SARAH & RACHEL "STEPPING OUT"

Presented on the MHS stage last Wed., Fri. & Saturday evenings - "STEPPING OUT", is a good-natured comedy play that chronicles several months in the life of a beginning adult tap dance class. Each of the eight students, who come from a variety of backgrounds, has his or her own reason for joining. Vera (Sarah C.) Is a busy body, middle aged English woman with a rich, non-attentive husband who meddles in everyone's life. The instructor is a former Broadway/Chorus Line understudy. And then there is Mrs. Fraser (Rachel) who pounds out piano accompaniment for the practice routines,. Whatever the cause, they make a point of coming every week to chat, relax and, if they can manage to, learn a couple of dance steps in this kind of low-rent "A Chorus Line".

Led by Mavis, their eternally patient instructor, and accompanied by the acerbic pianist Mrs. Fraser, who acts as both support and hindrance and sort of substitute mother, the students (who range from hopeless to competent) strive to master the basics of dance. But the steps and routines are just the background for the real focus of the play -- the relationships and interactions of these ten very different people. Tenseness in the class builds week after week when the class accepts an invitation to actually perform for a charity community fund raiser. By their final performance, not only have the class members developed some degree of skill, but they have also overcome the inhibitions, awkwardness and personality conflicts that have kept them out of sync.