A mother and daughter who can’t stop butting heads will be forced to stand in each others’ shoes when San Benito Stage Company opens its fall teen musical “Freaky Friday” on Oct. 16 at the Granada Theater.
Directed by Aaron Hernandez, the production features a cast of 33 and runs through Oct. 31.
Naomi Mejia, 18, plays the mother, Katherine Blake, and Serenity Welch, 14, plays her daughter, Ellie Blake. However, because the two switch bodies, each actor effectively has to play both roles.
“It’s a complete switch,” she said. “Katherine, when she is Katherine, wants to be very perfect. And then Ellie, when they switch, she’s the complete opposite. She doesn’t care about anything, she’s angry all the time.”
The two actors have been studying each others’ body language so each can mimic the other once the characters trade places, Mejia said.
Welch said she draws on her own mother when playing Katherine.
“It’s pretty hard, having to pretend to be a mom when I’ve never really experienced that before,” she said. “So I usually just take what my mom is like and put that into my character.”
Playing Ellie comes more easily. “I feel like I’m expressing myself on stage and being myself more than playing another character,” said Welch, who has appeared in about seven shows with the company.
Mejia said the characters begin the show at odds, each seeing the other’s life as simple. Ellie is grieving her father, who has died, while her mother is moving on and remarrying, something Ellie resents her for.
After an incident involving a magical hourglass, however, their perspectives switch, and each is given the opportunity to see the challenges in the other’s life.
“It’s about trying to gain understanding of someone you’re in a relationship with, in every type of relationship really, before you’re so quick to judge and make assumptions about their life,” Mejia said.
Welch said she hopes audience members leave with “a better relationship with their mom or dad or guardian.”
Producer Denise McNett said the humor works for adults as well as teens. “Anybody who has a teenager can totally identify” with the mother-daughter conflict, she said. “It’s a nice family show.”
The magical hourglass at the center of the story is a new, illuminated prop; a stand-in was used during rehearsals. Special effects are limited by budget, McNett said. “We don’t get a lot of high-tech stuff in these shows because we don’t have the budget for it.”
The teen show is open to actors ages 13-19. They must be 13 by opening day and no older than 19 by closing day, McNett said.
San Benito Stage Company stages four main shows a year: a teen show in the fall, an adult show or dinner theater in the winter around Valentine’s Day, a children’s show in the spring around Mother’s Day, and a family musical. The company also stages occasional “side shows” with about a week of rehearsal.
The story has been told in film versions including the 1976 original and a 2003 remake starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. Mejia said the script differs from what film fans might expect, down to the characters’ names. Welch said the music brings the characters’ emotional journey to the surface more than is evident in the movies.
“I think it changes the character of the show in that it kind of hits heartstrings more,” Welch said. “In music, I feel like for some people that might affect them more personally. You can go deeper with the lyrics’ meaning than just normal talking.”
Evening performances are at 7pm Fridays, Oct. 16, 23 and 30, and Saturdays, Oct. 17 and 24. Matinees are at 1pm Saturdays, Oct. 17, 24 and 31. The Granada is at 338 Fifth St. in Hollister. Tickets and information are available at sanbenitostage.org.
