Ready for the stage
11-year-old Sergei Silcock will perform with the Bethune
Theatredance production of "Silent Roar" for the
performance's 30th anniversary Friday through Sunday.
Actor is a
bundle of fun and smart as a whip, dance company’s
founder says.
By Britney Barnes
Updated: Wednesday,
February 3, 2010 10:07 PM PST
With a large
family of more than 40 brothers, it is probably no
surprise that 11-year-old Sergei Silcock isn’t nervous
about performing onstage this weekend.
“It’s really fun and I like to be on the stage,” Sergei
said over the phone from Glendale, where he was waiting
to begin dress rehearsal Tuesday evening.
Sergei has a leading role in the Bethune Theatredanse
company’s performance of “Silent Roar,” a multimedia
show told from the vantage point of a family of gray
whales during migration when the baby whale becomes
separated from its family and beaches on the coast of
Southern California.
Sergei plays a disabled boy with a crutch who befriends
the whale. Playing disabled isn’t a stretch for the
fifth-grader, who was born with bladder exstrophy (a
condition where his bladder was on the outside and had
to be surgically corrected) and suffers from nearly
chronic kidney and bladder stones, attention deficit
disorder and chronic renal failure. Being upfront about
having disabilities, however, wasn’t a part of his
cultural background.
Sergei was born in Russia and lived in different
orphanages until he was adopted at age 7 by Huntington
Beach’s Belles-Silcock family.
In Russia, people with disabilities are excluded, said
Ann Belles, Sergei’s mother. Now, Sergei is performing
with Bethune Theatredanse, which has a performance
program specifically for disabled and at-risk children
called Infinite Dreams. The show has been good for his
self-esteem, Belles said.
The program was founded by Zina Bethune, a professional
dancer, actor and singer with a number of disabilities
of her own. Bethune said she has always had a “foot in
both worlds,” so it was important to her to give
disabled students a chance to experience and express
themselves through art.
“Everyone has a spirit, and the spirit’s not disabled,”
Bethune said.
Bethune found Sergei through a casting agent. She said
he has been a “bundle of fun” to work with. “He’s just
done wonderful. He’s smart as a whip,” Bethune said.
The performance will run at 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8
p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday at the Glendale
Community College Theatre at 1500 N. Verdugo Road in
Glendale. Tickets are $35 and can be bought at www.brownpapertickets.com. |