Local kids jump aboard for 'Whistle' stop

Members of Boston City Singers, backstage at the Citi Center for the Performing Arts, where they performed alongside a national touring company in "Whistle Down the Wind." (Boston City Singers)

For eight years, Dorchester native Meg O'Brien worked in the theater in New York City as an actress and a child wrangler - supervising young actors - but today she's back home in Boston working with folks who may one day wind up on New York stages.

As an outreach coordinator with the Boston City Singers, O'Brien watched delightedly from the wings as a dozen of her charges - the vast majority from Boston - got a chance to sing alongside a national touring company at the Citi Center for the Performing Arts in Boston from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3. The boys and girls were part of the children's ensemble of the musical "Whistle Down the Wind." "Whistle," which is based on the 1961 movie of the same name and the 1959 novel by Mary Hayley Bell, tells the story of three siblings as they approach their first Christmas since the death of their mother.

The show's music was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Jim Steinman.

There are three juvenile leads and an ensemble of five other young professionals who travel with the show, and the cast is augmented at each stop with local talent. The producers asked the Boston City Singers to be part of the Boston run, and after whirlwind auditions, 16 children ages 8 to 12 were picked to participate, with 12 going on stage and four serving as understudies.

The Boston City Singers is made up of three different choirs - based in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and South Boston - and a citywide Concert Chorus, with a total membership of 300 boys and girls. Students must audition for the Concert Chorus, which last year toured New Zealand and Australia for three weeks.

"I am really proud of them," said Boston City Singers artistic director Jane Money, of the singers' recent appearance at the Citi Center. "None of them have ever done anything like this before, and their dedication and professionalism have been really tremendous."

"The kids in Boston worked so hard and it truly shows," said Randy A. Davis, the children's ensemble coordinator for "Whistle Down the Wind." "It was really hard to know which were the touring kids and which were the locals, which is the way it should be. Most of them have never been in this type of a show, but they stepped to the plate and delivered . . . wonderfully! Our crew, who don't say much, had many praises for them."

The children had only a few days of intense rehearsal to learn the songs for the half-dozen numbers they participated in, something that Kathleen Tevnan, 11, of Dorchester - one of only two singers who had previous stage experience - found the hardest part of the performance.

Armando Garcia, 8, of Dorchester admitted to "being a little scared" before the curtain went up on the first night. "Trying to find my way in the dark was also hard," he said.

But the challenges didn't discourage any of the singers. All 16 boys and girls who were part of the ensemble said they would like to do more theater.

The other Boston City Singers who participated were Jasmine Burgos, Ana Gabriela Cardona, Emily Gaylord, Anna McCarthy, Sarah Smith, and Caroline Tevnan, all of Dorchester; Ona Lepeska-True and Flora Lepeska-True of Roxbury; Cassidy Gorash and Finlay McCrae of Hyde Park; Kayla Chang of Newton; An-Yi Cheng of Braintree; and Kaija Gisolfi-McCready of Lexington.

"This is something that hardly ever happens for Boston kids," said O'Brien.

Rich Fahey can be reached at faheywrite@yahoo.com.M