For 15 years, Alice Power has been the behind-the-scenes superpower in the annual performance by VSA arts (formerly Very Special Arts). The former off-Broadway actress wrote the scripts and the music. She cast the shows and directed. In short, she built the shows -- and the whole Loudoun County VSA program -- from scratch.
But now the production has outgrown her, she said. Although she wrote the script for this year's production, an adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," Power has taken a step back to spend more time with her family.
VSA's new director, Ben Shoenberger, runs through a scene from "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" with some of the actors.
(Photos Tracy A. Woodward -- The Washington Post)
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To fill the void, VSA Loudoun hired a director, composer, set designer and costume maker -- a big change for what is largely a volunteer organization. The group is part of a nationwide effort spearheaded by Jean Kennedy Smith to involve people with physical and mental disabilities in the arts.
"The Twelve Dancing Princesses," which was scheduled to debut last night at Belmont Ridge Middle School, is directed by Ben Shoenberger, a lower school assistant and theater director at The Hill School in Middleburg. Also on board are Eric Jewell, set designer; Laurie Farnsworth, costume designer; and Jennifer Warren-Baker, music director.
"I'd been doing it for all these years, and we'd gotten to the point where the actors had really had the opportunity to discover their talents and were secure in them," said Power, who lives in Lovettsville. "We'd gotten to the point where I felt that a new professional group could come in and work with these people because they didn't need as much teaching as they needed directing."
When VSA first performed in Loudoun, the productions included shadows -- on-stage helpers dressed in black who cued cast members on their lines and nudged them when it was time to exit. After the sixth season, shadows disappeared.
"We didn't need that anymore," said Elizabeth Bracey, Power's daughter, who has been involved with VSA from the beginning. "I think that says a lot about how the actors themselves have developed."
Stacey Sweet, 36, is a veteran of VSA productions. The mentally disabled actress has played a man, a raven, a dancing bear and a minister. She loves her part this year: one of the 12 princesses, whose father locks his daughters in a room every evening and is baffled each morning when their shoes are tattered, as if they have been dancing all night.
Sweet's experience makes her impervious to the usual pre-show jitters.
"I don't get nervous at all," she said.
Shoenberger, 26, was less confident when he joined the production this winter. Although he has had exposure to disabled children -- his mother was a special needs teacher -- this is the first time he has worked with disabled individuals in theater.
"I felt unsure about the closeness they had as a group. They had a certain way things were done. It was scary going into it not knowing how they would react to differences and changes," he said. "But from the first day that I stepped into the rehearsals, it was a completely different story. They were so welcoming."
Shoenberger said he had to adapt his directing style to meet the needs of disabled actors.
"Repetition is definitely key," Shoenberger said. That meant blocking out the scenes and sticking to plans. "I've never had to have a full rehearsal schedule ready a month in advance. Normally I gauge it by the actors and how much we get done in rehearsal. Here I had to get very specific."
