Alive with the sound of music
Photo Credit: Hannah Scott
During the final scene of the play, the nuns sing out while the Von Trapp family flees to the mountians.
Vince Fernandez
March 8, 2010
Filed under Entertainment
All-world athletes, national merit scholars, and JV dance crew; these are a few of Bishop Kelley’s favorite things. But a new favorite has entered the varied and diverse Kelley community. In the past couple of years, Bishop Kelley Performing Arts has gained a reputation of success that has entertained and mesmerized, stemming from the success of previous performances such as Wizard of Oz and Oklahoma. This year’s musical, The Sound of Music, lives up to this high standard.
The production follows the story of Maria, played by senior Eleanor Humphrey, who finds herself too free-spirited for the religious life. Sensing Maria’s restlessness, Mother Abbess (junior Cicily Riggs) decides to send her to be the governess of the Von Trapp family of seven children, headed by the strict and militaristic Captain Von Trapp, played by sophomore Austin Lawhorn.
“There’s a lot of pressure [being in a leading role] and work, but it’s so much fun and I love it,” Lawhorn said.
Since the end of November, the actors and singers have put in an immense amount of time working on this project. From 3:30 to 6 almost every aftrnoon, Mrs. Dana Hoagland, Mrs. Amy Junger and Ms. Megan Schaunaman helped student actors learned lines, sing songs, and dance their hearts out. In addition, Mr. Steve Smith helped students build stage props and senior Megan Wink assisted as House Manager.
Their efforts paid dividends in the end. During the showing weekend, The Sound of Music had 4 soldout shows and garnered an overflow of support from the community.
“‘Chaos’ would be a good word to describe in the rehearsal room,” said senior Maggie Oberste. She managed Maria’s dressing, which includes nine different costumes and eleven costume changes throughout one production.
Senior Sam Partido, who portrayed a nun, describes the experience as “a lot of fun but really stressful.”
Challenges include being able to stay in character, enduring constant costume changes, integrating acting, dancing and singing altogether and taking criticism from the directors.
“You really are under a lot of pressure,” Humphrey said. “But, you have to stay energized and give your all, 100 percent of the time.”
Despite the struggles and difficulties, the cast believes “it’s totally worth it.”
“There’s a lot of stress because of previous productions like The Wizard of Oz, but Ms. Hoagland and all the people here make it worthwhile,” Partido said.
“It’s tough singing in a four-part harmony,” senior Katherine Karlish said. “But, it allows me to broaden my horizons in terms of my musical talents.”
To deal with the immense stress and pressure, the cast finds ways to loosen up the atmosphere.
“I almost mooned someone while on stage,” Karlish said, who portrayed a nun. “I cried for a good ten minutes afterwards.”
The guy members bond in a similar fashion, but requested that their antics did not make the final cut. They did have fun having fake machine guns for their Nazi characters.
“This has been one of the most successful musical since I’ve been here,” said senior Julie Guirl, who worked as one of the “techies” behind scenes.
With such a huge cast, a total of 53 people, “it can be hard to coordinate, but everyone does their part, “ Joe Proszek said, who played the Nazi Admiral Von Schreiber.
Along with the cast, there are also the behind-the-scenes workers who make sure the musical runs smoothly: Caitie Lewis in the light booth, to Katie Kientz in the sound studio, to the 15 “techies” pushing set pieces back and forth on the stage.
“We’re just as important as the actors,” Guirl said. “We’re like gasoline to car; you can’t see us, but if we’re not there, it doesn’t go.”
Of all the cast and crew involved in this production, 10 were seniors.
“It’s kind of depressing that this is my last musical,” Partido said, “But, it’s been an awesome three years, and I’ll probably miss Ms. Hoagland the most.”
Despite the loss of seniors, the underclassmen guarantee another spectacular show next year.
“Oh, we’ll be back,” said junior Chris Ornelas. “And it will be fabulous.”