Trinity Prep’s ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ charms a crowd under the stars

By EV PARKER, Register Correspondent

On Saturday evening l6 Trinity Prep student thespians performed a feat of magic. In their Theatre Under the Stars these talented young men and women brought “Cheaper By the Dozen” back to life.

Set in the 1910-20s era, the work directed by Paul Rogers told the story of the Gilbreth family, Frank Bunker Gilbreth, an efficiency and time and study expert and his faithful wife, Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and of course their 12 children.

The title of the story derived from one of Frank Sr.’s jokes (and he didn’t tell many.) The family would be out for a drive in his new-fangled car when he’d stop for a red light. Some guy would always call out, “Hey mister how come you got so many kids?” Frank Sr. would wait until the light turned green then call out, “They’re cheaper by the dozen you know,” as he drove off.

In 1946, long after Frank Sr. had died (in 1924), two of his children, Frank Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth, wrote the best-selling book, “Cheaper By the Dozen,” and in 1950 the story became a hit movie starring the acerbic Clifton Webb as Frank Sr. and the lovely Myrna Loy as his loving wife.

Years later the book and movie served as the inspiration for the television series, “The Brady Bunch.”

Trinity Prep high school students took on this classic comedy laced with some tears and handled it with flags flying.

They presented the humorous yet quite touching ups and downs of life in the Gilbreth home that was run by Frank Sr., who went overboard in his demands for academic excellence and adherence to his countless charts and graphs. Quite frankly, kids’ fun and games were not uppermost on his agenda,

The play was comedy with much pathos, something a Gilbreth kid could joke about, but only many years later did youth win out in the end.

My hat’s off to Paul Rogers for his outstanding direction and also off to sound and stage manager Allan Cravallo for his splendid acoustics and ragtime music.

Then hurrahs are in order for the wonderfully talented cast of young actors from grades nine through l2 in the persons of Frank Navarra, Elizabeth Figueroa, Christina Milano, Téa Erickson, Megan Quinn, Peter Kersting, Ty Lopez, Julie Brumley, Nick Maxon, Dan Streett, Sean Ryan, Audrey Carbonell, Alvin Guieverra, Sean Thornton, Rachel Healy and last but not least, Philip Thornton.

While every actor played his or her role with skill and a great deal of courage, I’d be remiss for not mentioning a few actors for a second hurrah. Navarra has a great stage presence and his performance was as good as it gets. Erickson, who as Ernestine seemed to lead her siblings, and finally Milano (Anne) and Thornton (Larry), who almost stole the show, were stars in a troupe of stars.

Last, a thank you to Trinity’s Headmaster Jack Kersting who strives for excellence in all of his students, but unlike Frank Bunker Gilbreth, does it by lending support and understanding.

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