OCC student wins 'Rent' tickets
|
||
| by Jenifer Ragland Los Angeles Times South Coast Metro June 2, 1998 |
OCC musical theater student Orlina Wusstig hopes some day to sing "Seasons of Love" as the lead in the musical "Rent" on Broadway. But her rendition of it Monday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center at least guarantees her a seat in the audience when Jonathan Larson's critically acclaimed play opens there in August. Wusstig, 19, was one of two Orange County residents who walked away with a pair of tickets to opening night of "Rent" as part of a contest co-sponsored by the Performing Arts Center and Orange County radio station KEZY. Marco Morante of Laguna Hills was the other winner. "I feel great - I've never won anything in my life," Wusstig said after finding out she was one of the grand-prize winners. "My ultimate goal is to do this on Broadway." Who is the lucky person who will get to see the show with her? "Probably my mom, since she sat here all day with me," said Wusstig, who arrived at the center before anyone else -- at 7 a.m. About 20 theater fans of all ages "auditioned" for the free tickets Monday, singing an excerpt from "Seasons of Love." Among them was Kristine Arnold, 18, of Newport Beach, who was dressed in her Ruby's Diner uniform on her way to work at South Coast Plaza. She said she read about the contest in the newspaper and, as a "Rent" fan, couldn't help but give it a shot. "I just lost my voice, so I was pretty nervous up there," said Arnold, who also goes to OCC and aspires to direct theater. "I think 'Rent' really defines our generation -- it's the musical of the 90s." Contestants and onlookers also collected prizes, such as compact discs, posters, hats and T-shirts for answering "Rent" trivia questions along the way. Some had only read about the musical while one young woman said she had seen it 47 times. Four judges chose the top two winners and two runners-up in the contest. Among the judges were KEZY radio personality Liz Pennington and Daily Pilot Entertainment Editor Nancy Cheever. "It was really hard to choose, because there were a few who were very good," Cheever said. "It was a lot of fun, though." Runner-up winners, who received "Rent" soundtrack compact discs, were Marss Ramos of Paramount and Maraian Fink of Newport Coast. The contest coincided with the first day of ticket sales for the eight performances of "Rent," which will be staged Aug. 5-16 at the Performing Arts Center, said Greg Patterson, the center's vice president of marketing. F.Y.I. ****** |
|