BWW Preview: HOTEL 99 Gives Smiles and Rock to Tallahassee

The Pyramid Players are a long running Tallahassee institution, running through twenty years of success in bringing arts education and opportunity to the developmentally disabled neighbors in our community. This summer marks yet another of their brilliant, student written stage shows at The Moon- a dazzling satire of seventies celebrity titled Hotel 99.

The Pyramid Players are a group of students from the Tallahassee branch of Pyramid Inc., the wonderful non-profit that engages the arts in a new way. Director Jilian Wesolowski has brought together a wonderful cast and crew of hard workers, who have been working on this production since November. And with this being an original production, sporting over a dozen classic songs full of singing, dancing, and clever quips, it's a remarkable show no matter who you are.

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"I've lost my suit. Is that the story you wanna hear?" The show is simple in premise, but delightful in framing and dialogue. The students have come up with great ideas, using a 'Behind the Scenes' video to introduce the piece, having the show come from the point-of-view of a journalist tracking down the star, and giving life to the workers of the Hotel along with the rock-star.

Hotel 99 is about Neil Nash, famed purple-suited-rockstar, preparing to perform his final show at local venue Hotel 99. Nash, played by Player regular Jamie Ueberhorst, is deep into character, a snarky and rude rock-star in his final legs. His singing and dancing, even before his final concert, exudes the energy Nash needs. Elizabeth Haines plays Jessica, a journalist coming into town to learn the truth about Nash, and it's her acting that carves out a depth many shows lack. Along with Rick Carton, as the bellhop Curtis, it's the two realistic characters the cast and writers have created that make Hotel 99 fun for everybody.

Each vibrous sing-along number bustles with stand-outs. The opening number, on the train to Hotel 99, features three dancers who give a strong opening energy to the show and whose smiles prepare you for more. Ian Torres gives a great George Takei accent and brings great timing to his jokes. The band members were engaging and a delight in trying to convince Nash to come back- it's too much to even pin down each performer for the wide selection they bring to the stage.

The whole cast is full of enthusiasm, energy, and the performances only hard work can produce. Each song is a variety of seventies dancing, jukebox singing, and infectious joy. There are old favorites, such as Carmen Ramos and DeArtist Stevens, Greg Rucker and Derrick Grimsley, but there are new faces as well- Wesolowski told me a six of the cast was new to the summer show experience.

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Speaking with Maureen Raftery, the Art Director of Pyramid Inc., offered a glimpse of Hotel 99 as a much larger piece. With writing beginning in November, "once they're all cast, they just start calling each other and practicing their lines. We don't ask them to, they just want to!"

It's the hard work and smiling faces that bring her back. Sitting in the room, even during a full day rehearsal, was the most friendly tech week I've ever been in.

Raftery estimated that Pyramid Inc., a full-time non-profit that offers classes to developmentally disabled students, currently serves around two hundred in the community. Tallahassee is the largest of the Florida locations, by far, and has seen the most success.

"There's almost no turn-around," she told me, detailing through the playbill each player's past production history. "This is a big thing for most of them. They look forward to it every year."

The students were just as enthusiastic. Ann Broadway, one of the performers, told me, "there are only three wheelchair people this year. There are usually more."

Ann has been doing shows with the Pyramid Players for years, and still shows enthusiasm up on the stage in her scenes. There doesn't seem to be an end to the passion and work the Players will put in to the theatre.

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After last year's overflowing show, where guests had to be turned away from the filled Moon, The Pyramid Players have taken measures to change things. Entrance for their Saturday evening show, at 8 p.m., are now $10. The donations will help Pyramid Inc. extend the services offered, but the Pyramid Players are already covered. The Pyramid Players work professional hours, put in their all, and are paid performers.

Pyramid Inc. also gives their students the opportunity to create physical art, which will be presented in a gallery before the show. The show will begin with a pre-show band, The Electric Players, a Pyramid Inc. favorite.

"I play the electric guitar. It's a Strat," Ian Haedicke told me as he waited to warm up. The Electric Players are a collective that are guaranteed to get audiences on their feet.

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After her second year, director Wesolowski doesn't see an end in sight for her contributions to each Pyramid Players summer show. "They put in work like nobody I've ever seen."

For more information on Pyramid Inc. you can contact them online. Hotel 99 will be performed August 13th at The Moon. Tickets for the gallery, band, and full musicals are $10.