Todd Cardin Latest Play Revisits High School
March 28, 2006
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Todd Cardin Latest Play Revisits High School
High school musical bows at the Shubin Theatre.
March 28, 2006 — Etc Theater will perform “Dramamine High” a brand new musical written by Todd Cardin at the Shubin Theatre on April 20. The title of the play is raising some eyebrows. Apparently dramamine high is a term for the abuse of the over the counter motion sickness medicine “Dramamine” which comes as a surprise to Todd Cardin. “This was the first that I had heard about such a thing. I didn’t know that such abuse even existed until some parents of the actors questioned the title. I can assure you that it has nothing to do with drug abuse”, Cardin stated. “The publicity that we received by the title alone has been excellent, but it is not a play about the sea sick medication.”
Where the title was derived from was the actual word drama and mean. The way that the play was originally outlined was the drama club kids versus the mean kids. It evolved into the way the cliques and labels define group and individual behavior. And when the two terms were tied in together, it became dramamine. The name was able to have double meaning in the way that high school is a sometimes dizzying, sometimes sickening place to be. The play is aimed at an adult audience with primarilly a teenage cast.
The play is written from a high schoolers point of view with the hindsight of an adult writer that lived the high school experience. Cardin was never a member of the drama club in high school. In fact he started in the theater very late in life, in his late thirties. “I avoided the drama club, the theater, the musicals in high school. It wasn’t an option.”, Todd Cardin said. “I only wish that I had not been so narrow minded at the time. I would have loved to be exposed to the theater at an earlier age.”
Things have changed considerably. ETC aims at a family audience and has garnered a number of young fans. Fans who are wanting to be involved. Later this year, Cardin hopes to start a drama club at a local school and use the message that he is preaching to get everyone involved.