AVON — John and Colleen Dillon of Avon are stage parents times three this week, with three of their children performing in the production of the musical “Ragtime” at Magnificat High School in Rocky River.

Kelly Dillon, a sophomore at Magnificat, plays a member of the upper-crust New Rochelle crowd. Ryan, a senior at St. Ignatius in Cleveland, plays several roles, including a policeman, an umpire and a judge. Claire, a fourth-grader at Holy Trinity in Avon, plays an immigrant girl.

Kelly, Ryan and Claire are part of a 100-person production including cast, crew and musicians.

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The Dillon children, including 12-year-old sister Nora, who is not in “Ragtime,” have been performing for several years through the Palace Youth Theatre in Lorain. Ryan started performing at age 12, although he said his mother would probably say he’s been performing since birth.

Ryan has also worked in the crew in productions at St. Ignatius.

“You get a chance to be someone else,” Ryan said of performing. “Even if it’s not your show, people are still watching you.”

This is the first time Kelly has performed in a Magnificat production, although she was part of the crew for the performance of “Grease” last year. She played Wendy in a Palace Youth Theatre performance of “Peter Pan,” and also performed in other plays there, including “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” “Seussical” and “Aladdin.”

She plans to continue performing, and is also looking into directing.

Being at least four years younger than nearly everyone else in the show could have been hard for Claire.

“I felt awkward,” she said. “Everyone knew everyone, and I only knew Ryan and Kelly.”

But she got to know Quin Porter, who is a year older than she is and also in the play. And the warm welcome from the rest of the cast and crew put her at ease.

“I learned I could make friends with people I normally wouldn’t hang out with because they were so much older,” she said.
Kelly said she was impressed with how her sister jumped in and made friends.

The biggest challenge, Kelly said, was memorizing the 12 songs she had to sing, either on stage or as part of the backstage chorus.

The musical was also an educational opportunity, as the students learned about the people and culture of New York in the early 20th century, which is the play’s setting.

“Ragtime,” which is being revived on Broadway later this year, is based on a 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow. In addition to the New Rochelle and immigrant groups, the third group in the play is African-Americans in Harlem. Students involved in the play learned about how the members of each group lived during that time. Famous names of the time appear in the play, including Booker T. Washington, Henry Ford, architect Stanford White, illusionist Harry Houdini and model/showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, whose image was the inspiration for children’s author L.M. Montgomery, who created the legendary Anne Shirley in “Anne of Green Gables.”

“Ragtime”

• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday
• Where: The Performng Arts Center at Magnificat High School, 20770 Hilliard Blvd., Rocky River
• Info: Tickets available at the door or by calling (440) 331-1572, ext. 277, or at www.ticketspigot.com. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students.

Send your Avon and Avon Lake news to Melissa Hebert, 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.

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