-foot long swan hat at the center, he said.
“Feathers came from New York and South Africa,” he said. “There were thousands of feathers.”
Material was bought wholesale from some of the same companies that provide costumes for Broadway, he said. Hats were specially ordered, and real rhinestones were sewn onto the elaborate dresses and tuxedos worn by performers.
“We put huge amounts of glitz in the show,” Bisceglie said. “I’m always a stickler for quality. It’s got to be right if it’s going to be appear in my show.”
