Culture Club
by Jill Duff-Hoppes
Winter Springs resident Ryan Frazier has created an elegant stage show that combines three stylish art forms – classic films, ballet, and high fashion.
Ryan is artistic director of the Cultural Arts Foundation of America (CAFA), a nonprofit organization that promotes cultural diversity through the arts and provides scholarships for performing arts students. CAFA’s inaugural show, Hitchcock Blonde Halloween, debuts on Halloween weekend at Mad Cow Theatre in downtown Orlando.
The show combines clips of famous Alfred Hitchcock thrillers with spellbinding ballet numbers performed by dancers wearing authentic costume reproductions from the films. In essence, the audience will watch a movie clip, and then the professional dancers will recreate those silver-screen moments on stage, performing original choreography set to Hitchcock’s spine-tingling scores.
“This will be the prettiest show in Orlando,” promises the 69-year-old Ryan, who made most of the featured garments, herself. “It’s very smart and sophisticated with these great film stars that everybody still loves.”
Six movies will be highlighted via clip, dance, and costume: Rear Window, Vertigo, The Birds, Psycho, North by Northwest, and To Catch a Thief. Among the icy blonde actresses who starred in those iconic Hitchcock movies were Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, and Kim Novak, while James Stewart and Cary Grant provided the male star power for several of the films.
The Hitchcock production will feature three former members of Orlando Ballet – Daniel Benavides, Chiaki Yasukawa, and Kathryn Tosh – who will also choreograph the show’s ballet dance numbers. Combining the popularity of nostalgia-evoking movies with the niche appeal of ballet is an unusual – yet winning – combination, Ryan says.
“It’s so much fun to kind of go back in time, but yet you’ve also got this modern spin. Who would have thought of putting ballet dancers with Hitchcock? It’s goofy, but it works,” laughs Ryan, adding that the show might even create a few new ballet fans.
“People who don’t want to go to a ballet will come to see a Hitchcock show, and if there’s a ballet in it, you’ve got them,” Ryan adds. “Ask anyone, ‘What’s your favorite Hitchcock movie?’ and they’ll have one.”
Wagon Train to the Stars
Born and raised in Oklahoma, Ryan has a star-studded background in the film and television industry as well as in costume design. For more than 20 years, she worked for Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles as assistant director of production operations for film and television. In that role, she worked on major TV shows and movies such as Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Speaking of Star Trek, Ryan is the goddaughter of the late Gene Roddenberry, who created the groundbreaking TV series, which later became a film franchise (Gene and Ryan’s father served together during World War II, forging a permanent bond). When Gene asked if Ryan could come to Hollywood to work for Paramount, her father agreed, and off she went.
In addition to her official duties at Paramount, Ryan – a self-taught costume designer – often designed dresses for the producers’ and directors’ wives to wear to Oscar and Emmy ceremonies. When Ryan left Paramount, she became a professional costume consultant specializing in reproduction costuming. Later, the multi-talented Ryan also earned a Ph.D. in education.
Ryan, who converted to Judaism years ago because her late husband was Jewish, moved to Central Florida in 2016. Now remarried, she founded CAFA in 2019 and is heavily involved in the local arts scene.
She is planning a full slate of productions for 2022 including an Audrey Hepburn-themed show for Mother’s Day in May. Like the Hitchcock production, the Audrey show will feature film clips, fashion, and dance. Ryan had originally planned to present that show on Mother’s Day 2020 but was forced to cancel the production because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve got this great immersion thing between film and live performance,” she says of CAFA’s high-end productions. “We really do want you to feel that the dancers have stepped out of the movies.”
Performances of A Hitchcock Blonde Halloween will be at 7:30 p.m. on October 29 and 30 and at 2:00 p.m. on October 31 at Mad Cow Theatre, 54 West Church Street, in Orlando. Tickets are $75 with discounts for seniors and groups. Valet parking is available, and attendees are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite Hitchcock character.
Patrons also have the option of buying a $250 VIP ticket for the October 30 performance, which includes a pre-show party with catered food, a Hitchcock-themed gift bag, and opportunities to take photos with the dancers.
Proceeds will benefit Opera Orlando’s scholarship program for its vocal students, with three scholarships being awarded. The recipients will be introduced at the Hitchcock shows, and patrons can follow their musical progress on CAFA’s website and social media.