Local dancer takes on a complex role

Dancer finds intrigue in ‘Sweet Charity’ role, to open at the Kelsey Theatre April 22.

By: Leon Tovey
   MONROE — Melissa Marschner’s not a dance hall hostess, but she’ll be playing one at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre later this month.
   Ms. Marschner will star as Charity Hope Valentine in Pierrot Productions’ musical comedy "Sweet Charity," which opens at the Kelsey Theatre in West Windsor on April 22.
   "I started dancing when I was 5 and acting when I was 14," said Ms. Marschner, a 30-year-old township resident and attorney who plays the real-life role of a litigator in the New Jersey Administrative Office of Courts in Trenton when she’s not on stage.
   "I guess you could say acting was an extension of dancing for me — the performance aspect of it," she said. "So to play a dancer isn’t too much of a stretch."
   "Sweet Charity," a bittersweet yet funny musical about a dance hall hostess’s romantic travails, is Ms. Marschner’s second production with Pierrot Productions — last year she played Irene Roth in "Crazy for You" — and her third at the Kelsey Theatre. She played Lola in the Playful Theater Company’s production of "Damn Yankees in 2003.
   But Ms. Marschner, who’s been in more than 25 plays in the 16 years she’s been acting, said Charity Valentine is probably the most complex character she’s played so far.
   "There’s a lot of depth to her, which is kind of unusual for musical theater," Ms. Marschner said. "There’s a lot of mental turmoil, which should make the play interesting for the audience, which would be good, because I think a lot of people do a disservice to musical theater when they assume that it’s just a lot of fluff, singing and dancing."
   Which isn’t to say that Ms. Marschner was drawn to the role solely by the depth of the character.
   "That’s a bonus," she said with a sheepish laugh. "In all honesty it was the singing and the dancing that drew me to the role."
   Ms. Marschner said the exuberance of musical theater is a large part of what keeps her involved in local theater these days. When she was in high school and college, she said, she would perform in four or five productions a year — she even met her husband, David, in a Rutgers College (at Rutgers University) production of "Man of La Mancha," in which she played a housekeeper and he a muleteer.
   "But I had to give it up for a few years when I was in law school and just after law school, when I was trying to establish my career," she said. "Now I try to do one a year — just to keep me sane."
   Ms. Marschner said the physical and creative outlet provided by acting in musicals has not only kept her sane, it has also helped her hone her courtroom skills.
   "I suppose my dance and theater experience have made a difference," she said with a laugh. "I’m certainly very comfortable on my feet."
   "Sweet Charity" also stars Andrea Cartagena of East Windsor as Ursula March; Vince Gagliano of Plainsboro as Vittorio Vidal; Luddy Iezzo of Hamilton as Herman; Abbey Newell of Fairless Hills, Pa., as Nickie; Kurt Penney of Pennington as Oscar; and Joanna Woodruff of Washington Crossing, Pa., as Helene.
   The play opens at 8 p.m. April 22, at the Kelsey Theatre, located on the West Windsor Campus of Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road. An opening night gala follows the performance on April 22 to give audience members a chance to meet the cast and crew. Subsequent performances are April 23, 29 and 30 at 8 p.m.; and April 24 and May 1 at 2 p.m.
   Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for students and children, and can be purchased online at www.kelseyatmccc.org, or by calling the Kelsey Theatre box office at (609) 584-9444.