By 
Marion Smallwood
Samantha Osborne as "Cyndi Webster", Glenn Williams as "Charlie Pitts", and DeAnna Supplee as "Mae Addison" in Spruce Street.
On October 4, 2009, the short scripted “reality” show Spruce Street, made its premier debut on Youtube. The first episode, Oos Cereal starred Samantha Osborne as Cyndi Webster and DeAnna Supplee as Mae Addison. The third and final cast member is Glenn Williams, who appears as Charlie Pitts in episode two, Youtube.
The President of CastlePrillen Productions and the creator of the show, Steven Allen says he created the project to help him and his friends with their future goals. The actors currently are all good friends of Allens’ and each have varying degrees of experience on stage.
“I have been performing in theatre since I was seven in the second grade,” says Supplee, “Penn allowed me to broaden my theatre horizons even more when landing larger roles such as Meg Magrath from Crimes of the Heart, Rebecca Gibbs in Our Town, and earning a song and monologue as Jenna, in 4A’s Fall ‘09 production Soul of the Entertainer.”
Osborne and Supplee are both active in the African American Arts Alliance (4A). On Spruce Street, their respective characters, Cyndi and Mae, are roommates and the main personalities in the show.
Glenn Williams’ history in acting (in the traditional sense) isn’t quite as glamorous, but rather he maintains that his daily “performance”, in the more sociological sense is the source of his experience: “I have no previous acting experience except the acting forced upon me by the world and society.” Williams character Charlie Pitts “is not a main character but a supporting character to the polarized personalities of the girls. He often acts as the voice of reason to their arguments, disputes and opinions”, says Williams.
The conflicts created for the show are the work of writers Courtney Paul and Janay Sylvester and the multi-talented, Glenn Williams. However, Allen wrote the script for the Oos Cereal episode and is responsible for the witty humor of lines like, “I know that I’m magical, but my name ain’t trick. It’s Mae” and “She played a game with my milk!” With lines like these, the script definitely manages to deliver on both realistic and comical levels.
While there are only sophomores involved in the project now, Allen says he is “looking to expand next semester” by holding tryouts and working with other classes. He hopes the company and the show will grow throughout and beyond his remaining years of college.
The show airs Sunday evenings after 5 p.m on Youtube. Check out the Spruce Street official fan page on Facebook for updates.
