FAOPA Production of 'Jekyll & Hyde' On Stage at HCC at The Regent

Sarah Smith doesn't mind being cast agains type, as in the character of Lady Beaconfield, the woman she plays in the Florida Academy of Performing Arts production of "Jekyll & Hyde."

"She's a mean, snotty lady and she's stuck up because she's rich," said Smith, an outgoing 11th grader from Foundation Christian High School on Lithia Pinecrest Road in Valrico. "But really, she's not really smarter than anyone else."

Smith is a cast member in the FAOPA production of the musical theater interpretation of the classic battle between good and evil, based on the story of Robert Louis Stevension.

The show is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International. The Florida Academy of Performing Arts (FAOPA) is in residence at the  in Brandon.

"I just always liked performing and singing and being on stage," Smith said, "and being somebody you normally wouldn't be."

The FAOPA production is directed by Miguel Oquendo, who has more than 20 youth theater production credits with FAOPA and the Showcase Players of Music Showcase.

The 10-performance run ends this weekend, with the final three performances, June 11 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m and June 12 at 2p.m. Tickets cost $10.

The musical is staged at HCC at The Regent, at 6437 Watson Road in Riverview, in the southwest corner of the Winthrop Town development off Bloomingdale Avenue and Providence Road.

"I like the atmosphere of this show," said cast member Savannah Jones. "It's dark and different from any other show I've been in."