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Twin Lakes resident and board member Duane Malo returns a dropped head cover to two club golfers. Malo gave the Federal Way News a grand tour of the club's 18-hole course and clubhouse. Twin Lakes recently initiated its first major membership restructuring in 26 years in an attempt to entice more members into the private club. Photo by Seth Bynum

Local talent headlines Centerstage performance

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Centerstage opens its season with a country-western smash: the musical comedy, Blue Plate Special.

Starring in the show is local actress, Loretta Deranleau-Howard, a Tacoma resident who works at Weyerhaeuser as a Blueprinting Analyst.

Howard was born and raised in Spokane, before moving to Western Washington to study vocal jazz at Edmonds Community College. She has been a leading light in musical theatre throughout the Puget Sound region, playing roles as diverse as Velma Kelly in Chicago and Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly at the Eastside Musical Theatre. Loretta is married to playwright and director, Lee Howard.

She was also quick to mention a point of geographical interest about Blue Plate Special. Centerstage, located in Federal Way, recruits most of its artists from Seattle, but Loretta noted that two thirds of the cast of six was from the South Sound.

"It's fabulous," she said, "that the majority of the cast is from the Tacoma/Federal Way area...and that we, as artists, don't have to commute to Seattle to work in quality theatre. (And) as an audience, I appreciate that I don't have to go north to see good theatre. We have it at home."

Blue Plate Special runs through Sunday October 15. There are four performances each weekend. Tickets may be purchased at (253) 661-1444 or at www.centerstagetheatre.com .

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