A Final Interview With the Cast of "Shenandoah"

Armaan

    This afternoon I caught the final performance of the musical Shenandoah at the Renaissance Theatre in Huntington - and I’m so glad I did!

   It was a wonderful show, with great music, terrific dancing and powerful performances by an all-star cast (and an amazing orchestra). I’ll have more to say about it in the week ahead, but it was something special - I hope you saw it!

   We're running late with this, but we have three interviews to share with some of the young actors who starred in the show (my apologies for the technical difficulties that kept me from posting this sooner). Let’s hear from Armaan Karimpour, Trinity Tiffany and Xavier Stambaugh:

Q: Shenandoah was a popular film - but in case our reader isn’t familiar with it, tell us the basic story.

Tiffany: Set in the civil war and a family who doesn’t want to be involved in the war but everyone around them is trying to drag them into it. 

Armaan: Takes place during 1863 during the Civil War and the Yankees and confederates are starting to get close to Shenandoah where the Anderson family lives. They are trying to stay out of the war and the cannons and fights are starting to get closer. James thinks they should be involved in the war while Charlie says it’s not their war and it doesn’t concern them, until the youngest son gets stolen by the Yankees.

Xavier: It’s a story about the Civil War and how a family starts to fight about the war and they think their land is going to get destroyed if they don’t fight. In the midst of that the boy gets taken by the Union. They go to find him and they are actually dragged into the war. 

Trinity

Q: Tell us about the character you play.

Triunity: I play a Civil War girl whose dad goes off to help with the war and carry prisoners and slaves in his train. 

Armaan: The Boy is the youngest Anderson son. He likes to mimic people, especially his brothers and the pastor. He can be very playful, but he doesn’t like fighting best. 

Xavier: My character is a confederate soldier that fights in the war and is very young. The Confederate army is running out of soldiers so they start allowing younger boys to fight. I’m very scared because I really don’t want to fight but I’m made to.

Q: What’s your favorite song in the show?

Armaan: My favorite song is “Next to Lovin’.”

Trinity: “Next to Lovin’.”

Xavier: My favorite song is “Raise the Flag of Dixie.”

Xavier

Q: What’s your background in theatre?

Xavier: I’ve been in The Music Man at Backstage Players, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and ACTC’s The Christmas Carol three times. 

Armaan: I’ve done five other shows including Seussical the Musical, The Little Mermaid and The Bully Plays.

Trinity: I’ve taken Helen Freeman’s Monday night acting classes and then became involved in HOT.

Q: What’s the most challenging thing in this show?

Armaan: Acting with all the adults. It’s different from children’s theatre.

Trinity: Learning about what they did during the Civil War time and how they did things.

Xavier: Trying to get used to all the different personalities in the play.

Q: Why would you recommend this show to our readers?

Armaan: It’s a good story. It’s a show about how important family can be.

Trinity: It’s fun to watch and you also learn things while watching it.

Xavier: It has a good story line and teaches you about sticking together as a family.

   Thanks!