Of Thee I Sing
Several West Windsor residents have leading roles in “”Of Thee I Sing,”” which opens at Kelsey Theater from Friday, October 15, and runs through Sunday, October 24. Colleen Marcello of Plainsboro plays the role of Mary Turner, and Jennifer Kellogg of West Windsor (pictured above, fourth from right) portrays Diana Devereaux. The ensemble cast includes Dev Das and Hannah Rapaport-Stein.
This all-American musical satire focuses on the election campaign of President John P. Wintergreen. Without a viable platform, his party slogan is “”Put Love in the White House,”” promising that if elected he will marry the winner of an Atlantic City beauty pageant. When he falls for Mary Turner, a campaign secretary, instead of Diana Devereaux, a Southern belle and winner of the pageant, trouble begins. The musical was written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind with music by George and Ira Gershwin. It was one of the longest running shows of the 1930s and the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Director Ruth Markoe has updated the play – with lampooned politicians, impeachment proceedings, and a vice president who wanders the White House unrecognized by his own staff – making the show all the more relevant in this election year. (Paper Mill Playhouse is also mounting a production at the same time.)
Marcello teaches music at the Pine Brook Elementary School in Manalapan. She was born and raised in Springville, New York. Her first professional role was playing “”Annie”” at Artpark in Niagara Falls when she 12. “”That’s when I was bitten by the theater bug,”” she says. “”I continued performing in professional shows but my mother did not want to move to New York City so my professional acting career was placed on hold.””
She concentrated on classical music and performed in high school musicals, a traveling show choir, and the All State and national choirs and orchestras.
At SUNY at Buffalo, she majored in voice, oboe, theater, and dance. She received her master’s in vocal performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College, where she studied voice with Ellen Lang.
Although she has not previously performed in any of Kelsey’s main stage productions, Marcello had a part in “”Hachma and Mazel,”” a children’s opera performed by the students of the Montessori School.
Her favorite past roles include Peggy in “”42nd Street”” at Surflight Theater, Tuptim in “”The King and I”” at Westchester Broadway Theater, and Hodel in “”Fiddler on the Roof”” at Union County Arts Center. She has also played Lois/Bianca in “”Kiss Me Kate”” at Surflight, Maria in “”The South of Music”” with Yorkshire Players, and Gretel in “”Hansel und Gretel”” at Westminster Opera Theater.
She recently performed a benefit recital for Robert Wood Johnson hospital and is currently working on a one-woman show featuring standards of the jazz era. She will also be a guest on the “”Celebration of Sinatra”” radio hour in the near future. Very active in the Queenship of Mary Church, she sings there on Sundays.
“”I do not have any family in West Windsor, but I have found wonderful friends here,”” she says. “”I also am enjoying the many things West Windsor has to offer such as the orchards, the parks, and of course, the cultural events.””
– Lynn Miller
Of Thee I Sing, Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, 609-584-9444. Opens Friday, October 15, 8 p.m.. Through October 24. $15.
Of Thee I Sing, Paper Mill Playhouse, Brookside Drive, Millburn, 973-376-4343. Now through October 17. $30 to $67.
