WGHS DRAMA Past Shows 2006-2013: Spring Musical 2011

William Finn's masterful muscial A New Brain was our 2011 Spring Musical, and it was produced in the WGHS Little Theater in March.
Was presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., New York.

The production was directed by Mr. Schaefer and musical direction was provided by Chris Petersen and Joe Schoen.

We had four evening performances and one encore performance.

Watch a video montage of the show at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXtpSJI-0Ic&feature=plcp

The amazing cast of WGHS production of A New Brain

A SUMMARY of the show's plot

(Taken directly from Wikipedia)

Gordon Schwinn, a talented young songwriter, works at his piano to meet a deadline. Gordon is irritated because he must write a song about Spring for a children's television entertainer who dresses as a frog. He takes a break from his writing and meets his agent Rhoda at a restaurant for pasta. During lunch, Gordon clutches his head and falls face first into his meal. Rhoda calls an ambulance, and Gordon is taken to the hospital. He learns that he has an arteriovenous malformation. Gordon needs an operation, and if he doesn't have it, he could die or never regain the use of his faculties.

While in the hospital, Gordon contemplates his situation. His greatest fear is dying with his greatest songs still inside of him; and so from his hospital bed, and while in a coma, and all throughout his ordeal, he begins writing the songs. He also has several hallucinations that involve various people whom he has encountered. In particular, a homeless lady that he met on his way to get pasta with Rhoda continually pops up.

Gordon eventually has the surgery and recovers completely. The creative block he was experiencing before his ordeal lifts, and he gains new insights. His near death experience encourages him to re-evaluate and better appreciate the people and relationships in his life.

OUR PRODUCTION

A wonderfully fantastical journey into the mind of Gordo Schwinn (AKA William Finn..kinda).

A New Brain took the audience on a ride they would never forget, and each night we witnessed the audience get sucked into the weird and wacky characters that assemble to teach us that life is too short and that we must always be thankful for what we have...simple huh?

The music for this show is extremely complex and required a lot of preparation. The cast was assembled early in the Fall semester and immediately began tackling the score. The show has over 26 full songs and no more than twenty or thirty actual spoken lines. It's essentially an opera...but oh so much cooler. Songs about brain tumors, talking frogs, and throwing all the books out the window!

This was the hardest working high school cast I have ever met and they also new how to have a good time. The music was so difficult and the concept was very new to them. This show doesn't really have any rules and definitely is not Rogers and Hammerstein!

THE CAST

Sean Devon O'Brien Sienna Sears

as Gordo Mother

Miranda West Brandon Smith

as Rhoda as Richard the fat Nurse

Tea Rose Pankey Tommy Jernigan

as the Minister as the Doctor

Abigail Oldham Sean Kaelble

as the Homeless Lady as Mr. Bungee

Jerome Riley

as Roger

THE CREW

Maggie Mohr.................Assistant Director / Running Crew

Marika Betker................Properties Master / Running Crew

Katy Nappier..................Stage Manager

Alex Porter......................Light tech / OP

Sam Reeves.....................Sound Tech

Garrett Bell.....................Sound OP

Jimmy Springer..............Spot OP

THE SET

The set was designed and built (by all three tech theater classes) ...after many class periods of drawing, talking, measuring, listening to the Broadway Cast Album, talking more, researching online and many hours ultimately constructing the very abstract structure that ended up becoming our playground. It was perfect!

We made a lot of large leaves and handmade dragonflies, butterflies, and snakes. All of them were constructed out of paper, carboard and masking tape (our favorite sculpting materials)...and of cours hand painted to perfection. It really made Mr. Bungee's pond come to life!

The main character was dealing with dizziness and hallucinations from his brain disorder and so we really wanted to get that feeling across to the audience. The spirals became a repeated theme on the set and on the individual scenic pieces. We also put out band on stage and gave them a view of the city through the forest.

THE BAND

Chris Petersen ............................................Musical Director/pianist

Duncan Kinzie............................................ synth (2nd piano)

Joe Winsten Hibbs .......................................drums

Ben Wheeler............................................... bass

Maddie Holtzman....................................... Clarinet

Laine......................................................... Violin

Sammy Jarnigan........................................Saxophone

DIRECTOR's NOTES
(from the program)

When you get a feeling about doing a particular show I believe it’s because the stars are in alignment and the people you feel you need to make it happen are close by. This was definitely the year for this show and it only took me a few rehearsals to know (way back in Oct) we were in store for a very exciting journey. The musicians and production crew have been wonderful, and I couldn’t have asked for a harder working cast to take on this challenge. It is a glorious world of song I have loved living in for the past several months.

The story is one that has always held a special place in my heart. I love shows that give us a new way to look at topics we always have to confront in our daily lives. We are constantly trying to adapt to the unknown and the things in life we can’t control, we are always attempting to find peace in chaos, and we hope to see through all the confusion that follows any event that is unexpected and catches us off guard. Isn’t that what makes life so much fun? I love this show because it shows us that the time we are given is not to be treated as a rehearsal. Instead we should be taking every moment to get busy making all the important music in our lives and to open our hearts to all the possibilities love can bring. Change is a good thing…its why we love spring so much.

I would love to have every one of my students wake up tomorrow and see all of their opportunities as valuable, the situation they are in as blessed and their future as a gift. I believe the lessons from Mr. Bungee hold a sense of irony with us because we have become, like Gorgo, a bit jaded. With a mental rebirth (of sorts), a change of perspective, a new focus, a realization, we CAN unveil the truth and gain the clarity for what’s valuable in life and be our own best asset. Say yes! Yes! Yes!...it’s a good word.