Was presented by special arrangement with RandH Theatricals.
The production was directed by Mrs. Romanowski with technical direction by Mr. Schaefer, musical direction by Mr. Kinworthy, stage managed by Megan O'Brien, assistant directed by Mrs.Schwartz. Choreography by Robin Berger.
We had three evening performances, and sold a lot of tickets!
The Von Trapp kids
(photo courtesy of Meaghan Sullivan)
The musical is always our biggest production of the year and this was no exception. We started right at the beginning of the school year with auditions and had over 35 kids try out for the show. Almost everybody that auditioned got into the show, and we immediately started rehearsals.
The cast was amazing and we had a lot of new actors in this production. Many of the students had never been on stage before in their life and many had never been on a stage this size. It is always scary for everyone when there isn't a lot of experience in the group, but with a lot of energy and hard work they really made it come together. The audiences were pleased!
Everyone loved the nuns!
The four main nuns
In the Fall, the Technical Theatre class has essentially two months to research, plan, design, build and paint the set, and this one took us right up to opening night. The two tech classes were extrememly busy and we more often than not worked past the bell.
The Church at the Abbey
(photo courtesy of Meaghan Sullivan)
This was a moving/wagon set, and all the pieces of the set had to file out a normal double door on both sides of the stage when they were not being used in a scene. That meant that the "masion" set pieces had to split apart into 5 pieces and be locked together when they came onstage to form the masion scenes. All together there were over 20 individual scenic pieces that had to be mapped and moved during the show. (Including all the furniture and stuff flown in from the heavens)
We have no offical scene shop for the auditorium, so the sets are built entirely on the stage and the space is then cleared for rehearsal after school. We often built our entire set for our shows with electric screwdrivers, 3" and 1.25" drywall screws, measuring tapes, a chopsaw, and jigsaws.
Some of Mr. Schaefer's initial set drawings for the various scenes in the show.
We also use a lot of other craft related tools like scissors, rulers, tape etc...but we keep it rather simple in the shop. A lot of the effect comes from the detail work and the design. We build it knowing we will eventually be tearing it all down. Our favorite material to work with was cardboard!!! Cheap and paints well!
With a moving set we use a lot of castors (wheels), and on this particular set we used over 30 castors to make it all move smoothly.
OTHER TECHNICAL CHALLENGES WE FACED
Tons of COSTUMES!
We had over 70 costumes and pieces to assemble, make, borrow, and keep track off during the run.
(the cast doubled for some of the scenes and the nuns would become party guests)
DANCING
We did not have a lot of dancing in the show, but the little we did have required a lot of rehearsal. Special thanks to our wonderful choreographer Robin Berger for spending the extra time making sure they all moved beautifully...and they FINALLY did.
The party scene and waltz
THE HANDPAINTED BACKDROP
We couldn't afford to rent a backdrop for the show and several scenes required a view of the Alps, so we decided to make one.
First the technical Theater students had to do some research and find the perfect picture(s) to inspire the painting.
We purchased two very large canvas painting drop-cloths. We taped and bound them together. Tech students hand tied rope along the top to hook it to the fly. Then in one evening (during tech week) we had about 5 students paint the mountains. It looked amazing under the lights!
Daisy Hudspeth and Garrett Bell dancing
Robin Berger's choreography for "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"
Other stuff we learned...
This musical is a wonderful history lesson for the students, and we learned a lot about the war, that time in Europe, and the terror brought by the Nazi party.
In the muscial we follow the path of an Austrian captain and how he decides to leave his job when the Nazi party takes over. It was very interesting to see how much the students knew about this time in our history and how much it still affects them. They knew how to milk the drama out of those scenes. We needed that intensity to balance out the love story.
We cast several students to play the roles of the nazi generals etc, and several to be the SS guards that search for the family in the end. We even sent them out into the house to search the audience when the family runs away from the festival concert.
The CAST
Maria........................................Abigail Oldham
Captain.....................................Sean Kaelble
Mother Abess...........................Helen George
Sister Bertha.............................Katy Nappier
Sister Margeretta......................Brigit Carmody
Sister Sophia............................Alexis Harmon
Liesl..........................................Daisy Hudspeth
Friedrich...................................Nathan Eswine
Louisa.......................................Katie Ribant
Kurt..........................................Charlie Sears
Brigitta.....................................Sarah Addison
Marta........................................Ayu Lockos
Gretl.........................................Phoebe DeSilets
Rolf..........................................Garrett Bell
Elsa (nun).................................Hannah Lieb
Max..........................................Duncan Kinzie
Herr Zeller...............................Patrick Dugan
Frau Zeller (nun)......................Nubari Kanee
Baron ......................................Jocelyn Hartung
Baroness..................................Gordon Stijakl
Choral Nuns............................Liz Drollinger
Madeleine Buckley
Aerin Johnson
Brigit Voda
Serenity Baron
Kelsey Young
Party Guest/Nazi.....................Alanyna Bristow
Jenny Barnett
Madlyn Nagel
Patrick Ryan
Ethan Schwartz
Pete Forsee
Ben Kemper
Ethan Baer
Kevin Killeen
Jack Kemper
Matt Simmons
Orchestra
We decided to try doing the show with just two pianos and it was perfect, thanks to our wonderful musicians!
Avrill Callicutt...............Piano (conductor)
Chris Petersen................2nd Piano
The CREW
Lights................................Wil Leach (Operator)
Sound................................Sam Reeves
Costumes..........................Courtney Jones
Mel Umbaugh
Emma Lingle
Mr. Schaefer
Mrs. Romanowski
Robin Berger
Props................................Kerry Gaynor
Serenity Barron
Djoulde Sall
Spot.................................Jimmy Springer
House Manager...............Perri Edwards
Photographer...................Meaghan Sullivan
Special Thanks to the 5th, 6th and 7th Hour Technical Theater Classes for building the set, Debbie G. for the T-shirts, Nick Bodkin for the T-Shirt Design, Mrs. Cashel for the copies, Robert Schmidt Costumes for the rentals, Leaping Lizards and Robin Berger for being awesome and going soooo far above and beyond the call of duty, The Sound Co, WGHS Custodial Staff, Dr. Jon Clark, the Administration and Staff for their continued support.
This show will always be one of our favorite things!!!
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