No day off for these thespians

Newport Harbor High School was closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but theatre arts students spent the afternoon in a dress rehearsal for their upcoming production of “Anything Goes,” the Cole Porter musical.

The show, directed and choreographed by theater arts instructor Roberta Kay with musical direction by Kevin Weed, will be performed at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with a matinee scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.

A cast and crew of about 40 students are involved in “Anything Goes,” said Stacia Deiro, president of the theater arts booster club at Newport Harbor.

Ryan White, the production’s technical director who graduated from Newport Harbor in 1996, directed “Noises Off,” the first production staged in the 2010-11 school year.

That production recently received the Area 2 Main Stage award from the California Educational Theatre Assn. White will be the assistant director on the school’s next production of “Little Women,” in March and April, which will be directed by Kay, Deiro said.

The performances of “Anything Goes” will be staged in the campus’s new Robert B. Wentz Theatre, inside Newport Harbor’s Robins-Loats building.

The campus is at 600 Irvine Ave. Tickets are $15 for adults, and $10 for seniors, students and children ages 12 and younger. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or https://www.nhhsdrama.com. For more information, e-mail nhhsdrama2010@gmail.com or call (949) 500-6475.