From Sixteen Candles to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the 1980s were a golden age for coming-of-age teen comedies. While watching the 1982 Cameron Crowe penned Fast Times at Ridgemont High, inspiration struck Urban Aphrodite founder Ann James.
“I noticed most of the scenes were between two or three people, which lends itself to a small cast,” she explains. “We had done The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), which worked so well with three guys being zany and changing characters.”
Much like how the film launched the careers of future stars like Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nicolas Cage, Urban Aphrodite’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High will be the Shanghai stage debut for actors Zach Danz and Anthony Gates.
Rounding out the cast is Ryan Larsen, who previously had small roles in Urban Aphrodite’s Fight Club and Hamlet. Although the most known to Shanghai theater audiences, Larsen admits, “I’ve never played a girl before so it’s a lot of development as an actor. I had to learn how to walk and talk like a girl.”
While James cracks that Larsen may “have to get a double Brazilian” to truly commit to his lead role as Stacy, the cast are unfazed about juggling multiple characters.
“It’s so surreal playing these roles that I’ve seen on screen and twisting them around,” Gates says, who doubles as Stacy’s love interest Ratner and her best friend Linda. “It pushes us to analyze characters in a different way like their mannerisms, their attitudes and perceptions.”
“It’s good trying to find the balance of being funny while finding the honesty in these characters and telling their story,” Danz adds, who has prepared a quiz on American history for the audience to take as part of his role as crusty teacher Mr. Hand.
Despite having to switch characters and costuming from scene to scene, while suffering through the occasional on-stage humiliations of their characters, the actors are undeterred. “Getting physical and into each other just shows that we’re comfortable and willing to break barriers to do the show,” Gates says.
For all three actors, Fast Times at Ridgemont High will be their most complex roles. Texas native Danz is excited to return to his acting roots, while 19-year-old Shanghai-raised Gates is continuing his love affair with performing born from his experience as a main player for improv group Zmack.
Seattle native Larsen admits he has Hollywood as a goal after appearing as an extra on megahit Fast and Furious 7. He’s especially thrilled about the show’s 80s costuming, showing off a shirt straight out of his character’s Spicoli’s closet – a role that shot Sean Penn into stardom.
Although the show will also incorporate live commercials from the era, James notes that while “it’s a spoof with guys playing girls in bikinis, it’s also a true gem.”
For the original 1981 book, 22-year-old Crowe spent a year undercover as a high school senior at San Diego’s Clairemont High School after spending most of his teens as a contributing editor to Rolling Stone where he profiled the likes of Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Neil Young.
“He found some really universal themes in these different characters who all go through something in the course of the story,” James raves. “There’s the girl who is trying to be sophisticated and the macho guy who’s actually still innocent. All of the characters are steeped in reality, but we have fun with it, too.”
With adaptations of The 39 Steps and The Princess Bride on their schedule, she’s comfortable with Urban Aphrodite’s budding reputation for bringing films to the stage.
“So many people have seen these movies and wonder how we are going to do it live,” she says. “The challenge for us is to stand up to the standards.”
March 9-13, 7.30pm, RMB150-180. The Apartment, see event listing.
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We're giving away a pair of tickets to Fast Times at Ridgemont High. For your chance to win, e-mail win@urbanatomy.com with the subject 'Fast Times' by March 7.
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