“Kaylee’s Dolls” a hit at SSMS

The show must go on!

Despite snowy weather and hazardous travel conditions around the area, the Martin Luther King Community Center and Associates put the audience of about 150 people, including Rockville Centre mayor Francis X. Murray, in a festive spirit with the play “Kaylee’s Dolls” at South Side Middle School on Dec. 17.

The play was written and produced by Elaine Petry, a former Rockville Centre resident who is a manager with the village’s housing authority.

The show was about a group of dolls who came alive and saved the community from “bad guys who wanted to destroy the toy store,” according to Petry.

There were musical performances from the Nehemiah Movement Singers and acts by the Empress Dance Studio. Petry wrote most of the show’s songs, including “Dance and Sing”, which was performed by the Martin Luther King afterschool program.

“It was really great,” Petry said. “The children that were involved kept coming to rehearsal. They just need something positive to do and they worked towards a goal. It promotes their self-esteem.”

She encouraged anyone at the center who had a talent and passion for acting and music to join the production.

“I had written this play as a recital,” Petry said. “It was so general that you could have anyone act in it. All you needed were little dancers, singers, kids that played instruments. It was that type of a play. If you have a gift, you could use it.”

The event was also highlighted by awards ceremony that honored Rockville Centre Village Historian Marilyn Devlin, Sister Kathleen Murphy of St. Agnes Cathedral Outreach, Village Housing Authority Commissioner William Devlin, Maureen Remy from Adopt a Family and Denis Festa of Furniture Exchange.

In addition, all of the children in the audience received a gift from Toys from Tots.

“Everyone enjoyed it,” Petry said. “We got good reviews. The best part was that everybody left with a toy.”

Petry, 65, has been writing plays since 1982 and has produce 23 scripts that will soon be published.

Her first piece “The Hypocrites”, with her sister in celebration of her mother’s retirement. The skit was about two women that committed a bunch of heinous acts over a seven-day period from Monday to Sunday.

“They were raisin’ hell, smoking, drinking, [committing] adultery,” she said of the characters. “Then they go to church on Sunday and get piety.”

That led to the Petry being one of the original founders of Sisters’ Circle Inc. It began as a community theatrical company and has grown to encompass various programs in the arts, entertainment, out-reach and well-being.

She said most of her plays have to do with “community involvement” and that children will always be connected to her work.

“The one thing I learned is that children, no matter what walk of life, all need love and strong guidance,” she said.