"Disaster' averted: Ejarque steps into acting breech after thespian falls ill

Chris Bradley, who plays Ted Scheider, a "disaster expert;" tries to convince floating casino owner Tony Delvecchio, played by ROH Exec. Director Anthony Ejarque, the casino is on a fault line. (Courtesy ROH)

ROCHESTER - After a four-year acting hiatus Rochester Opera House Executive Director Anthony Ejarque will shake off the thespian dust and return to the stage Friday night for the premiere of Disaster, a musical spoof of 1970s epic disaster films like The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake and Airport 1975.
Ejarque, who is also co-owner of the Governor's Inn, will play the part of Tony Delvecchio, the deceitful owner of a floating casino that becomes the scene of multiple, rolling disasters that are the backdrop for the hilarious parodies that follow in song and dance. His last performance was in Mamma Mia in January 2019.
Taryn Herman, who is directing and choreographing this version of the long-running off-Broadway show, said she has a very talented troupe of 15 actors who just began rehearsals on Dec. 26 and hit the ground running.
"It's really a phenomenally talented, hard working group," Herman said on Wednesday.
She said the musical pours it on pretty thick as it derisively shreds the myriad of 1970s disaster films that made it to the screen.
"This is a spoof on all the disaster movies like Towering Inferno and Earthquake, but its more in style of the first Airplane movie," she noted.
Disaster will feature tons of songs from the 1970s as well, Herman added, including "Hot Stuff," "Still the One," "Never can say Goodbye" and "Hooked on a Feeling," earning it the moniker of "juke box musical."
She said Ejarque was a last-minute addition to the cast when the actor who was originally going to play the casino owner took sick.
"He just started last Thursday," she said.
A veteran of stage and screen, Ejarque began his professional career in the mid-80s working Off Broadway in plays including Merchant of Venice with Sigourney Weaver and Skin of Our Teeth with Park Overall.
According to a short bio on the ROH Facebook page, he toured the country for over 16 months with The National Shakespeare Company.
His soap opera career never really took off but he did make regular appearances on Loving and Another World.
He jokes that his movie career ended "after Mr. Miyagi kicked him in the cojones" in The Next Karate Kid.
Other notable cast members include Chris Bradley, a longtime Seacoast actor who plays Ted Scheider, the "disaster expert;" and Brianna Javis from New York, who plays Levora Verona, a washed up singer hoping to hit it big in the casino.
Herman began her theater career as an actress but quickly transitioned to her passion of directing and choreography.
She has directed shows for Firehouse Theater in Newburyport, Mass., at Portsmouth Prescott Park holiday shows, Seacoast Rep and the Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield.
She said she is thrilled to be doing her first show at the Rochester Opera House.
Her husband, Miles Burns, is the show's music director.

Other cast members are as follows:

John Furey - Chad
Erin McMillen - Marianne
Jonathan Acorn - Scott
Jamie Bradley - Maury
Linette Miles - Shirley
Mary Jardine - Sister Mary
Amanda Dane - Jackie
Michelle Faria - Ben/Lisa (twins)
Sophie Calderwood, Kevin Mahaney, Justin Demers, Samantha Antoniewicz - Ensemble (playing multiple characters)
Disaster premieres on Friday and runs through Jan. 29.

For tickets, click here