Every year during the months of January and February, lone cars remain scattered across the parking lots long after students have headed home for the day. Chances are, these vehicles belong to the cast and crew of the musical, who are hard at work inside Hoover Hall every evening to produce the show.
This year’s musical, “South Pacific,” is a combination of two love stories set in World War II with a dose of comedy. It opened last night and show times are this evening at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $10 at the door.
Musical director, Mr. Kim Jacoby, decided on “South Pacific” last year because he thought it would be a good match for the senior class.
“I thought it would fit the talents of our seniors well,” he said.
Fifty-six cast members, along with 30 techincal crew members and 30 orchestra members, began practicing for the musical upon their return from winter break.
Sophomore Zach Woods, who is in the chorus, was excited when he initially heard the musical was going to be “South Pacific.”
“It was just put on Broadway again and I like the older shows,” he said.
Junior Julie Benedetto was unsure of the musical, at first, because of an interesting gender dilemma accompanying the plot.
“There’s not that many parts for girls and there is an excess of girls in the cast,” she said.
In “South Pacific,” Benedetto plays the character Captain Georgette Bracket.
“I’m in charge of all the people on the island,” she said. “My character is very mean.”
In terms of the actual story line, Woods said “South Pacific” belongs to a different genre because of the history incorporated into this year’s show; Benedetto agreed.
“The storyline is more serious than ‘Millie’ because we’re dealing with heavier issues,” Benedetto said.
Woods and Benedetto both said they do not find the practice schedule as tough as they used to.
“You get a general knowledge of what’s expected of you after the first year,” Woods said.
Having this knowledge does not change the fact that being part of the musical is time consuming and tough work.
“When it gets closer to opening night, it’s harder to get up in the morning because you’ve been practicing so hard,” Woods said.
Benedetto said she would normally stay at school until 7 p.m., putting in a 12 hour day at Hoover.
The cast members are not the only people putting in some long days to prepare for the musical. Senior Kirsten Erb is part of the technical crew and said she and her partner junior Beth Gier worked on the show for about eleven hours this week.
“My partner and I are lighting designers,” Erb said. “We add color where it’s needed on stage.”
Jacoby said the tech crew has been working with new technology for “South Pacific,” including finding a way to have working showers on stage.
“We like to try and find ways to make [our musical] better than the other high schools,” he said.
One new piece of equipment used in the musical is a recently purchased backdrop media server.
“The back scenery will be moving and that will be new to us,” Erb said.
For example, on the beach scenes, the palm trees and the water will be animated on the backdrop and the moon and stars can twinkle.
Jacoby said the show would not be a success without his “support staff” of parents, other adults, local businesses and the community.
“I can guarantee everyone else around here would love to have the people I have helping me,” he said.
He said it is nice to see the practices and students’ work on stage before an audience.
“The kids do everything [during the show],” he said. “Mrs. Grewell and I just sit and watch.”
For Benedetto, the most rewarding part of being in the musical is seeing all of her hard work pay off during the show.
“Even though it consumes your life for two months and you kind of go crazy with schoolwork and rehearsals, it ends up being completely worth it when opening night arrives,” she said.n