New Spotlight show casts spell of wizardry

Izzy Dudek is especially pumped to have the lead role in a special show opening tonight at Spotlight Theatre, 1800 7^th Ave., Moline.

Dudek (an incoming Moline High School junior who uses “they/them” pronouns) is in their first full community theater production, “Puffs,” a fast-paced spoof of a famous story about a certain boy wizard and his iconic school of magic in England.

Directed by Andy Koski, a veteran of ComedySportz Quad Cities (which performs every weekend at the lower level at Spotlight), “Puffs” was done at Moline High this past December, where Dudek played the narrator (also directed by Koski).

High school was a lot more low-key compared to Spotlight, Dudek said this week, noting they weren’t the youngest person in the cast, as Dudek is now. Spotlight was more intimidating coming in, than a school show, they said.

The student who was Wayne in the Moline version (Alec Bull) is in the Spotlight ensemble.

Dudek also was a little intimidated to be in a show with adults for the first time, but found many of them are “just grown children, so it’s not as intimidating,” they said.

Dudek said the script dedication (by Matt Cox) says: “For anyone never destined to save the world.”

They were in the Spotlight Children’s Company production “Shrek Jr.,” when they were in 7^th grade, playing the Pied Piper, since Dudek was the only one who could play flute.

For seven years, a certain boy wizard went to a certain Wizard School and conquered evil. This, however, is not his story, according to a “Puffs” synopsis. This is the story of the Puffs….who just happened to be there, too.

The New York Times proclaims “Puffs” a “fast-paced romp through the ‘Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.’ For Potterphiliacs who grew up alongside Potter and are eager to revisit that world, Puffs exudes a jovial, winking fondness for all things Harry,” the Times review said.

This clever and inventive play “never goes more than a minute without a laugh” (Nerdist) giving you a new look at a familiar adventure from the perspective of three potential heroes just trying to make it through a magic school that proves to be very dangerous for children, the Spotlight website says. Alongside them are the Puffs, a group of well-meaning, loyal outsiders with a thing for badgers “who are so lovable and relatable, you’ll leave the theater wishing they were in the stories all along” (Hollywood Life).

The New York Times wrote in a 2016 review: “Instead of the brave ones, the brainy ones or the nasty, good-looking rich ones, this show — which is aimed at grown-ups, by the way — embraces the nerds the sorting hat assigns to the house called Puff.”

An epic journey takes the classic story to new places and re-imagines what a boy wizard hero can be.

“Puffs” is not authorized, sanctioned, licensed or endorsed by J.K Rowling, Warner Bros. or any person or company associated with the Harry Potter books, films or play.

More Spotlight actor debuts

Kira Rangel is in her first Spotlight show, playing Megan, a main character.

“I’ve always wanted to work here,” she said recently, noting she does ComedySportz. “I’ve seen this beautiful stage, and just any opportunity to meet new creatives and work with people of all different ages and experiences, backgrounds.”

Rangel was a bit intimidated to work with Koski as a director. “It was a last-minute decision to audition,” she said. “I was just want to be ensemble; I just love the whole universe. You grow up loving something.”

As in ComedySportz improv, “Puffs” features a good deal of ad-libbing, she said. Koski told actors there shouldn’t be any dead space.

Improv veteran (and Spotlight co-owner) Brent Tubbs is an expert at this, and the show includes a long monologue that he varies night to night.

“It’s different every night,” Rangel marveled.

“I am not good at improv, but there are moments in the show where I’m next to Kira’s character, Megan, and she’ll say something she hasn’t said before, and I’m like, what?” Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt (who plays Oliver) said, noting he has trouble not breaking out laughing on stage.

The show isn’t a musical, but there is some musical underscoring. Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt hasn’t been in a non-musical in 10 years. He had to start memorizing earlier on, since he’s got lots of lines.

Rangel doesn’t have a preference doing musicals versus straight plays; she considers how fun it will be. She said she’s never played a character with “such a redeeming arc” before. “I start as I don’t want to be with the Puffs. They’re like the leftovers,” she said.

The four houses in the school are Puffs, Braves, Smarts and Snakes, representing different students.

“I want to be anything other than a Puff, and a big part of it is, having an identity crisis – what kind of teenager am I?” Rangel said. “It’s been really fun, and growing up loving a certain boy wizard franchise.”

Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt plays Oliver, originally sent to England to attend the Mathematical University of Oxford, as an 11-year-old. “I am just as paranoid and frantic as Oliver is,” he said. “He’s got a really cool arc at the end that I really don’t want to spoil.”

The play by Matt Cox was a 2016 Off-Broadway Alliance Best Theatrical Experience Nominee. It began as small show made by friends at a small comedy venue, the People’s Improv Theater. It has since broken records off-Broadway in New York, was screened in movie theaters across the country with Fathom Events, and its production in Melbourne, Australia is Melbourne’s longest-running play of the century, according to its licensing company.

The villain in the script is called “Voldy” (Rangel calls him “Baldy”).

A heartwarming end

“It’s got a very heartwarming ending, as opposed to the boy wizard franchise that’s out there,” Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt said. “There’s a problem or situation that everyone can relate to.”

The actors say the show is definitely a spoof of its beloved source material.

“It pokes fun in a light-hearted way,” Dudek said. “All the Puffs are ones mentioned in the books.”

The only original characters are their three leads. “It’s for all the nerds out there,” Rangel said of those who know the books intimately. “It makes fun of those cult classic things.”

“It makes fun of the movies and the books – like there’s a line, ‘The headmaster looks different this year,” Dudek said.

Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt also is in his first Spotlight show, and gave a lot of credit to Rachel Vickers, who plays four different characters.

“Each one has a different accent,” he said. “My brain is going to explode, how does she do that?” There are about 15 actors, most playing multiple roles.

“I’m excited but nervous at the same time,” Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt said. “Whenever I go into a new theater, no matter how big or small it is, I don’t like being the new kid. I think, everybody knows everybody. It’s so nice – I came into such a great group of people, I instantly was like, ‘I’m not nervous anymore’.”

He admitted it’s much hotter onstage than in the audience.

“The lighting and the sound effects for this show are insane,” Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt said. “Some of our lines we have are cues for lighting or sound.”

“The way that Andy has crafted these scene changes, and characters entering or exiting, and have there be no lull, is mind-blowing to me,” he said. “I don’t know how he did it, but he did it.”

Rangel said this is the first time performing where she’s had to use a cue sheet backstage, to keep track of where they are in the show. “That’s been a challenge for me, and I love it. I love that everyone else is just as hectic as I am.”

“It’s a well-oiled machine,” Rangel said, noting she also has a hard time not laughing on stage.

“I have to give a shout-out to our crew, when we run off stage, they’re literally there with the props we need,” Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt said. “The costume changes, how they literally organize everything backstage for us, to make sure everything’s where it’s supposed to be. Oh my God, it’s amazing.”

“We’re all friends backstage, and we’ve gotten comfortable doing this, but we sometimes say, ‘Please move, I gotta go’,” Dudek said.

“Puffs” will be performed at 7 p.m. Aug. 4th, 5th, 11th and 12th, with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees on Aug. 6 and 13. Tickets ($20, or $25 for floor seating), are available at the Spotlight website HERE.