This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/29/2017 07:30 AMWith leading-man looks and loads of talent, Laurent Mullen cuts a dashing figure on stage, screen, and the dance floor. On Saturday, Dec. 2 and Sunday, Dec. 3, Laurent reprises his role as the American Father (and also as master of ceremonies) in Starship Dance Theatre’s production of The Magic Toyshop that has moved from its longtime home in Guilford to East Haven High School (EHHS).
Laurent is one of many professionals joining annually with talented amateurs of all ages to bring the shoreline the dazzling, family-friendly (and swiftly-moving, at just 90 minutes in length) holiday production. Laurent is a long-time friend and former ballet dance compatriot of the creator and director of The Magic Toyshop, Starship Dance Theatre’s Joyce DiLauro.
“It’s not the typical holiday fare, like Nutcracker,” says Laurent of this celebration of dance for the holidays. “It’s very original and a little more whimsical. There are dancers of all ages, dance of all types.”
The owner and founder of Ballroom Dancin’ Fools, which he founded in Branford in 2008, Laurent retired from a professional ballet career in 2005 and danced in area professional productions of The Nutcracker for many years. He says he was thrilled when DiLauro contacted him about joining her production. Together with his partner, Sarah Kennedy, he soon contributed a new addition to the production that has remained in the show each year since.
“Joyce is very flexible,” says Laurent, who danced with DiLauro in New York when both were beginning their professional ballet careers. “She welcomed my partner and I contributing waltzing to the production—but there’s also a can-can, which might be considered a high-kicking jazz number, and very, very good ballet dancing. There’s even a fight scene, because the story is the toys revolt, and they don’t want to be sold off to these buyers from far-away lands.”
Laurent’s regular dance partner is Sarah Kennedy from Sarah Kennedy Ballet of New Haven. Together, they often give back to the community, especially by dancing for charity events. The two recently donated their talent to the Boogie with Brenna epilepsy benefit in Branford and Clinton’s Dancing from the Heart to benefit Child Life at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital.
“Charity work, it’s a lot of fun,” says Laurent. “It’s about giving back and I think it’s important to get into the community. One of the things we like is that there are always a lot of kids around, because we love to encourage young people to try ballroom dance.”
Laurent says getting audiences involved “sets us apart” from other performing arts demonstrations.
“[Sarah] and I often will dance two to three routines for audiences. After watching a band play, a string quartet play, a choir sing, the audience claps and goes home. After our performances, we ask the audience to join us to learn some dancing, maybe a salsa step or a swing move. That truly engages the people and makes a lasting impression,” he says.
One of the most eager audiences reaching out to Laurent for his professional guidance are couples planning that all-important first dance at their wedding.
“We call ourselves wedding dance specialists,” says Laurent. “It’s not an exaggeration when I say it’s such a wonderful feeling to make people happy, and our wedding couples are really happy.”
Laurent says the key is to find “choreography which reflects your personality” and sometimes adding that needed bit of encouragement, especially with his grooms-to-be.
“It takes some life experience to really reach out to what could be a nervous wedding couple—and I’m a guy, and I know what it takes to get beyond your comfort zone,” says Laurent. “The man is the leader, so his confidence is very important...and the man has to also learn to listen to what the lady wants; everything the man asks for is a request. I’ve always regarded a wedding dance in a small way a microcosm of a marriage. Once you come together on the dance floor, you are making a new unit, a new identity, and it’s very romantic.”
As a professional actor, Laurent’s recent movie credits include leading work in the indie film Desolation Angels, and, most recently, background work in Hamden for portions of a Hallmark Channel holiday movie (which also filmed portions in Branford on Nov. 17). His TV credits include The Blacklist, Billions, VEEP, and Lifetime, to name a few. In The Magic Toyshop, Laurent brings a big personality to the role of the American Father and opens the show as master of ceremonies.
DiLauro says she can’t thank Laurent enough for agreeing to be “our handsome American Father,” and adds that, as a special treat for kids, the Dec. 2 show at 4 p.m. includes the opportunity for kids to come on stage, meet Laurent and the rest of the cast, and take photos with them.
With imaginative costumes that bring toys to life, “it’s fun for the whole family,” adds DiLauro, who is excited to bring The Magic Toyshop, now in its 27th year, to East Haven for the first time. She said the production “outgrew” its original stage at Guilford’s Nathanael Greene Community Center. It was moved to Guilford High School’s auditorium last year, and when that venue was not available this year, DiLauro was thrilled to have the opportunity to move to the beautiful auditorium at EHHS.
Laurent grew up in Branford and returned to his hometown as a resident in 1994. He began offering ballroom dance instruction in 1998 and opened his first Ballroom Dancin’ Fools studio in Branford in 2008. Now, he has two additional locations in Westbrook and New Haven.
“I named it Ballroom Dancin’ Fools because I wanted a whimsical name,” says Laurent. “We’ve been very fortunate, even when times were tough economically—as they were for many in 2008. There will always be weddings, and couples will always be looking for dances.”
Starship Dance Theatre presents The Magic Toyshop on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. at East Haven High School, 35 Wheelbarrow Lane. Ticket information is available at events.tututix.com.