
DATE: Thursday, October 23, 1997            TAG: 9710220198

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 07   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  153 lines

ORPHAN ``ANNIE'' SNARES A FAMILY< FOR THE HEYL FAMILY, BEING PART OF THE THEATER IS WORTH THE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, DINNERS ON THE FLY AND HOURS OF REHEARSAL.

DURING MOST HURRAH Players' performances in recent years, Peter and Adair Heyl could be found backstage, helping young cast members - including their two daughters - with split-second costume changes between scenes.

They figured no job could be as exhausting as a ``zookeeper.''

They were wrong.

For the company's current production of ``Annie,'' the Heyls join their thespian offspring onstage in principal roles. He's Daddy Warbucks, complete with bushy eyebrows and bald head; she's Warbucks' chief housekeeper - a role for which, the wife quips, she's well experienced.

Daughter Grayson, 7, is one of the orphans in the show; and 13-year-old Ashton is a radio-singing Boylen sister.

Instead of a few nights of mayhem, Norfolk's version of the Barrymores have discovered that an acting family spends weeks sacrificing other interests and juggling responsibilities to give its all to the theater. Life for these performers during the last few months has been an exercise in time management: coordinating rehearsals, meals, professional commitments, school work, piano lessons and domestic chores. Sleep has been at a premium, especially for Peter Heyl, a perinatologist at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

In the week before the show's Friday opening at Pavilion, the specialist in high-risk obstetrics acknowledged he was ``on the point of pure exhaustion.'' His grueling schedule of 80-plus hours a week has included pulling night-long stints in labor and delivery, traveling to academic conferences, keeping dozens of patient appointments and spending hours in rehearsals.

On a rare afternoon off, Heyl lounged in the family room of his Ghent home after awakening from a much-needed cat nap. With Grayson nestled on his lap, the medical doctor said he didn't even want to think about the sleep he'd missed.

``People are helping out so I can do this . . . especially my partners,'' he said. ``But let's put it this way. I owe a large debt to the sleep bank, which I plan to make up next month after the show closes. When you work in a pressure cooker like I do, you need an outlet like this.''

Not surprisingly, Adair Heyl, a child psychologist and board chairwoman for the Hurrah Players, has been largely responsible for keeping the domestic whirl on track.

``It would be impossible to do if I was working,'' she said. ``It's all I can do to hold it together now.''

For the Heyls, however, being part of the theater is worth the sleepless nights, dinners on the fly and hours of rehearsal. In fact, performing has been a family tradition for generations.

Peter Heyl's mother is a former New York model and movie and stage actress; and his father, now a medical doctor, sang with his brothers on radio during World War II. Heyl's brother has done professional acting, as well as set design. A cousin is a member of the Kingston Trio, and an uncle sings professionally.

While at Princeton, Heyl sang in the school choir, and more recently has been a member of the Mozart Society and a barbershop quartet. Adair Heyl, also an accomplished singer and dancer, put her husband through medical school starring in television commercials.

The couple's 20-year-old son, Jonathan, a college junior, is minoring in music at James Madison University.

Among their other artistic talents, Grayson and Ashton both play the piano.

The family has always sung and performed together for their own enjoyment, but ``Annie'' is the first time the foursome has gone public en masse.

``Whatever we do we try to do it as a family,'' explained Adair. ``It certainly helps when we're all going in one direction.''

Surprisingly, Ashton, notoriously shy, was the one who originally got the Heyls hooked on the Hurrah Players.

Not long after the family moved to Hampton Roads, Adair took her daughter, then in the second grade, to a Hurrah performance of ``Once Upon A Mattress.''

``During intermission, she looked at me and said, `I want to do this. Find out how I can do this,' '' the mother recalled. ``Then she took me by the hand and led me to the lobby to try and find out. For days after, she kept asking me when she'd come home from school, `Did you call?' She really wanted to get involved.''

``It looked like so much fun,'' Ashton explained. ``I wanted to do it, too.''

After two years of classes with the players, Ashton finally built up enough confidence to audition for a Hurrah show. She earned a part but had trouble ``getting out from behind the curtain,'' her mother recalled.

But she'd been bitten hard by the acting bug. Since then, the teen-ager has found her way to the front of the stage in just about every show the players have staged.

``It's really given her a lot of confidence,'' her mother explained. ``She's the one now chosen to give talks before her schoolmates.''

A ``natural,'' Grayson got involved with the company ``as soon as she quit nursing,'' her mother laughed. ``At age 5, she was already taking singing and dancing classes.''

As Hurrah parents, the Heyls found themselves increasingly involved in the company, referred to by founder and director, Hugh Copeland, as the ``Hurrafia.'' Adair began writing grants for the group, and last year was elected board chairwoman. She first got on stage last year after another actress fell ill days before a production opened and Adair was asked to fill in.

An ardent backstage helper, Peter Heyl had been toying with the idea of performing for some time. When the role of Daddy Warbucks in ``Annie'' came up, the Heyl women ``nudged'' him to audition. Having seen the show several times, they knew he'd be perfect for the part.

``When you look like this, there's not many roles that come along for you.'' Adair joked. ``Besides, he knew all the songs already.''

After Heyl won the role, the females of the family helped him make the transformation to the bald Warbucks. Like most things for the Heyls, the ``big shave'' was a family affair.

``We all went after him,'' recalled Ashton. ``We had the electric razor, clippers. It was fun.''

Despite the hectic pace and exhaustion, the family admits they're having a ball being in ``Annie'' together.

``It's a real treat for me to do things with such a talented group of kids,'' Peter Heyl said.

Added Adair: ``It's such a great group to work with. It's really a nice mix, people from all walks of life, all races. And we all come together with a common love of theater. Most children - much less adults - just don't get this kind of opportunity in life. We're very fortunate to have found it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos including color cover by NHAT MEYER

The Heyl family dressed for their roles in ``Annie'' are clockwise:

Adair, Peter, Ashton, 13, and Grayson, 7.

Adair Heyl applies mascara to husband Peter's eyebrows. The ``big

shave'' to transform him into the bald Warbucks was also a family

affair.

Grayson Heyl, far right, plays one of the orphans in ``Annie.''

Other orphans pictured are Emma Tisdale, front; Mary K. Young,

middle row from left, Emily Raver-Lampman and Lindsay Nusbaum; and

Caroline Jones, back row.

Director Hugh Copeland talks with the cast of ``Annie'' at

rehearsal.

Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON