The Times

12 TIMES/GUIDE Wednesday, January 19, 1977

Ticket purchase sparks drama career

By CLAIRE ORTALDA Entertainment Writer Four years ago, Danny Mason, then 15, was entering the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, 235 Alcazar, Coral Gables, to purchase tickets to "Macbeth." Ivan Kivitt, owner, writer, actor and director of the Merry-Go-Round, was sweeping the sidewalk in front of the theater, racking his brains for a way to cast his upcoming "Romeo and Juliet." "Can you act?" he demanded of the young man. "Well I did a little in junior high school," answered a bewildered Danny. And that was how he was swept into "Romeo and Juliet" and then inducted into the charming, creative business of amusing and instructing children with fairy tales no less believable than the one which transformed him from a high school student interested in Shakespeare to the assistant of a very good children's theater. Kivitt and Danny now manage a busy schedule of children's theater productions, the Pipsqueak Puppet Show, appearances on the "Skipper Chuck" show on Channel 4, the Shakespeare-By-The-Sea productions on Miami Beach, and school and shopping center appearances. Currently, Danny is appearing as the Prince in Kivitt's version of the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea." Danny stars in most productions at the Merry-Go-Round, demonstrating his versatility in such roles as Margaret Daintymouth, the witch in "Hansel and Gretel" and Hans Christian Anderson, a compendium of plays by the same name, in which Danny played four different roles. As Ms. Daintymouth, Danny stole the show as a pursy-mouthed, chubby, scatter-brained witch whose spells only work half the time. As Hans, he played everything from a gentle confidant to a fearsome avenger (in the dream sequence of "The Red Shoes"). Danny shows his serious side in Kivitt's productions of Shakespeare on Miami Beach. Last summer, he played both Caludio in "Much Ado About Nothing" and Laertes in "Hamlet." "I switched moods from a light, happy Spanish count in 'Much Ado' to a violent young man, a Danish victim of circumstance, in 'Hamlet'," he said. "I preferred the more serious Laertes." Danny's first Shakesperian role was a bit part as Peter in "Romeo and Juliet." He has since starred in "The Tempest" and "As You Like It." Besides acting, managing and creating voices for Kivitt's puppet characters, Danny teaches children's workshops in acting twice a week. In addition, he designed all the costumes in "Much Ado About Nothing" and was co-set designer with Kivitt for last summer's Shakespeare-by-the-Sea. A graduate of Killian High School, Danny lives in South Dade and plans to make drama his career. To see Danny in action, watch for the Prince in the production of "The Princess and the Pea", opening Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Merry-Go-Round Theater. Slated for a 10-week run, the show will play Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $2 for children and $2.50 for adults. Danny as a witch

A Shoppers' Heaven "FASHION SPREE '77"

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