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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | SEPTEMBER 26, 2021
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Chandler, other EV thespians present ‘Junie B’ SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF
Twelve-year-old Savannah Springer doesn’t get in trouble very often. The Mesa seventh grader is pretty good at following the rules, from helping around the house to completing her homework on time. Now, she is one of two performers playing the title role of Junie B. in the Arizona premier of “Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide to School” and trying on a different personality for size. The new musical, produced by Limelight Performing Arts in Gilbert, is based on the bestselling books by Barbara Park and shares the saga of the wisecracking Junie B. – a self-appointed expert on all things first grade – who is determined to write the ultimate guide to school. The production features a cast of 16 young performers from across the East Valley. “Junie B. is constantly making jokes and getting in trouble,” said Springer. “It is so much fun to play a trouble-maker in this show and do things I would never try to get away with in real life.” The show uses high-energy music and comedic dialogue to take audiences through a series of stresses and mishaps as precocious Junie confronts
The ‘Junie B’ cast includes, from left: Shea Fuery, Janelle Frazier), McKenna Henry, Gabriel Ritchie and Edward Oster. Jaelyn Harden, Owen Aspinall, Ava Chiappetta, and Piper Perea. (Pablo Robles)
the challenges of first grade – and gets in a lot of trouble along the way. “One of my favorite lessons of the show is that Junie B. learns how to control her anger when things aren’t going her way,” said director Rio Chavez of Mesa. “She faces her anger head on by learning to control El Toro Fabuloso, the bull who lives in her stomach, and learns to turn her frustrations into successful solutions,” he said. Young audiences will see a version
of themselves in the over-the-top, slapstick characters of Junie B. and her friends. And people of all ages will appreciate the show’s lessons: that everyone makes mistakes, why it’s important to own up and how nobody is ever done learning. Kaylee Forth, 12, of Chandler, said, “My character, May, is the teacher’s pet. She’s bossy and annoying. Everyone has a May in their life.” In real life, she is nothing like her
character, so she’s putting extra effort into perfecting the role. “I have been working hard to practice my dances, lines and vocal parts,” she said. Chavez noted, “Our goal with this production is to teach the children of our community that it’s okay to make mistakes. Even ‘when things go wrong,’ with a little effort, ‘you can make things right.’” “It’s a great opportunity for kids to see that we are always learning and growing – even when it’s an uncomfortable and challenging process,” added Emma England of Gilbert, the show’s choreographer and Limelight’s artistic director. For England, it’s also a chance to show off the sizable talent in “Junie B.’s” small cast. “It’s always such a surprise for audiences when young performers put on a very strong show,” she said. “The kids in this cast really hold their own and bring so much talent to the stage. I think people will be blown away by what the ‘Junie B.’ cast has created.” Added Chavez, “We have a wonderful group of actors who are as dedicated as they are talented. These kids See
LIMELIGHT on page 49
Chandler author’s 2nd novel right out of headlines SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF
Chandler author Howard Gershkowitz’s second novel departs from science fiction and focuses instead on fraud and corporate greed. A couple years ago, Gershkowitz, a Chandler resident for 19 years who has been in the financial services industry for 35 years, published the “The Operator” – a novel set in Prescott that involves time travel, the economy and romance. This time, his new book, “Not on My Watch,” is a thriller inspired by some news stories he read. It involves a nurse who, with her broker/boyfriend, must stop the merger of the only locally owned, independent hospital with a ruthless conglomerate out of Boston intent on turning it into a Medicare mill. “This book was inspired by an article about a hospital back east that was indicted for Medicare fraud to the tune of $100 million.” Gershkowitz explained. “I thought that was outrageous, especially because of the business I’m in where corporate greed often takes center stage.” He recalled how he had interviewed a hospital chain administrator while doing research for the novel “and was assured nothing of the kind could happen there because of their checks and balances.” Four weeks later, Gershkowitz read that one of that administrator’s hos-
Chandler resident Howard Gershkowitz has published his second novel and has three more underway that he hopes to put in readers hands in the next 18 months. (Courtesy of Howard Gershkowitz)
pitals in the southeast was similarly indicted on Medicare fraud totaling well over $100 million. “They were recommending unnecessary procedures to seniors specifically because they were easy to perform, relatively benign and carried the highest reimbursement rates in the Medicare universe,” said Gershkowitz, calling it
“sickening to hear about.” “Watch” was actually written before “The Operator” while Gershkowitz was attending a creative writing class at Scottsdale Community College. “It was initially a short story,” he explained “but it motivated me to continue expanding it till it was a fulllength novel.”
He recalled writing the bulk of it in longhand as he sipped coffee in the Starbucks inside the Barnes & Noble book store, where the novel begins. After failing to get any nibblers from publishers, he put that manuscript aside and started work on “The OperaSee
AUTHOR on page 49
