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Woody Allen Classic Proves to be Good Medicine for Students at Western University of Health Sciences

by Rodney Tanaka

November 6, 2002

Read 2 mins

Students studying to become physician assistants and osteopathic physicians at

Western University of Health Sciences are about to do something most

medical students don’t do – produce a play.

Members of the university’s theater club, SANUS, will perform Woody

Allen’s classic comedy “”Play It Again, Sam”” on November 14 and 15. SANUS,

which takes its name from the Latin word meaning “”soundness of mind,

emotions and behavior,”” organizes a state performance each fall. Past

productions have included “”Cactus Flower,”” Agatha Christie’s murder

mystery “”Ten Little Indians,”” Shakespeare’s “”A Midsummer Night’s Dream,””

and the musical “”Pump Boys and Dinettes.”” SANUS is the only theater group

of any health professions university in Southern California.

“”Play it Again, Sam”” follows a shy movie critic through a divorce, a

series of blind dates and hallucinations of his hero and love-life

advisor, Humphrey Bogart.

“”I wanted to do something different, something a little off beat,”” said

Dawnell Moody, the play’s director and a second-year student in the

university’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific.

Being in the play is “”a great way to get away from [the stress of]

school,”” said Mel Gong, another “”Sam”” cast member and a second-year

osteopathic medical student. “”It’s a great stress reliever.””

Tickets to “”Play It Again, Sam”” are $8 at the door. Curtain is at 8 p.m.

in the university’s Amphitheater II in the Health Professions Center.

Cast members are:

* Mike Tracy, fourth-year medical student, as Allan Felix

* Lara Quatinetz, second-year medical student, as Nancy

* Ahmed Khan, first-year medical student, as Bogart

* Anub Abraham, second-year medical student, as Dick Christie

* Mel Gong, second-year medical student, as Linda Christie

* Nina Bowman, second-year medical student, as Dream Sharon

* Elain Tong, second-year medical student, as Sharon Lake

* Mary Nawar, first-year medical student, as Vanessa

* Negar Madari, first-year physician assistant student, as Go-go Girl

* Leligh Wilson, first-year medical student, as Intellectual Girl

* Dawnell Moody, second-year medical student, as Barbara

A “”surprise guest”” will appear as Jeffrey, a minor, non-speaking role, Ms.

Moody said.

Tickets for “”Play It Again, Sam”” are $6 presale and $8 at the door.

Curtain is at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, November 14 and 15

For more information, contact the university’s Media Relations Department

at (909) 469-5389 or via e-mail at mediarelations@westernu.edu.

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